>I've decided to upgrade my monitor. I think I want to go to 24 inch widescreen.
>
>The two top sellers appear to be NewEgg and TigerDirect.
>
>In order of price, these are the monitors I'm most interested in:
>
>

>$250 TD  Synaps  11010159YS 1900x1200 speakers
>$270 NE  Acer    X243Wbd    1900x1200 
>$300 TD  Samsung 2433BW     1920x1200 
>$350 NE  Samsung T240HD     1920x1200 speakers
>

I have a 22" Samsung 225BW which I quite like - it's a couple of years old now. The only things I don't like:

- its black is not true black - noticeable when watching movies in a darkened room
- it makes a bit of a high-pitched noise, which is noticeable in my very quiet office

My Samsung has a matte surface, which I like because there are zero reflections. Most current LCDs have a glossy surface, which increases the contrast ratio numbers but drive some people nuts with reflections.

The only decent-looking option for LCD panels is to run them at their full native resolution. For Windows apps to look "normal" you want to run normal size, not large, fonts. Depending on your age and eyesight, if you have a choice of native resolutions in the 24" size, you may be better off running a lower-resolution panel at its native resolution than running a higher-resolution panel at reduced resolution. Some people are very sensitive to the colour fringes produced when LCD panels interpolate at reduced resolutions.

The guts (panels) of most consumer LCDs are made by only a few companies, so the raw performance tends to be similar if not identical amongst, say, 24" models using the same panels.

Getting reviews on currently-shipping models is not always easy. Amazon is worth checking out for reviews, if they carry the models you're interested in.

Checking the warranty, especially any dead-pixel policy, is always worthwhile.