HD editing in Vegas
 

I plan on buying the Canon XH-A1 in the fall. I currently use Vegas for editing purposes. How easy is it to edit HD rather than SD in Vegas? Do I need an HD monitor, or can I stick with my Dell 1702FP flat panel monitor?

I edit HDV all the time now and don't notice any difference. I do however use Cineform Connect to capture. I'm using a core2 with 2 gbs of ram. I use a raid 0 array for capture, but It's probably not necessary. The Cineform does create large file sizes but Vegas (I'm using Version 6d still) has no problem whatsoever with them.

I don't think many are editing HDV natively. I'm pretty sure Vasst has Gearshift which is a scaled down intermediate file, but most(?) recommend using Cineform.

No, you don't need an HD monitor. At least I don't. Unless you have too much money.

What's the advantage to using Cineform Connect rather than Vegas to capture?

Vegas only captures using Cineform medium quality setting.
Cineform NEO/HDV (replaces ConnectHD) and offers three higher quality settings.