I decided to purchase the JVC BR-HD50 rather than going tapeless with the HD100 solution.

I use FCP as an editing solution...my question is this. Does the BR-HD50 downconverts on the fly? I could have sworn the other day that I input some HDV footage and was able to lay it on the timeline and preview it on real time thru the Firewire cable and out S-VHS to my NTSC monitor...was I on drugs?

It down converts but not via firewire.

All analog outputs can be down converted.

I'll have to double check on the HDMI but I think it does.

It doesn't playback MOTION from HDV through firewire to NTSC, but interestingly, if the deck is set to DV, it will show a still frame from your timeline when you pause. It isn't that great a downconvert, but it is useful - especially if you don't have a decent HD monitor....