I was wondering what people would think of using another dv camera as the vcr and monitor for the XL1S edit to a pc.I feel its a waste to use the XL1S for editting dv tape and when i went to price out a dv player they were outrageous .
I picked up a JVC GR 805 and it seems like not only will it be my player but its 3 1/2 inch screen can be used as a monitor for the xl1s using the dv cable to connect the 2 cameras.The GVC is small enough one could duct tape it to the tripod.

Yep, it's fine! Good stuff. Many people, including myself, do it that way.

is the dv cable that goes between the 2 cameras difficult to get ,and does anyone know how many wires are in the firewire cable.

Firewire cables can be found at many electronis stores. The typical 6 foot cables can be found for as litle as $6 or so, and the sky is the limit if you want Monster cables. They come in 3 basic flavors and various lengths. You will need the 4-pin-to-4-pin flavor to get camcorders to talk to each other.

Fire wire (IEEE 1394) is a high speed serial data protocol and uses 4 wires for data. The 6-pin cables have two additional wires for power. Most PCs use a 6-pin connector, and you need a 6-pin-to-4-pin cable to connect to a camcorder.