I use a 24" jointer (a woodie). I like the woodie because it's cheaper than a good #7/#8, because it works great, and because I get to tell people about my 24" woodie.
Compared to the tailed jointer, there is no comparison. The quality of joint you get from a handplane that shaves the wood flat is far superior to a power jointer that chips away at it in a circular motion.
In terms of ease of use, my 24" woodie is a breeze. I can joint a top/back set (or anything else) in less than two minutes. The two minutes breaks down into (1) 30 seconds to pull out the woodie and the shooting board, (2) 15 seconds to clamp the back/top down, (3) 15 seconds to take 3 or 4 passes with the plane, and (4) 30 seconds to admire my handiwork.
It takes me longer than that to plug in the power jointer, put on safety glasses, and find my push-paddles.
A few people have commented about why they don't use the big hand planes, and tend to go with shorter planes. I won't argue with what works for other people, but here's why I use the long jointer for making joints. First, that's what it's for. The longer the plane, the flatter the jointed surface. The shorter the plane, the more likely you are to end up with a slightly convex/concave joint that needs to be re-planed if you want a light-tight joint. On boards this short, it is less likely to be a problem, but the principle remains true. I see no reason not to get all of the flat sole you can if you are jointing wood.
Second, the biggest complaint people have is usually about how difficult it is to wield such a big plane, and how you need to develop good planing technique. I respectfully disagree. If you find it difficult to wield a big plane, or if you are having problems with your planing technique, it is because you are trying to plane your joints freehand. There is no good reason to plane joints freehand (unless you really enjoy it), especially for joints as critical as top and back plates. I once attended a woodworking seminar on handtools by Graham Blackburn. He wisely taught that people tend to confuse using hand tools with using tools freehand. When you are going for accuracy, it is just as important to use fences and guides with handtools as it is with power tools. A slow woodworker can build a shooting board in five minutes that will give him easy, perfect joints for the rest of his life. My first experience with a handplane was using a shooting board, and there are few things in woodworking as easy as that. My ten-year-old son jointed his top and back plates on a guitar he built using my 24" jointer and a shooting board, and they were both easy and perfect; if he can do it, so can we!
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