Is there any difference in the resultant files if .m2t files are loaded onto the time line and rendered using the Cineform codec versus converting them with HDLink?

HDLINK is a lot faster, and quicker to batch convert all the files. The quality would be the same inthe export from Premiere but just take a bit longer.

The flipside is that if you do a rough edit before rendering the intermediates, the render could actually end up being a lot SHORTER.