Visa/MC Purchase Protection includes Debit Cards?

i've seen (so far already, being a newbie here and all) alot of the unresolved disputes root from buyers taking higher(?) risk by wiring money, or bank debits (ie, using paypal or some other similar service to electronically transfer money from their bank account to the recipient's account).

do u guys feel safe allowing paypal to do 'instant transfers' from your bank account when buying livestock from online vendors u may have little or no trust with?

i can imagine credit cards would be the safest, but for those of us like my 'starving college grad' self, who have very low credit limit or for any other reasons chose not to dip into credt, isnt using a visa/debit card linked to our bank account the next best thing? i mean, as far as consumer protection is concerned when credit card is not an option.

i'm not that familiar with banking fine print but i vaguely remember reading somewhere that visa & mastercard (well at least those two) have established security blankets for protecting consumers from getting ripped off (as opposed to wiring/transferring money out of a bank account) in the event of non-receipt of merchandise or blatant misrepresentation.

would using my visa/mc debit card thru paypal harness the consumer protection power of visa/mc?

ps- i'll ask my bank if i get a chance too, to see what their official stance is. i am aware that paypal promises a 45-day window to allow for delivery/inspection of merchandise/services paid for thru its service but would not rely on paypal alone if its possible an unscrupulous vendor were to ship me a brick instead of a turtle or a green instead of an albino etc etc.