We used to rent from Apex Audio Visual all the time, and they seemed to have a good supply; not sure about their store though, never been there.
The best thing might be to buy from somewhere you can return it to (FS, Best Buy, Staples, etc) and just try it out.
Depending on your budget, I've read that the Infocus X1 is the best you can get for the $1200 price range.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/infocus_x1.htm