Welcome to PhotonLexicon, Chumdizzle. Rest assured, you are in the right place if you are looking for answers (and especially if you are looking for other like-minded laserists). We are all pretty passionate about what we do.
That being said, we do take safety seriously, which is why some of the posts above might sound a bit harsh. It's not meant as an attack on you personally. It's just really important to understand the danger.
As for where you want to go from here, there are lots of options. My advice to you would be to attend a Laser Enthusiast's Meeting before you spend a large chuck of cash on anything. Unfortunately, you're in California, so you're looking at quite a haul to get to one.
The big daddy of them all is SELEM, which is coming up next month. While it would require you to fly all the way to the east coast, if there is any way you can swing the trip, I'd encourage you to do so. You will learn more in those 4 days than you will in a year of just reading the forums. Also, you'll have the chance to "test drive" various projectors, software, and controller combinations. That way when it comes time to spend your money, you will have a much better idea as to what you want.
Yes! 1000 times yes!
I was one of those people who tried to do everything on the cheap. I went through 4 different laser show controllers before I settled on the one I have now. I wasted several thousand dollars trying to save money. If I had it to do all over again, I would have just purchased what I have now from the beginning. I would have saved several years of frustration and a good bit of money as well.
That's why I encourage you to attend SELEM. You'll see first-hand what I'm talking about. (You'll also have one hell of a lot of fun - I promise!)
Adam
PS: As a side note, everyone who has posted in this thread so far will be at SELEM this year. (Well, technically MixedGas hasn't signed up yet, but he's a regular so I'm assuming he will be there too.)