I bought the Panasonic PT AE4000, really happy with it. I did however find when I became a Screen Innovations dealer I brough in a Black Diamond screen for the demo room and wow that improved the picture 30%, needless to say it has been in my home ever since. I sugest not killing the buget on the projector but like audio, look at the system as a whole.
If you like that really brigh white pop look at a DLP projector.