Thanks Joe.

The component out does spit out HD!
The off air/cable tuner works great!!!!
My cable stuff gets upconverted and it shows up in the guide and in the index!
If I want HBO 509 I punch in 509 enter if I want local channel 11 I punch in 11 enter and the transition from dish to ant or cable or off air HD is seamless and the old dss on/off discretes work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice unit and it is standard width!

Discretes! Woo hoo! I've been needing a DSS. Sounds like waiting may have been a good thing!

I got the new Sony HD satilite receiver, and returned it two days later. The unit has a fan inside that makes a lot of both air and motor noise. During dialog it was very distracting. The fan stays on as long as the unit is plugged in. It is clearly audible when walking into the room with the system off, or anytime the sound track is reasonably low. Anytime there was a lull in dialog or other sound, the fan motor noise was distracting. Has anyone else had this problem? The Mitsubishi unit has no fan is silent.

I have heard several people complain about the Fan noise on the Sony HD100. My Mits HD box is perfectly quiet. I too really like the OTA guide integration with the DSS guide. I just found out that you can enter your Zipcode and the guide will include all your OTA program information. I still think I'm going to trade this in for the Sony HD box though.

Anyone opened it up to check on the fan and how hot the unit actually gets? Fans can always be slowed down (had to do that on a noisy micro PC).

They're out. We got 2 last week. Not sure how good the supply is, tho...normally we'd have gotten a lot more.

JoeC: Why do you want to trade in the Mits unit for the Sony? Does the Sony do something the Mits does not? Make sure you listen to the Sony in a quiet room. I think you will find the noise unacceptable. The saleman from store came to my house and heard the noise and agreed it was objectionable, and was very suprised at the noise level.

I hooked the mitsu HD500 to my 16:9 Mitsu WS65903 and the picture is lousy on 480 Direct tv compared to the Sony a50. In Non HD mode it really is a lousy picture. Not sure exactly what to do. I did use the Mitus adaptor box.

Mike B,

Doesnt the Mitsu upconvert the 480 to 1080 ?

THE SONY HD100 is the best. I had the Panasonic TUHDS20 last week and what a piece of sh&T. At 1080I it would lose data alot and give you screen garbage. The menu system like the Mistu is horrible.. THE SONY IS AWESOME. As with all Sony Dss boxes they have the menu system to a science. Allows the mini view when tuning and the picture in HD looks 1000% awesome. Way better than the Panasonic. Stay clear of the TUHDS20, they are all being recalled anyway.

I highly recommend the SONY SAT-HD100 - By the way the remote is also the best of all. It's silver and has the Sony Joystick..

GO SONY !

I had the Sony SAT-A50 and I have to say that I liked the menu and Guide system a lot.

However I just got the Toshiba DST-3000 and I think their menu and Guide system is even better than SOnys. On all their guides, it stays on the channel you are watching while you search through the guide. It also has 4 different TRANSPARENCY settings so you can see right through the guide. I have to say its the best menu system I have seen on a DSS system.

MIKE B: My Mits gives a very fuzzy picture on NON-HD as well. The 1080i from OTA and directv is GREAT!!.
I really am thinking that there is a compatibility issue with the Mits and the XBR400 that I have. Also, every Channel, including OTA and NON-HD from direct, is in 16:9 format, with no way to project a 4:3 image through the component video.

I am being told that is not normal. I think it is because the Mits upconverts everything to 1080i if it is not already 1080i. This results in the 16:9 image. If I knew that every channel would be 16:9, I would have purchased the 16:9 TV. I tried all the TV settings as well as the Mits box settings. I do not want to have to connect S-video for non-HD stuff, that is a pain to constantly switch video inputs on the TV.

DAVID: I am just a believer of compatibility within manufacturers. Also, When I call tech support, Sony blames the Mits, and of course Mits will blame the Sony. ALSO: The Sony will output 480i from the Component video (mode 3) I think, this should result in a clear, 4:3 image displayed on my XBR, If it is 4:3 material. PLUS: I can exchange STB from my great local Electronics store, no charge, of course. Sort of, try before you buy.

MIKE B: What is the Mitus adapter box that you are using with your Mits STB and Mits TV?

I mispelled it. it is the Mitsu adaptor that they are selling on the Mistsubishi web site for HD tvs they manufactured before 99. It adapts to the proprietary inputs Mitsu had started to use.