What size stills can I get from a HD camera like the hc1? Is there a camera I should avoid because of resolution? Does the interlacing cause a problem? If I can get decent size stills that would be a big factor in determining when to move to HD. It would be great to offer a video and still pictures.

The HC1 is no longer current, but generally speaking, most HD camcorders from the major manufacturers will produce two or three megapixel images. That's big enough to print at 8x10 (and yes you can get a good looking 8x10 print from two megapixels if it's well lit). You can see a number of two megapixel still images that I've taken with the Canon XL H1 in the sample clips area of that forum. Hope this helps,

If your really into pulling stills you might want a camera that shoots progressive images rather than the HC1 or HC3 which shoots interlaced. Progressive will be a nice crisp still no matter what, but if anything is moving in an interlaced still its pretty obvious