Recommended monitor

You need to consider the monitor in combination with your video card and with your likely future requirements. If you think you will have the system for quite a while as it is, say a couple of years, it might be a waste of money now to buy a monitor that exceeds that capabilities of the video card you choose. LCD monitors seem to be dropping so much in price lately that although not an economical buy now, will in a couple of years time be comparable in price to and exceeding the performance of CRT monitors, so, by then you might not want what you buy now, so that would be another reason not to go over the top. However, you do have to look at the thing for a couple of years, so you will want for comfort something that supports the maximum scan rate of your video card in all the resolutions you are going to run it in.

Resolution, anything sub 0.29 dot pitch is good at 800x600, as a rough guide, subtract 0.01 per 200 pixels extra horizontal resolution, eg, 0.28 for 1024x768, 0.27 for  1200x1024, 0.26 for 1600x1200.........

This one here  seems like excellent value for a quality 19 inch and these guys are great to deal with...
http://www.compgeeks.com/cgi-bin/details.asp?cat=VideoCards&sku=205-1997
Amptron have a 3 year limited warranty and 2 year tube warranty on that model. it is also the flat screen model which may be important for CAD or graphics work.

or for a little more if you'd rather trust the name and standing of Compaq there is...
http://www.compgeeks.com/cgi-bin/details.asp?cat=VideoCards&sku=205-9009
with an incredible .22 cripser than crisp dot pitch.

more to chose from in the main video category here....
http://www.compgeeks.com/cgi-bin/prod_disp.asp?cat=VideoCards

If you only use your PC a couple of hours a day, or for more games than applications you could equally be quite happy with one of the budget priced 17inch models they have there, and rejoice in spending the extra hundred bucks on another aspect of the system.

A guesstimate on refresh rates needed for comfort, usage of applications..
up to 2 hours a day 60hz,
up to 4 hours a day 70hz
more than 4 hours a day 85hz.
Though some people will take a brief look at a .29dp 85 Hz display and a .26dp 60hz display and say the second is more comfortable. Probably I would, I have 60hz eyes :-)

Brands, there is only one time to discuss brands, and that is when money is really no object, then you can buy quality over all else. In the middle here, brands vary by model, a good warranty is reassuring though.

It's a case of figuring out what your own needs are and balancing that against your budget.

regards,

Road Warrior

opps- that's 1024x768 with 100MHz refresh rate