The ZR 45 is a great video camera. It has 360x zoom (pretty generous for a consumer camera). It is pretty much like the ZR 40 and has max. 480,000 resolution. However, it comes with a memory stick as well as a dv tape. This means dv can be sent to your comp through firewire and still pictures can be sent through usb directly from the memory stick to the comp either through a memory reader or by direct connection from video camera to comp. I found it for $456 at this site: http://digitaldealz.com/shop/Product.asp?ProductCode=ZR45. It sells from Canon at $699, so it's quite a discount.
But if you don't need still pictures, stick with the ZR40 because it could get as low as $400. Try www.pricescan.com for more info on really low prices for video cameras, still cameras, computers, books, movies, etc.