If you don't need the mounting flexibility of a flat panel (LCD, Plasma) then you'll get more bang for your buck with a rear projector.

The Sony SXRD sets are excellent. The SXRD panel is high contrast, high fill factor and good color but without the flicker/rainbow issues of DLP's that use a color wheel. The scaler/deinterlacer does a good job. The out of the box calibration is quite good but if you are extra picky there is a lot available without having to go into scary service menus. The input flexibility is good with the latest models even supporting the fancy schmancy 1080p/24fps mode that some HD-DVD and BluRay players can output. I've been very happy with mine.

It does have a replaceable bulb but it's rated for something like 8000 hours which is a hell of a lot of TV to watch.

Whatever you decide, my best advice is get the biggest screen that is reasonable for your room. It may seem shocking at first but you'll quickly get used to size.