Sony Handycam: USB or Firewire

Hi,

I just bought a Sony Handycam DCR-HC26. It has both USB and firewire. My older computer (with Mandrake 10.0) doesn't have firewire, but I've never had any problems with USB - all the digital cameras, scanner, MP3 player, etc. either mount automatically asmnt-removable (or something) or at least show up in dmesg and I can mount them manually.

Or would it be easier to buy a (hopefully compatable!) firewire card and use that instead?

I want to use it to make mpg videos, DVDs, and as a webcam. Is webcam on Gyach possible with firewire?

My rant on "versions": All the drivers, modules, etc. I have are "stock" Mandrake 10.0 versions. PLEASE don't tell me to "get the latest version" unless you're confident that it will solve my problem. Too many times I have upgraded one module, only to find I also have to upgrade a lib, then some apps, more libs, more modules, until I eventually have to upgrade the entire OS - and find I STILL HAVE THE PROBLEM, and if-when I do find the solution, I find it had nothing to do with the version I had.

Lloyd Sumpter