Simon, AVCHD 24mbps should work the same as the other speedwidths and shouldn't need an update. It should be just a bigger file using the same compression scheme. In fact, due to the larger bandwidth, it should require less CPU work.
Wags, it's a pity you don't see the advantages of flash media based cameras. You can buy 10 32GB SDHC cards and have enough recording time for 30hrs of recording time in a package that is as small as 1 mini-DV tape. Even 40 8GB SDHC cards are not bigger than 2 tapes. That is enough, back up for you on location until you can get home. SDHC is solid state and can take even getting wet, humidity and dust better than tape. Ever drop a tape into sea water? Dead! SDHC, dried out, it retained all my shots. You can instantly throw out clips that are crap on camera( including fast cue etc) without a laptop. It allows faster dailies editing to choose clips worth keeping again in camera and instant review capability. Basically you can narrow 30 hours of clips down to a manageable 3 without a laptop on a boat and then convert with the NLE once you back from location/holiday. 3 hours of copying/converting even at 4x real-time is better than copying 30 tapes into the harddrive to find the scenes you want, not to mention having to switch tapes hourly vs copying at 10-20MB/s per card, finishing in under 1 hour.
Sure it may not suit YOUR needs as a daily dive DVD camera, but editing isn't just about how fast the NLE can preview or playback full res in R/T. It's about working within a proper workflow that best suits the task. AVCHD at 24mbps will be better than HDV in many ways, hopefully including motion artifacting. Bear that in mind before you condemn the format.
