I recommand you to buy a Dell U2311H 23" monitor ($250 when on sale). It comes with a IPS pannel which is much better than the cheap TN pannel ones you usually see at Futureshop or costco. Best bang for the money. The difference is Night and Day when you watching movies with it compared with TN pannel monitors.
For desktop PC, the best one to serve your neeeds is to buy