I'm getting my wife a dvd recorder for Christmas. My main concern is ease of use. I've narrowed my choices down to a Panasonic and a Pioneer. The only difference I can detect is that the Panny has a front-panel digital camcorder input (IEEE 1394), but the Pioneer doesn't have this input. The wife wants to convert her digital camcorder videos to dvd (and old vhs tapes, too). Her digital camcorder does have the IEEE 1394 output. Should this be the clincher or deciding factor? Or, would S-video or camcorder cable with single jack on output end and composite jacks on input end work just as well?

Santa needs help!