VIDEO LOOPING PROJECTORS: recommendation needed

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

I'm getting ready to invest in a video projector
to project the looping 'animations' that I've been creating
with very lo fi, toy video cameras.

I want to spend between $500 and $1,000
and am overwhelmed by the number of units on the market.

I also know that lumen statistics can be horribly skewed by
making the green portion of the spectrum over emphasized when
the units are shipped from the factory.

How important is contrast ratio?   Overall lumens?    

I've tried to research projectors but I figured there was so much 
expertise on this
forum that you all might be into proferring your advice about what to buy.

1)  the cheaper the better, obviously,  but my range is $1,000 and under
2)  I'd like to be able to project at approximately life size (so that 
the scale of my performance
and that of the video is about the same)
3)  I'd love it to be as quiet as possible and with the richest colors 
conceivable.
4)  It would be best if the size is as small as possible,  but I'd 
rather have a larger projector
if the quality is better, than a smaller one whose image is not as good.

Can you help me with recommendations?     The Thansgiving/Christmas 
sales are going to be
slamming because the economy sucks so badly so I think now is the best 
time to try and invest.

Thanks, in advance for your expertise   (Mark?   Emile?   others?)

yours, gratefully  Rick Walker