ContentTypeRef or ContentType in schema.xml

Couldn't figure out why my schema.xml adapted from a downloaded site template .stp file was not a Contact type (ServerTemplate was not 105). The following quote explains why:

It is worth noting that you can specify a new content type in a schema.xml file of a list feature (aka list definition), however inheritance from the parent class is not preserved if specified there (bizarrely).

http://www.rnowik.com/SharePoint-Content-Type-IDs.aspx

This article seems to favor using the copy-a-ContentType into your list definition: http://rnowik.com/MOSS-WSS-3-0-Creating-a-custom-list-feature.aspx

This article seem to indicate ContentType is disfavored and ContentTypeRef is preferred: http://withinsharepoint.com/archives/115
It is noteworthy in this article that Visual Studio appears to have imported the ContentType.

The problem with using ContentTypeRef is that I see no way to override the DisplayName of title as shown in dispform.aspx and EditForm.aspx, which continues to show the Last Name of the referenced ContentType.