If you ever need warranty service on a soft-modded tv, you'd be smart to run a factory restore before taking it in for service. No way to detect you've been tinkering once you do that.
Amen to that! I've got mine software modded, I even took it apart when I got it to do the first round of mods to it. Now with patchstick, things are SOOOO much easier. I'll be getting a new drive for it. Though I rarely use my TV, TiVoHD pwns my Home Theater, the aTV is nice for things like ripped movies etc.