well everyone, i appreciate the input. as far as my current monitor is, i'm expecting similar if not better performance. i paid i think around $450 for this bad boy when it came out, and all the reviewers (including z-d) touted it as better than most of the sonys and viewsonics, for a much cheaper price. the clarity is awesome, i have yet to actually witness better.
i think i'm going to check out some pro series viewsonics. thinking about keeping this one, and getting me a 21-22", and ditching my kds flat tube (although my dad won't like that... they bought it for me for christmas a few years back

).
are the pro series view sonics better than the graphics series? it seems that the g-series has a smaller dot pitch, which used to generally mean a better picture. i guess it depends on price, i haven't checked the vs prices lately.
i guess now it's down to samsung or viewsonic crt's. although the samsung has a better aperture grille (smaller) than vs... argh!