Help with Camcorder to PC video file transfer

Ok, I have NEVER owned a camcorder before in my life until Saturday. I bought Panasonic DVD Palmcorder (VDR-D220). It writes the video on a small DVD. I do not currently have a DVD burner/reader on my computer. What I want to do is simply move the video files from the camcorder DVD to my computer's hard disk and be able to edit them (I know I will need to get some software for this), save them and perhaps publish to the web. How hard could this be!? I have been reading articles all night on the internet (and I have read the whole manual that came with the camcorder - it never addresses how to get the files moved) that say that it is apparently very hard -that I need a firewire connection (that I don't have). However, after much searching, I don't see any place on the camcorder to even plug in a firewire connection - there is a USB port and an AV port - that is it. So, here are my dumb questions:

1. Do I really need a firewire port and, if so, where do I plug it in on the camcorder?
2. Can I just buy a DVD burner/reader for my computer and take the disk out of the camcorder and put it in the DVD burner/reader and copy from there to my computer hard drive and skip trying to transfer directly from the camcorder?
3. If #2 will work, do I have to have a firewire connection for a DVD burner to connect to my pc? (will USB work?)

I need a really simple answer without a lot of jargon and acronyms to decifer.
Also, if you can help me get my video to my hard drive - can you reccomend an easy to use video editing software program?

Can anyone help me?

thanks,
Onalee