I need help at buying a receiver

Hi guys,
I'd like to buy a good receiver for my birthday.
I've never owned one before, so I'd really really appreciate it if you could help me choose one.

Okay, so here are a few details to start with:
*It's meant for the main hall (which is a bit over average in size).
*It's not for music listening, but for watching movies and Sat-TV.
*I have 6 speakers, but 5.1 could do fine as well.
*I live in a building with neighbors, so I wouldn't use a very high volume.
I plan to connect it to a DVD player, TV and a PC.

The price limit would be... $500, but do not hesitate to suggest a decent receiver at half the price, 'cause in my country, all US prices are somehow multiplied by 2.5, meaning that a $500 receiver is gonna cost me $1250!

Also, I did a little research and found out that new receivers come with an HDMI tuner, right? If I'm gonna switch to a TV with HDMI in a year or two, can I get along without an HDMI receiver?

Thanks a whooooole lot in advance!


Animy