All products from Xpress Pro to DS Nitris:

Sure you can mix resolutions but you still can't mix framerates.  I think it's time for that feature to be implemented.  If I have a 24fps clip and drop it into a 60i sequence, the system should automatically , in real time, insert a pulldown OR if I'm putting 60i clips in a 24fps sequence, the system should automatically, in real time remove fields.  Same goes for mixing NTSC and PAL... and all the different formats of HD.  In fact you shouldn't have to assign a format to a project at all... just tell the system how you want it to playback and it does it.  I got a taste of this on Quantel and it's AWESOME... considering now-a-days, clients give me source material that's originated on many different formats at many different framerates...  the system shouldn't lock you in and force you to spend hours and hours cross converting into the "chosen" format.

Normally, when you start a project, you specify format, framerate, resolution, etc...  and all sequences are pretty much locked into that format.  You should just open a project and within that project be able to capture clips from any standard format NTSC - PAL - HD, etc... at any framerate and be able to edit it all in the same timeline.  All you need to do is specify how you want that timeline to output and the system will do the necessary scaling and framerate conversion in realtime as you play. 

Sure it sounds like I'm asking a lot but this is 2008 and computers have 8 cores now... there's no shortage of CPU power these days. 

Also, this would give Avid a MAJOR leg up over Final Cut which is a great editor but it's far less forgiving when it comes to real-time playback versus Avid's products.

That would certaily be useful, but the automatic time re-mapping should have an on/off switch. Generally if I throw a 24fps clip into a 30fps timeline I want it to do pulldown so everything plays at the right speed; but on the other hand I'd still like to be able to throw something of a different framerate into my timline without correction for under/over-cranking. The current restrictions in frame rate are also nice for using a video format at a frame rate it's not technically set up for (some of the 24-frame formats are compressed as 25-frame video and played out slow on the timeline).

Witout overlooking the usefull features of framerate restrictions, I think this would be an amazing and freeing way to work. Lets get some 'new thinking' going on around here.