[Solved] Media PC designed for 1080P

Summary questions:

When building a media pc for a 47" widescreen 1080p LG LCD TV:
1. What types of video cards are best suited for playing games, movies, and surfing on a widescreen tv?
2. What resolution will produce the best picture?
3. Which tv inputs should I use, HDMI or VGA
4. Can I find deals right after xmas, or is there another time when hardware goes on sale?

Details:

I recently purchased a mac mini that I decided to install in the living room and plug into my 47" 1080p LG LCD TV. Long story short, I'm not a mac guy, I only bought it to develop iphone apps on, but I've really fallen in love with the idea of having a pc in the living room. I can swap over from watching tv to play movies, surf the web, and even develop all from the comfort of my couch. The mac is very quiet and does a lot, but of course it's lacking in games, and the OS is surprisingly hard to customize so that all of the fonts are readable. Windows and Linux easily let you play with desktop appearance settings, and of course play games, so I figured I should get around to building a windows box for my living room sometime over the next few months.

I've seen plenty of guides on building media pc's, but one part that I've always found lacking in information is what is what type of video card and resolution that is best for a 1080p tv. Should I be using the HDMI inputs or VGA inputs on the tv?

Do any other couch surfers out there have recommendations on wireless solutions for the keyboard and mouse that would work for gaming? I'm currently using a kingfish bluetooth wireless keyboard for my mac, it's comfortable enough but I need to get like lapboard or something to set everything on to keep my wrists in a good position.

And of course cost considerations: I already have an insulated case I could use, but it's a tower which might be large for a living room box, otherwise I'd be buying all new hardware. Is it cheaper to find deals after xmas? I'm hoping a $1000 will be a good middle of the road pricepoint. I've never been one to build the latest and greatest, or the cheapest

Thanks for any advice!
-Eric

I'm not a hardcore gamer, I might play wow again at some point. Mostly casual or RPG type games. I figured since 1080p isn't a super hi resolution that I didn't need a $200+ video card.