Would there really be any difference if I hooked my DirecTV up via Component instead of HDMI? I've heard that there's no notable difference at all...can anyone confirm?

HDMI does allow better color, blacks, and sharper lines. It's not a night-and-day difference, but noticeable. I had two identical TVs and two DVD players playing the same movie, one connected via component, the other HDMI. The contrast was subtle, but noticeable on a 32" monitor; it's much more pronounced on larger sets.

There some minute electronic ringing on component vs. HDMI and on larger screens (about 52" onward) component looks "fuzzier" than HDMI.

Using my HD-A2 HD DVD player I find that on my 65" Toshiba the component connection looks better than HDMI.

I had my Directv hooked up via HDMI but just recently got a PS3
my tv only has 1 HDMI hook up and I don't have a switch so I decided to hook the PS3 up via HDMI and switch the Directv HD-DVR to component

I switched back and forth between the two inputs and couldn't see any noticable difference at all

this was on a Sony 36" Wega CRT (KD-36XS955)

Maybe someday I'll find out, but on my current component hookup, the picture looks great. Of course, I can't upconvert retail DVDs because of the HDMI stipulation, so I'll probably be getting an HDMI "module" for my 50" plasma in the future.

I was actually doing a PIP side-by-side comparison today of the same HD DVD (Transformers) running through component and HMDI at the same time from the same player. I have a 51" 1080i CRT RPTV. Here's my humble analysis:

Component:
slightly better color reproduction which I couldn't fully match with changing video settings
slightly deeper blacks

HDMI:
noticeably better black/shadow detail
slightly better white detail

So, though I still think the color is maybe 5% richer and deeper with component, it tends to crush the blacks more. I switched to HDMI mainly due to the better shadow detail. Also sharpness seemed exactly the same between the two.

Yeah, once I get the HDMI module for my TV I look forward to having the same type of ability to compare HDMI vs. Component as I have PIP abilities.