After seeing both of them side by side I think that the Elite looks about $35 better than the standard. I do like the Aroura board and it helps immensely and since the two models now have the same menu system and same bezel <-(sp?) I say save the money. The multimedia tower that comes with the Elite has a HD OTA tuner that really SUCKS and is slow on top of that! I think that the only difference is that the Elite has HDMI whereas the standard has only DVI with the Auroura board. Still the standard is a much better value. With HD programming you really have to be a computer to tell tell the difference. By the way did you know that you can remove the bezel from the old Elite ('03) and make it look like a standard Pioneer with exception if the menu system of course. So, what am I trying to say.... Buy the standard and use the extra money to buy a cool popcorn or espresso machine.