Panasonic HD Video camera Model HDC-SD40, 1080p questions

Hello!! I recently got a Panasonic HD camcorder for my birthday (today) and I have some questions about it and was hoping that some of you guys could answer! First question, does it degrade over time and if so how long? Number two is the video quality true HD (Full 1080p)? Number Three, what size and speed SD card should I get, and also what type? Overall I like it but i've got to give it some time to truely evaluate its performance.