I don't want to be seduced again by consumerism but Dell LCDs are on bloody sale on the street - USD840 for 1920x1200 24".  As researched earlier, the 20" model was said to be having the same panel as the Apple Cinema (both from Philips).  I would guess it's the same for the 24 and 30 inches babes.  However, note that even though with the same panel, the internal circuits might make a difference between the two in neck-to-neck comparison (from CNet).

However, for mostly text reading and occasional videos, Dell is a steal!  I've been watching the price of Dell LCDs for some 6 months and didn't make up my mind until I saw the live demo on the street today - simply sexy, and thus I have to surrender!

Just for sure, here are links to test programs that I am going to use when visiting the shops for proof of concept...

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/testprogramme.html

http://psychtoolbox.org/tips/displaytest.html

Particularly, my pick on Auto Test and Display Test 6~8, which are simple and yet effective on interrogating the weakest link of LCD monitors (transient response).  I don't think I need to go thru the drills on standard tests for CRTs such as geometry and convergence (how could these go wrong on LCD?).  A supplement with sight test on text browsing in several viewing angles should be sufficient.

What about my 21" Eizo CRT?  Sorry, one of my buddies has it booked already.  No lucky draw here...