Advice needed on buying a projector

[saspgmr]

OK. So, once we get past the cpature, edit, convert, author, and burn, I assume most of us want to watch the videos. It seems that if you want to watch on a really big screen you can spend a pile of money on a pannel display, fill up your room with a giant TV, or buy a projector. Now I've been reading a lot about projectors and its great to learn about the technical stuff. But when I'm watching a movie all I care about is whether the picture is good enough so I feel like I'm in a theater (or at least close enough for my imagination). But with projector prices ranging from $500 to $35,000 and the quality/price going so high recently I was wondering:

If my price range is $1000 to $2500, what will the perceived difference in viewing quality be for every $250 jump in price range (viewing DVDs from a stand alone player)? I know the only way to be sure is to actually test the models I would be considering, but any help in reducing the search process would be greatly appreciated.

[Dr. DOS]

From my understanding some projectors are great showing a powerpoint presentation but lack in projeting full motion video. I would go to a high end video store and pick their brains regarding 3 beam vs single beam projectors for movies, etc....

Coolest thing my old boss had was a three beam prjector that was 'hosted' in his ceiling and when he wanted to watch a show he would press a button and down came the projector from the ceiling and and a screen at the other end of the wall. Very high tech for 8-10 years back....