Blu-Ray & 720p

[Odysseus]

My wife watches a lot of (standard broadcast, not High Def) television (Direct TV) and an occasional movie on DVD.

Our vintage projection TV just went wheels up and we are trying to decide what to replace it with. We are looking (at Costco) at a Sony 46" 720p which we can buy for $1300 or a competing brand in a 46" 1080p (price is a consideration).

Since we do not watch high-def and are not particularly interested at this stage, it makes sense to me to go for the 720p, but with a couple of questions first.

Will the 720p resolve standard definition broadcasts better than a 1080p? About the same?

If it depends on the brands or models, what brands or models do a better job in this screen size?

Other than Blu-Ray DVD, is there any reason to have a 1080p? If the answer is "looking to the future", what is in the future that warrants 1080p?

Looking ahead to the eventual replacement of standard DVDs by Blu-Ray, will the 720p give a good picture from a blu-ray DVD in a blu-ray player (obviously not as good as a 1080p, but compared to a standard DVD)?

Are there any guesses as to when Blockbuster and Netflix will phase out standard DVD's?

Perhaps more pertinent, when will the studios stop putting out new movies in standard DVD format?

Thanks in advance.