Is there a better way to encode a quote form?

I am looking for advice and possibly sample code, links that will help me improve my quote form. The current scenario is as follows: -

dynamic (select combos) rows are generated for items (from mysql database) along with empty input fields for price and quantity. user adds or removes lines based on no. if items are needed and fill in the price, quantity, etc., and then transferred to the second form with all calculated values, etc., so that he can print the same or send it by e-mail.

now the number of elements is about 3500, so when the user reaches the 5th or 6th row, he begins to add a new row very slowly. I need to pull mysql elements from the database, as they are constantly growing.

any help is much appreciated. thanks in advance.

Below is the javascript code for the dynamic strings that I am currently using: -

<SCRIPT language="javascript">
    function addRow(tableID) {
        var table = document.getElementById(tableID);
        var rowCount = table.rows.length;
        var row = table.insertRow(rowCount);
        var colCount = table.rows[0].cells.length;
        for(var i=0; i<colCount; i++) {
            var newcell = row.insertCell(i);
            newcell.innerHTML = table.rows[0].cells[i].innerHTML;
            //alert(newcell.childNodes);
            switch(newcell.childNodes[0].type) {
                case "text":
                        newcell.childNodes[0].value = "";
                        break;
                case "checkbox":
                        newcell.childNodes[0].checked = false;
                        break;
                case "select-one":
                        newcell.childNodes[0].selectedIndex = 0;
                        break;
            }
        }
    }
    function deleteRow(tableID) {
        try {
        var table = document.getElementById(tableID);
        var rowCount = table.rows.length;
        for(var i=0; i<rowCount; i++) {
            var row = table.rows[i];
            var chkbox = row.cells[0].childNodes[0];
            if(null != chkbox && true == chkbox.checked) {
                if(rowCount <= 1) {
                    alert("Cannot delete all the rows.");
                    break;
                }
                table.deleteRow(i);
                rowCount--;
                i--;
            }
        }
        }catch(e) {
            alert(e);
        }
    }
</SCRIPT>

Below is the php code that I use to pull mysql elements into a select list box

<?php
                $con = mysql_connect('connection details');
                if (!$con)  {
                die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());}
                $db=mysql_select_db('database',$con);
                $extract1=mysql_query("query")
                                    OR die(mysql_error());
                $numrows1=mysql_num_rows($extract1);
                echo "<select name='item[]' title='selectItemName'>";
                echo "
                        <option>Select Item Description</option>
                        ";
                while ($row1=mysql_fetch_assoc($extract1)) 
                {
                    $ic[]=$row1['ItemName'];
                }
                foreach ($ic as $i){
                echo "<option>".$i."</option>";
                }
                echo    "</select>";
                mysql_close($con);
                ?>

I also tried the following jquery example, which is pretty neat. but I'm new and don’t know how to fill in the rest of the fields along with the selection field. here is the code

<script type="text/javascript"> 

    $(document).ready(function() {
        $("select[multiple]").asmSelect({
            addItemTarget: 'bottom',
            animate: true,
            highlight: true,
            sortable: true
        });

    }); 

</script>