Purchising my 1st flat panel

[jjmassey]

Hi folks,

I've been reading and reading and so I'm looking to you all for some advice because I'm more and more confused as I keep reading.

We just bought a home. The ONLY place to put the TV is above the fireplace. Seriously, thats it. With that in mind, I'm having the builder put an outlet above the mantle and run a PVC chase down into the basement. I'll be keeping all the components down in the basement and all the wires will fall neatly into it.

It's a fairly bright room so I'm thinking LCD. the mantle is 72" wide and so I'm thinking either 46" or 50".

The smallest viewing distance will be about 7 feet and average will be 10-13 ft. or so.

With that in mind:
1.) Should I get a 720P instead? I keep reading that you have to be close to view a 1080p set.
2.) If so would any of you recommend one? I can't find recent reviews...
3.) Should I stick with a 1080 set? If so, would any of you send me to a site that has reviewed equipment this year?

The only things I find are reviews and opinions from 2007 or from January of this year.

Again this is my first flat panel so my budget is no more than 2700 and I'd prefer to spend less.
I'll also be getting a swivel/tilting mount in case it need to be tilted downward or slightly to an angle and so on.