I think the problem is not the javascript, but instead the browser. Trying to change the display of a thousand items can cause it to be a little slow. I present to you a small example, that shows javascript can handle many items at once, and since the browser only has to display a few items at once, the results are instant. http://www.sunsean.com/jsonTable/2000.html
I would also reduce the timeout to only 100ms, but that's just me. ~Sean
