Dear XTKnight,
I can't thank you enough--I've learned a great deal from your postings in this thread. Unfortunately, I don't game, do video or work with color except for casual use when surfing the web. I am a fulltime writer and I frequently typeset pages. For instance, for the next six months, I'm doing the next edition of a 900-page book in black and white using InDesign. I'm also a Mac person.
While I don't have the problems that impact people who use color in their jobs, I don't have the pleasant distraction of color, either. And since I'm mostly staring at black text on a white screen for 12 hours a day, visual comfort is a must--which scares me a bit about the 24" iMac as it is glossy and pretty bright--although this might not be the problem others suggest.
I also don't know if the highly desired IPS screens are best for my application--which unfortunately favors the best text rendering possible as opposed to movie-watching, gaming, and photo editing.
I currently use a 21" Samsung 214T, and want to move up to a 24" or more inch monitor. Possibilities include:
-24" iMac
-DoubleSight 263N
-Dell 2408
-23" Apple Cinema Display (would wait until after WWDC, just in case...)
--I'm willing to consider anything else, although I'd rather not go much higher than $700, unless I get the iMac.
To make matters worse, we live in the middle of nowhere, so I can't do the kind of eyes-on comparison shopping that I would if I lived in an urban area.
Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated!
Paul