New Monitor Search

In an effort to improve my workspace and make it a more comfortable place in which to work, it would appear that I should get a nice flat LCD monitor. This would mean that I would have enough room to sit facing it straight on, instead of the scrunched, crooked setup I have now that is starting to twist my internal organs into knots.

Anyone recommend a particular brand? Anyone decry a particular brand as being an instrument of the devil? I'm looking to spend less than $200, which seems to give me plenty of options on Newegg.

Any thoughts on whether I'd be better off with widescreen or plain old rectangular? If I understand the bit about connection methods, my current monitor is D-sub, but how the heck can I tell if I can use one that connects via DVI-D? As I understand things I'm looking for a small number for response rate, large number for Constrast Ratio, wide angles for viewing angle, and high number for brightness, but are there any other fiddly numbers I should be watching carefully?

Creature of the Week observation

It's been a while since I participated in Creature of the Week, for a variety of reasons. Still, I stop in now and then to see if there's an interesting topic, or to see what sort of things people are submitting these days. I was amused to note that it's been about a year since I first submitted an entry, and that in that year there have been 38 topics - putting them 14 topics short by my math. I knew they lost a few days here and there, but I hadn't realized it was quite that many.

Hopefully next week will have an interesting topic, and I can participate in honor of my one year anniversary of joining the activity.