I'm considering purchasing a receiver in the next few months. My old Denon receiver is decent but does not support HDMI and the Dolby Digital processing produces a muffled center channel (DTS is fine). I'll look at the Onkyo models first.
For this receiver, I'll purchase locally (audio specialty store or box box store) if the prices are somewhat competitive with online stores. If not, I'll just go online to the least expensive place that I know is reliable (J&R, Crutchfield, Buy.com, Amazon, etc.).
I already have the various cables and accessories that I need. There is a small chance I'll look into a new universal remote, if any show up that support bluetooth (for the PS3) in the near future.