I'm planning to buy the HC1 in the near future. I would like to use the HD camcorder for recording only. Is there an alternate way to capture, without using the same HD camcorder? I presume the HD tapes cannot play on non-HD cameras because of the different formats. Am I wrong?

You would have to pickup an HDV deck. Which to tell you the truth, would just be cheaper for you to buy another HC1 for capturing.