I just bought a refurb Denon 787 from DAK on eBay (DAK is an authorized dealer which makes a difference with Denon) for $250. It's 85 wpc and it does 5.1 with a separate zone or it can do 7.1 without the zone. It doesn't have HDMI though which is probably why it's so cheap. I don't need it myself since I'm not planning on upgrading to HD for a while and when I do I'll just update receivers too. Hopefully I can update within a year or so but in the meantime I expect the Denon to provide me with adequate service. The 786's do have HDMI I believe but you won't find them at a price this low. DAK offers a one year warranty on stuff they sell too which is much better than the 90 day warranty you usually see with refurb stuff.
I don't think you'll see a better deal on a budget receiver than that. I didn't when I looked but I was limited to stuff with pre-amp outputs since I was mainly replacing my old Harmon Kardon pre-amp/tuner separate that kicked the bucket on me. But the amps on the Denon allowed me to get rid of the amp I was using to drive the surround channel which essentially just gave me more room. It also improved my sound over my HK which I should have replaced earlier. There were things I liked about the HK but I think it's more about not having lived with the Denon long enough to learn the best way to set things up.