>Interested in suggestions to the best dual monitor setup. What would you recommend for graphics card and monitor combinations brands etc.

Nothing to it. At work and at home I have one video card (at home an nVidia 6600, at work I don't really know what they gave me). It comes with two ports on the same card, for analog and digital monitors. I have two identical flat screens (Sony at work, Dell at home). I keep the same resolution in both monitors and use nVidia provided software to manage it. Windows XP actually does a good job natively on recogninzing and installing two (or more) monitors. We have a few people at work with 3 monitors and they are very happy.

Multiple monitors is a must for effective and productive work IMO.