I'm tired of working on a laptop. Kill me.

I've done research on this stuff, so i'll be brief. You want an IPS type panel. All other panel types are inferior. TN suffers from small viewing angles and image inversion. MVA/PVA suffers from gamma-shift. Just take a look at the cheapest iMac that's out at the moment; look at slightly from the side and you'll notice white colours becoming a foul muddy brown hue. The larger iMacs use IPS panels, although they're not as sophisticated as the types used by NEC/LaCie (LaCie monitors are mostly made by NEC btw - Eizo still use PVA type panels but they are very good, though still not on a par with IPS).

Wide-gamut is not a desirable feature. Why? Because unless you work in Photoshop 99% of the time, any other application you use (which isn't colour aware, which is basically all of them apart from Firefox and a few others) will display the wrong colours. You can't calibrate the over-saturation away, nor can you simply decrease the saturation in your video drivers - it might look more accurate, but it isn't. Sadly, joe-bloggs the consumer has been brain-washed into thinking that they need wide-gamut, so that's what most monitors are these days.

This limits your choices. While it's a good thing that there are an increasing number of monitors that use IPS-based panels, IPS doesn't guarantee you a good image. Ideally, you should get a standard-gamut screen, the best of which is probably the NEC 2490WUXi. This is a superb monitor. It has far more configuration options than most consumer-level models, and is pretty well-calibrated out of the box. Unfortunately it's rare. So you could go bigger and get the NEC 2690WUXi. This is a wide-gamut LCD, but the RGB mode is excellent (looks better than my old Diamondtron CRT). This is in stark contrast with the HP LP2475, whose colour-temperature adjustment makes bugger-all difference and still gives you ugly, over-saturated images. Great viewing angles and a great LCD panel let-down by badly-configured internals. I own these monitors so I know about this first-hand.

There are other manufacturers who produce IPS-type monitors, but I don't know how easier it is to correct the wide-gamut problem for those. Bear in mind that even Windows 7 doesn't appear to have proper colour-management; if you're using a Mac OS you'd have more luck. Finally, someone mentioned the Apple monitors. They look pretty, but are amongst the most expensive of IPS monitors with the least configurability, and lacking certain important improvements like a TW-filter layer. LED backlights are great and all, but they really only allow a slightly wider-gamut (great, even MORE garish images) and slightly lower power-consumption, as well as a thinner display. These "improvements" are irrelevant to me, since I like having the best image quality in a monitor, and i'm not going to mount it on my roof to get approving "oohs" and "aaahs" from passers-by. Apple could have hit home the benefit of using LED backlights by implementing local dimming for amazing contrast ratios, but they couldn't be arsed. If you do go for a monitor with an LED backlight, this would be a great feature to have.

Anyway, if you can't afford a pro-level monitor (and the sad fact is, you have to pay WAY more these days for similar quality to a CRT) you should just try to save up for one; you won't regret it.

So much for being brief eh? Sorry about that.

This is the best place you can go to learn about LCD's and there monitors is here: [link] <-- THE ANANDTECH LCD Thread. There is a recommendation section, depending on what you use...anyways to sum it up, if you want a decent and cheap pro-level lcd ( with good viewing angles, DVI, USB ports, IPS Panel, low delta-e measurements when calibrated etc.), I suggest you purchase the HP LP2475W lcd. It costs 500-600 US dollars, it really is the best bang for the buck you can get ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, and has a pretty good-looking design.

I literally just bought this chap: [link]

It's a thing of grace and beauty, and very decently priced.

Well the best of lucky to u for u can fine what you want, if this help u I have an "acer, AL1716" "1280x1024" , It's really great and economic too X). I got it in 1500 pesos, I think It's like 150 dollars? from USA, order n_n.

If you get a Dell, make sure you get an UltraSharp. i have the Dell 22" (2209WA) and it has a IPS panel instead of TN. Works awesome but it only does 1680x1050, not 1920x1200 if makes a difference.

Get the biggest one you can get!
I have a dul monitor setup, and its just priceless.
A 28" for my main and a 17" for the second one.

I look for a high contrast ratio as the main thing I want.
Also READ REVIEWS!!!
Spend a good time doing that cause whatever you get will be with you for a while.

haha, i'm so glad that a great artist like you is still using a CRT ^^
i use a CRT myself cuz theres nothing better than a good CRT, even for games <3
well, but i'm waiting for the new SED technology that will HOPEFULLY come out in the next years...

i'm sorry i can't help you out with information about good LCDs... mainly cuz i would tend to buy a SED in the future... but rly, keep your CRT and use the LCD as 2. monitor or something like that, if you don't want to wait years till SED is ready for the market :D'

CRT FTW _{and SED also xD} *pats her CRT*

SED IN SHORT:
SED combine both, CRT (best quality) and LCD (flat monitor) advantages in ONE! :D

I have a 17'' CRT, (using currently) a 19'' CRT, and a 19'' LCD

I may be a nostalgia prick, but I love those CRT's... I love them hard.