Be aware that a 34" HDTV will actually produce a smaller picture in 4:3 than a 27" 4:3 set.
My mom recently moved from an ancient 27" Trinitron to the Sony 34XBR960 (generally regarded as the best CRT set ever made), and although it's a beautiful TV, I think it's a little on the small side for her viewing distance (about 8 feet).
A larger DLP or LCD RPTV will actually be considerably easier to handle (my mom's XBR weighs 200 pounds, whereas a 50" DLP set weighs only 70 or so) and shallower, and in that respect actually dominates the room LESS than a large CRT set.
Given your price limit, I'd suggest you look at the Panasonic Tau sets, which are, IMO, the best CRTs for the money. This is what I had suggested to my mom, but she fell in love with the XBR at first sight.