But a version like this would be worth ordering too, perhaps more so, and I know many people are already working on their own versions of the '04s ...
It doesn't have to be jarring - it's a lot easier to make a sharp transfer look bad than it is to make a blurry transfer look good.
The DVD shots could VERY easily be blurred/downgraded in certain scenes that will have to use laser footage. Perhaps with keyframing so that the blurring comes and goes subtly when needed.
There are certainly a lot of arguments for doing this, since 90% of the film remains essentially unaltered.
You could watch a pristine transfer for that 90%, and then certain scenes would slowly, gradually, briefly become the laserdisc versions we know and love.
And yeah Molly - if someone has the '97 laserdisc lying around, they could certainly get a better transfer of Mr. Sebastian Shaw's face.
I bet you that a shot of the three force ghosts could very easily be created from laserdisc (and perhaps DVD) material, and it could be inserted into the '04 DVDs, and no one would notice the quality change because they're ... ghosts. And Ben and Yoda could be sharpened til the cows come home if you use a little bit of the shot as seen on the new DVDs.
And hell - if you REALLY don't want to use the new DVDs, why not edit together the OT and SE LDs? Surely the SE LD has a better transfer when it's not being full of awful CGI.
Anyway ...
obviously there's a place for both types of OT. The smart fan will be getting a laserdisc-sourced TK47/MeBeJedi, a damned '04 DVD set with Empire of Dreams, and some sharp editor's combination of both.