Thanks for the added info, it helps.
Assuming you're in US, I'd head over to best buy or similar, and check out their floor displays. They won't be calibrated, but you can get a pretty good idea by messing with them a bit to see if they will fit your needs. I ordered a Samsung 22" monitor at
newegg.com, and now I wish I had gotten a 24". The price difference between the 20"/22" and 24" is well worth the extra screen real estate, and the higher resolution, so if I were you, I'd seriously consider bumping up to 24" right away, and adding a professional 24" later. I'm pretty sure your video card can handle it. You can check out the reviews at newegg.com, as I've always found them to be helpful.
Dell also has a good 24" selection, and the price variance indicates which is the pro model and which is more entry level/midrange. A lot of people on this site will tell you that the Apple 23" or 30" is the only way to go, but I personally find them to be way overpriced, unless you are a graphics designer, and/or doing extensive print work where color accuracy is crucial. I also use FCP, and the Adobe Creative Suite apps, and am not as anal about absolute color accuracy. The midrange 24" with a color calibrator seems plenty sufficient for these uses. With FCP, screen real state will be nice, especially when you're ready for 2 monitors. The brands I was choosing from after doing some research included Samsung, Dell, HP, and BenQ.
While there are some lesser known brands sporting great prices on newegg.com, I steered clear of them, as the reviews were pretty mixed on quality control issues. Good luck to you.
