Reconstructions vs low quality originals

I heard some comments about this topic, but I wanted to organize these comments into one thread.

If you had to choose between a reconstruction of star wars like Harmy's, or the JSC/Defcol-Faces-Gout/Puggo/97LD/97DTV releases, which are lower resolution but consistent in quality, and in some cases provide more detail upscaled than that which is scrubbed from the 2004 transfers, which would it be?

Note: Preferring Harmys because of the audio options doesn't count.

I love Harmy's work, but my go-to release of the trilogy is the JSC.

Generally prefer Harmy's.  The fact that some SE elements are present doesn't bother me as long as I really don't notice them, and all of the DeEd's have reached this threshold for me.  The only thing that really bugs me on occasion is the variability in quality (exceeding the already high variability of the theatrical versions).

I've noticed that the DVD downscales of the DeEd's "blend better" by putting an artificial upper limit on the detail, and that limited quality is still higher than any other non-reconstructed source--so for those who can't stand the variability, the DVD downscales of the DeEd's may work better.  That said, I still prefer to watch the 720p versions and suffer with the occasional jarring moment.

Honestly though I think it's not so much the resolution, but the colors that push Harmy's work over the top for me, especially for Star Wars.

Back when the DeEd's were at version 1.x, I preferred dark_jedi's work.  Still do in many ways for Jedi.  Those eyebrows, man...

Plus, I never really adjusted to the whole "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" thing, so that limits my video options for Star Wars.

I'm hoping -1's work makes this whole "you must choose: high-def reconstruction or lo-def original" dichotomy moot.

Harmy's is the closest to what I remember seeing in the theater in 1977.

If it wasn't so well done, I'd pick a consistent low quality version over Harmy's. Harmy's are beautiful to look at, and seamless enough for me. (ROTJ is a bit rough for the time being, but that'll be addressed soon enough.)

Actually it's a bit like a Ship of Theseus. Question: you take a broom, you replace the handle. Then, later, you replace the brush. And you do that over and over again. Is it still the same broom? No, but you can still sweep the floor! Which is not strictly relevant. But what if you replace the handle and brush with duplicates of the original?

...well whatever. I'd choose Harmy's work. 's all I have really. Apart from my VHS tapes, of course.