Here's Da Sitiation,
hehe. Just went through this. The models I narrowed it down to where the Denon 3805/3806, yamaha 2600, Onkyo 703 (even 603), or Harman Kardon AV435. The HK and Onkyo where my final choices d/t lower price and features. I didn't care about HDMI, because that format is changing. If you spend $200 more on a unit just becuase it has this, you are thinking poorly. For the extra $200 you can get a stand-alone HDMI converter and have an less expensive part to change when the formats change. Otherwise, your entire reciever is out of date. Going back and forth between the 2 was difficult. Each had features the other didn't, but both good models. I finally decided on an inexpensive seperate that had the features I needed that were lacking on the Onkyo, HK. I didn't care about Xm radio or Ipod, nor HDMI. Like I said, I will use a seperate converter when that time comes. In case you don't know what a stand-alone HDMI is, here is a link to one.
Sherwood Newcastle HSB-600 HDMI-Link
Good luck and happy hunting. If it where my, and you where set on the $500 range, get the HKAVR435. The heaviest unit in the category. Second choice would be the Onkyo.