[size=medium]DELL U2410 24" Monitor[/size]
Well, I ended up with this one, and boy am I glad I did. It seems to be quite new and there is not yet a huge amount of info about it out there. Thank you again jenneth for suggesting this unit.
To put it bluntly, I'm pretty much gob-smacked by this monitor. It's not an apples to apples comparison with my previous 22" Samsung as this one has higher resolution of 1920x1200. The improved resolution makes things look less pixilated, and actually more "analog" and less "digital".
However improved resolution is not what makes it special. The thing it does mind-bogglingly well is reproduce colors with an accuracy I've never seen before. Digital photos looks so REAL, like you could reach into the screen and pull objects out. It's also about the wide range of colors it can reproduce; it seems to be able make microscopic distinctions between subtle shade variations that my last monitor was oblivious to.
You need to manually set the color to sRGB to get the best out of it. At first, in comparison to the other modes available, sRGB may look a little muted, but that's only because the others are so over-the-top and over-saturated to go "bling". As I understand it sRGB is some kind of pro mode, calibrated for maximum accuracy and it shows.
I have a few gripes, white levels are a bit agressive, I'm still working on the best settings to get less retina burn. Also, out of the box, my monotor has a slight blue twinge on the far left hand side, and a slight magenta/purple twinge on the far right, though this seems to dissipating as I use it. I've only had the monitor for about 5 hours, so we'll have to see how that resolves itself.
The worst aspect by far of this monitor is the ridiculous buttons it has on the right hand side that control picture settings. These buttons simply do not function correctly, and trying to use them to adjust the picture is an ergonomic nightmare. They do not always respond, and sometimes over-respond, skipping your selected function ahead many degrees instead of just one notch or step. Trying to move between menus is also a task that will have you cursing and complaining. I have no idea what Dell was thinking or on whom they tested the functionality of this unit on and still got approval, but it's a disaster from an operating/calibrating perspective.
In any case, highly recommended!