Actually, CG-FeedRead is really simple to use and drops right in. The code is just what parameters you want. It works great for sidebars, multi-feeds (the auto-date-inteleaved stuff mentioned above), and is easy to use for a 'news page' that looks like it's part of WP (see http://www.realtechnews.com/blog/rtnews.php for a news page I helped work up using out-of-the-box CG-FeedRead).
Might just be me, but I prefer to have my feeds going through my site, not someone else's. ;)
-d