I would get the 1080p if it was me. I am in the market shortly for another tv, probably 50" plasma or LCD. The premium for 1080p is not what it used to be, and I would like to maximize the performance of Bluray and my cable tv. You will never regret getting 1080p, but might regret not getting it.

On another note...

Can someone please explain/clarify the benefits of upconverting standard DVD's with a bluray player? It does not make sense to me how this is improving anything.

I have a 720p 50" LCD. When I watch DVD's from my standard DVD player, doesn't the TV have to convert everything to the its native resolution of 720p? So it upconverts the signal already. What is an upconverting DVD player going to add to that?

And besides, upconverting adds no additional information to the signal, so how does it improve it anyhow? If the picture is 480p on the disc, there is no more resolution available than that. If anything wouldn't the upconverting process be adding artifacts to the picture that should not be there?