[redsniper]

I can barely fit my current CRT monitor on the desk in my dorm room and I have to place it kind of cockeyed so that I can put the keyboard in front of it. Needless to say it's uncomfortable at best and doesn't leave much room for anything else. So I've decided to bite the bullet and get a flat panel monitor.
A few years ago I tried an LCD monitor and hated it; everything looked too bright. I realize though that LCD technology has improved a lot in the past years, and so now that my situation necessitates it I'm willing to try it again.
So I need to know some numbers. What's a good response time? Contrast ratio? Pixel pitch? (is that even important?) I've seen response times as low as 2ms and contrast ratios of 2000:1, which AFAIK is pretty good. I'm looking for a 19" monitor preferably and I'd like to spend less than $300. So far, the Samsung 931C looks pretty promising, but I'd like to hear whatever wisdom you guys have as well.
Cheers?

[Ulala]

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=222-0863 

[Mars]

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=222-0863 

That's more than I spent on my computer

[CP5670]

Is this for general usage, games or photo work? The quoted response time and contrast ratio numbers are often pretty meaningless. Reviews and user opinions are more useful.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=222-0863

That one actually doesn't have much going for it apart from the size and resolution. It has considerable motion blur, heavy input lag and a poor black point.

[redsniper]

Mostly for games and schoolwork and probably some rendering as well. I don't suppose that really counts as photo work though.

[Ulala]

That one actually doesn't have much going for it apart from the size and resolution. It has considerable motion blur, heavy input lag and a poor black point.

Too true, but it's huge and would offer some ridiculous bragging rights. Although, you know what they say about men with really huge monitors... 

[CP5670]

Mostly for games and schoolwork and probably some rendering as well. I don't suppose that really counts as photo work though.

These are probably your best options for around $300 or less:

BenQ FP93GX: 6-bit TN, fastest LCD available today, mediocre black level but only around $200
Samsung 940BF: 6-bit TN, almost as fast as the above, decent black level
NEC 90GX2: a decent TN panel that has the outstanding Opticlear coating; excellent daytime black level; good viewing angles; very good speed but not as fast as the above two (I have one of these)
VX2025WM: 20" widescreen with a higher quality 8-bit S-IPS panel but still costs around $300; good speed and accurate colors, but a lot of people seem to be having some kind of DVI related problems with it

Too true, but it's huge and would offer some ridiculous bragging rights. Although, you know what they say about men with really huge monitors...

Well, for bragging rights I think I would rather have one of those old IBM T221s with their insane 3840x2400 resolution, or the $50000 Brightside HDR display.

[IceFire]

Almost anything LG or Samsung I'm impressed with.  I have the 173P+ which is a 17in screen at 8ms and 1500:1 contrast ratio.  Excellent screen.

[Rand al Thor]

Gotta agree with IceFire there. Well 50% anyway. I got a Samsung SyncMaster 730BF bout 5 months back and its worked perfectly. Excellent display, refresh, auto adjust, great colour contrast.

No complaints.

Dunno about other LCDs though.

[kode]

You can't do much better than an Eizo, though. Samsung's never let me down, however, so I guess they're aight.

[CP5670]

The 173P+ and 193P+ do have a great black level but the 19" one costs over $600, which is far too much given that it's a 6-bit panel and not that fast in darker color transitions. At that price level, the NEC 20WMGX2 (the best overall LCD out there) is a no brainer for only $30 more.