Oops, sorry. I meant for an editing suite running Premiere Pro or Avid. By "highest fidelity" I mean the highest quality of footage the camera can offer, which is 1080/24p. I don't mind rendering, but I wonder how long it will take to render the HD footage, all postwork aside. Will I have to render to just do basic edits?
First of all, Premiere Pro doesn't support DVCProHD without an addon. Have a look at the forums, you'll find all the information you need.
And what are you rendering to? For most people, rendering to the final output format doesn't have to be done in realtime, and if that is the case, a lower-end system merely means that the process will take longer but will sacrifice none of the quality.