Burn DVD from Camcorder

This is my first day on Techlore so please be patient with me plus I am a senior who sometimes get s confused with all these different tech terms. I am trying to burn DVD 's from my nieces JVC camcorder (mini DV tapes ) that she had taken of her wedding. My first idea was to buy a DVD recorder from QVC (Toshiba D-R400 for $80 ) but now I am having second thoughts as it is near impossible to figure out all the instructions in the phone book sized instructional manual !!! I did manage to do a DVD from an old VHS tape but I would like more editing options. My second option would be to download to my Dell computer which has a 80gig  harddrive with 70% space available. When I ordered my Dell I asked for the Movie Maker and the Picture it programs. I assumed that if I got the Movie Maker Program the computer would also have a Firewire card to make it work. How can I tell if I have the card? Is it difficult to install a Firewire card if I need one? Whats a good brand ? And will these tapes eat up alot of hard drive? Since I have about 6 tapes to burn to DVD would I have to do a couple then burn to DVD then erase them fom the hard drive and down load a couple more tapes etc. ? And lastly I remember doing high speed dubbing with audio cassettes years ago, can you do this with video? Thanks for your patience. Jim Cullen