It's nice to have as I'd rather connect my 360 with HDMI because of the 1 cable. My 1080p TV displays component in 1080p so that's not why I'd rather have one of these new 360's. My guess is this is the first of the 65nm chipped 360's.
I'm glad i didn't get a 360 yet, because when i get mine i'll have a price drop and hdmi. not like that matters because the only hd screen i have is a moniter but i plan on getting a hdtv at about the same time i get a 360.