Need help picking an Intel based motherboard for my Q6600.  However, I am getting stuck on whether or not I need firewire and how many PCI slots (non-express) I really need.  Maybe you can help me sort it out.
 
First of, here are my uses for this build... gaming, office applications, internet/email, family photo and video editing.
 
Now, before I finalize my build, please help me determine the following:
 
1.  Not sure if I need firewire.  What exactly uses it?  Only device I would possibly use would be my Sony Mini-DV camcorder (not sure of model # but it is at least 3 years old).  Is USB 2.0 better?  
 
2.  How many PCI slots do I need?  I can only think of 2 components that would use PCI, soundcard and NIC.  What am I missing?
 
I do not want to run SLI so that rules out the 680i boards.  I believe the best that is left are the P35 boards.  I'm torn between the Abit IP35 and Gigabyte DS3 models.  Based on my above questions, certain models of these two brands can be eliminated such as the Gigabyte DS3P if I need more than 2 PCI slots or the DS3L if I need built-in firewire support.  The Abit IP35 and IP35 Pro have 3 PCI slots plus built-in firewire but not sure I need all the extra bells and whistles.  Also, not sure of Abit vs Gigabyte quality, double boot and cold boot problems I have been reading about.  Something else to consider... once I get a system built and tested, I will try to mildly OC but nothing too extreme.
 
Thanks!

ASUS P5K-E WIFI-AP
GIGABYTE P35 DS3R
ABIT IP35 PRO
 
these 3 boards are all rock solid, so u wont make a mistake choosing any of these

You should get a mobo with firewire so you can tell people that you have it. It's all about the e-penis

I have a Sony camcorder, and the only way that I could get video to stream to my PC for capture was via Firewire.  I always got a 'too slow of connection' error when using USB 2.0.  Theoretically, it should be similar speeds, but for whatever reason, I had issues.  (And yes, I did check to make sure I wasn't running USB 1.1 instead...)  Firewire cable from Newegg was like $5, $6 to ship it...go figure.

I think that there is more overhead with USB than firewire, so you get a higher usable throughput with firewire.