I got this monitor (the 2209WA) at the end of last week, so I thought I'd add my review. This monitor was definitely money well spent. I just finished writing a paper for a graduate engineering class I'm taking, and being able to put my open Pages document next to a .pdf of a Nature paper and be able to read both was extremely helpful (especially when compared to my unibody macbook's screen). The colors are beautiful and the viewing angles really are 178/178. At EXTREME angles (standing a foot or two above the monitor, looking down from 18 inches away) I do notice that the blacks become a little less black, but it takes a lot more than just moving around in my desk chair to get this effect. I don't really have time for games, but I tried Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4, and FEAR on this monitor. They all look great, with no perceptible ghosting, so I'll buy the response time Dell publishes. The stand adjusts in every way imaginable, which is very handy. I also like that there are 4 USB ports available on the monitor when it is plugged into a USB port on the computer: I keep my external hard drive and a logitech keyboard plugged into the monitor at all times. Also, Dell's warranty for the UltraSharps (and maybe the regular monitors) is unbeatable.
Could this monitor be better? A higher resolution would be nice, but 1680 by 1050 is plenty for my needs (and I wouldn't want to shell out double the price of this monitor for a 24 inch IPS display with 1920 by 1200 resolution). Also, the brightness controls don't really seem to do the trick when there are no other lights on: even with brightness all the way down in completely dark conditions, the screen looks too bright, so I use the free ScreenShade program available for Macs to dim the monitor a bit more. When there's any ambient light around, though, the brightness is fine.
Overall: This monitor was an amazing deal at $278 (no tax in my state, shipping was free, and Dell gives student discounts). I have absolutely no regrets about buying it and I look forward to using it for years to come.