well this thread took a left turn at albuquerque.
i am going to preface this post with a couple of things: 1. is the LaserActive "worth" the money? For most people the answer is 'No'. I believe the primary reason most of the shade thrown at the LA is mostly because its expensive and, for the skeptics, the cost heavily outweighs the things it does well. 2. because of reason #1, the LA isn't for everyone. its expensive, its big, it doesnt really look like a game console, etc...
all that being said, there are some misconceptions about the LA. just because its expensive doesnt mean it does *everything worse than other consoles. as one of the few folks who have modified the console, the rgb and component video mods are pretty easy and straight forward. i would not try to region mod the PAC-N1 or N10, however. the picture quality of the modded LA is the best ive ever seen next to the PAL TG-16 (which almost no one has NTSC and RGB/Component modded so it almost doesnt even count). No jailbars whatsoever.
The stereo output is amped which is nice and the PCE/TG-16 dont have. For my setup, i have no use for digital audio anyway. Other than leaky caps, the PCBs in the PACs are the highest quality I have ever seen for a game console including Nintendo PCBs. They are built like high end stereo equipment. Once the caps are replaced, the PACs will pretty much last forever. The LA in general is just reliable. Mine plays everything the first time, without fail.
As far as day-to-day use goes, mine doesnt just sit on the shelf. I use it probably more than any other console. Just last night, I played some dragons curse then popped in a laserdisc and watched it. It opened up the world of laserdiscs for me which probably wouldnt have happened otherwise.
BL - like i said, its not for everyone, but the folks that have them seem to like them.