Namlemez,
I do have some experience, YES.
1. Nope. It just struck me as odd that a $100 device would do what everyone else charges $1000+ to do. Either it doesn't do it as well, or everyone is going to own one in a couple of months... I haven't seen anyone else taking this unit seriously, so I'm not going to be the first... I'll want to see it first. If someone on this forum (whom I know) wants to give it a shot & tell us how good/bad this unit is, I'd be interested in hearing about it. I suspect it will not be as good as Omega1 or iScan PRO (I'm comparing to doublers, I don't think it will stand up to any scaler). There are many types of motion adaptive deinterlacers. You can do it with 16x16 blocks, and you can dedicate a processor for each pixel (e.g., Terranex). I'm just saying it might not be what people on this forum are looking for (mid-high end), there are plenty of internal scalers that already do a half-ass job, we don't nee any more...
2. On DVD material, I agree 100%. The problem is video, not DVD (unless it's of video material).
3. Where can I buy the software to make the HTPC work like an appliance? I've yet to see a single solution that isolates you from windows entirely (i.e., never have to hook up a keyboard or mouse again). I have LOTS of computers in my house. My HT is one place I really don't want a computer in. Pretty soon, I'd be playing games, writing emails and doing work (I know myself all too well). I need an appliance that I can tweak, that runs silent (i.e., absolutely no noise, particularly shrieking HDD noise) and self contained software. The closest thing I've seen is "ShowStopper". It does DVD playing (Dscaler plugin), timeshifting, etc.
However, no aspect ratio control, no full 100% isolation from windows, and the interface won't work well under 16:9 displays. Finally, there's no serious video-mode deinterlacing. For me (a plasma owner), the biggest problem is that the UI is completely non-plasma-friendly. It will burn-in after 4-5 days.
4. That's something I don't understand. If you have an internal DVD player, why do you need SDI (unless it's coming out of a modded DirectTV)?
I'd love to build my own appliance and configure it, but I don't want to write all the software to do it, myself. I have yet to find a single all-encompassing solution that will fix it all for me...
Heck, I've only recently seen a fully working infra red remote control solution (I didn't want to get an IR keyboard). I mean one that's not made by someone in his backporch after working hours & doesn't cost $200 to boot...
You'll find that the video processor and HTPC camps are usually exclusive (except Mark Rejhon, who is a real pioneer in both camps). People from one camp don't much like the other one. I'm a windows software engineer, which is probably why I'm in the Video processor camp...