I have to agree with others I have had my 990 for a few years now and finally ran into the need for a HDMI switcher. I was glad to pay for the switcher 3 years later when the technology had finally matured enough to be reliable. Even now, I could have solved the video routing without HDMI it just helped solve future needs. Had Outlaw put in a flakey version of HDMI on the 990 I don't think we would have seen near the support and rave reviews for the 990. Having struggled through two Adcom preamps that couldn't handle digital audio reliably I never want to go back to "it works some of the time." As others have asked what do you really want an ethernet port on a preamp to do? I have a lot of Cat 5 and Cat 6 in my house, but really don't see a need for a preamp to be a part of that network. Give me great audio and pass video as a switcher, I don't need a preamp to do much else. I'd much rather buy another box that is dedicated to that function if needed.

Now to answer the question obsolete on arrival, in todays environment, most things on the shelves today are obsolete in terms of connections, the latest in capability or processing. However, I have 20 year old carver amplifier that does one thing very well. As long as I can get to RCA audio, I will still have it 20 years from now as reliable great sounding products are never really obsolete.

I see Outlaw processors in that same class, built like tanks, and they just work. I don't want them on the bleeding edge of technology, its to painful there. If my 990 is still around 20 years from now then it was a great product and thats what I would prefer to buy.