I hope I am not out of line offering another point of view here. I am new to this board as well. Anyway, I also live in New England and went with the Prius II after test driving the HCH. Here is what I found the main diverences to be.

Honda tries to hide the technology while Toyota tries to embrace it

the Honda handels a bit better

I haven't had any issues with handling or reliability this winter (I took delivery in Nov.)

I live in New england as well, and have been getting about 40-50 mpg durring the winter with four Nokia winter tires. I just got them off and expect my efficiency to jump by 10 mpg.

The toyota is quieter unless you are accelerating hard.

The toyota has better visibility (for me the extra little window added visibility not took it away)

The honda doesn't have fold down seats (this is what ultimatley led me to the prius, I need space).

They seem to have similar waranties, I bought an upgrade for $700 which extended the bumper to bumper.

The toyota has more options this is both a plus and a minus because you may not end you getting exactly what you want because of the next thing.

The toyota you will probably have to wait for. And there are rumors of dealers raising their prices due to demand.
so, That's that. Sorry if this is out of place, they are both wonderful cars.

Leko