a few years ago when 1k was the 'nice' price on the 19". i got the samsung syncmaster 191t. they've been wonderful, and needless to say, the price has crashed on them.
it's a premium for having latest product. 42" plasma TV's was 10K at that time. but i doubt, that the price will drop another 50% from today levels for LCD monitors or flat TV's
Echoing other's sentiments here I've owned or used many monitors and Samsungs IMHO for the money are hard to beat.
I don't trade there but might consider a small account there for a little while....free is good. http://www.cybertrader.com/marketing/jump/xviewoffer.aspx?offer=MKEREFER
I picked up a couple of Acer AL1916CBD / 19" / 5ms / 700:1 / SXGA 1280 x 1024 / DVI / Black / LCD Monitors from Tiger Direct about 5 months ago. IIRC, they were around 150 bucks each after rebate. Totally satisfied with them, no dead pixels, bright as the sun, good contrast, etc. I picked them up for work, and if I wasn't satisfied, I could have picked up another pair of a different brand and rippled these down to the new guys... Everyone so far that has seen them, likes them.