Good thread. I totally agree with the prevailing opinion about the PVR: when my family got our HDPVR it was truly a revelation. Absolutely worth it IMO.
With regards to component vs. DVI vs. HDMI, it is really up to you. Component video gives great quality, even for HD television. Of course, picking up that HDMI cable for $10 on monoprice isn't a huge expense, and doing so is likely to give you a single backwards-compatible audio/video cable for years to come (EDIT: some might debate the last part).
This is a very informative article you should give a read.
The two main draws of HDMI are: less clutter (one cable for video
and audio), and super high quality video transmission (has higher bandwidth capabilities than component video, though the maximum resolutions are identical between the two; differences are usually
very minor, and are usually most noticeable on Blu-ray discs; see
here for more). Other than compatibility with "HD audio" formats now and in the future (something you'd need a capable AV receiver and worthy 5.1+ speakers to make full use of anyways), these are the only two real advantages with HDMI.
DVI is essentially the same as HDMI, minus the audio. The confusing part comes when getting caught up in DVI's many forms (
see here). With the right type of DVI cable, though, you can expect excellent picture quality. Even though it's digital
& analog functionality makes DVI more flexible and functional than HDMI for some situations, it certainly also makes it less user-friendly.