Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I'm pretty much a complete noob when it comes to camera stuff. My wife loves to take pictures, though. So much so that she literally wore out her first point and shoot camera, and the Kodak Z712 I bought for her less than two years ago is starting to act up as well. To compound the matter, we are expecting our first born sometime next year. I fear the Kodak just isn't going to cut it any longer. What would be the best starter DSLR to get? She hates missing photo opportunities due to camera 'lag' so speed would definitely be at the top of the list. Photo quality and features would be next. Price should be no more than $800. I'm not interested in video capabilities."
Also USB does have the advantage of being able to move from computer to computer and not have to worry about pairing issues.
But honestly I only use USB for iPods/iPhones and my camera (although now i've got an expresscard media reader I don't need to do that). All my hard drives are FW800, it's worth the extra for "freeing up a USB drive" and it's also at least 3 times faster than USB.