hey Bill -


When I shopped for a monitor last month, my priority was getting a good 24" non-gaming, "photographer's" monitor, and my budget was about $650. I bought the HP2475w - it was under $600 incl tax - and I've been real happy with it.


I ruled out all TN panels because their color accuracy is awful. That put me into the +$500 range. Then I wanted hardware calibration, but HW calibration - where you can actually change the LUT inside the monitor - put me over my budget. Other things I wanted were a Display Port, pivot-capability, an easy-to-navigate OSD and a clean, solid design. But most important was color fidelity. None of the other things were deal-breakers.


I forget where I came across the HP but I'm glad I did. You don't have access to the LUT but it can be calibrated (of course) via software. If I had $1200 I would've gone for one of the NECs or the EIZOs, but it just wasn't in the cards this summer.


Anyway, check it out before you buy the Dell. I bought my HP at B&H, mostly because of their excellent return policy.


The HP2475w is an H-IPS panel and comes with (practically) every cable known to man - DVI, Display Port (hard to find and expensive when bought separately), HDMI, etc. It supports many different video inputs and has 4 or 6 USB ports. It can pivot and tilt, raise and lower, and it's a 24". It's built really well too, with a solid base and a "minimalist" black border.


Hope that helps - let us know what you get.