I have been shopping for screens a little bit today, so that i have a few months to think about it before I actually purchase one.

Anyhow, so far the best screen i have found is this one
NEC MultiSync 3090WQXi 30"

It is made by NEC, who also makes LaCie's screens for them... so the company has a good reputation.  It should be more than large enough - and from what i have read produces better color than the apple 30" monitors since it is able to reproduce a larger color pallet.

Any other suggestions, or what is your dream screen?

Well i do play a game or two but the primary use and reason for purchasing is photos so that will be the deciding factor.

why do you think 1000:1 contrast is bad?  or why do some monitors have such high numbers and others low.  The LaCie photon20visionII I am currently using has a contrast ratio of 1:400, which seems much better, but I don't think it is considered a better monitor.  For sure not better than the eizo monitor.
The $5300 Eizo monitor, which is the industry standard 'only' has a contrast ratio of 850:1

I think certain screen specs are thrown around to impress when it doesn't necessarily make a better monitor or when the specs are not based on an industry standard, letting the company 'play' with the numbers.

I think certain screen specs are thrown around to impress

Yes it's true and it's because that there's two ways for calculating the contrast

-Dynamic Contrast Ratio
-True Contrast Ratio

In short the most accurate measure is with the true contrast ratio. But the most used one is the dynamic one for commercial uses. This on the side, I was having a 19" Acer at contrast 1000:1. I changed it for a 22" Samsung at 3000:1. The difference is noticeable in the darks mostly where I wasn't able to see all the artifacts or noise before.

I'm still looking for a even better one because I'm not always sure to totally see the whole problems in a image. All that money for being able to see more noise in an image LOL

I've wanted Apples 30" cinema Display for quite some time, but could never quite justify the price! 

I've had the 23" model since they were launched almost 4 years ago and it's never put a foot wrong, so although it was expensive when new (£1500) the fact it's been 100% reliable is worth its weight in gold.

Word on the grapevine is that the Cinema Displays will finally get a (long overdue) update in January along with new Mac Pros - if Apple are to release a Blu-Ray drive for the new Mac Pros they will also need to update the monitors with HDMI connections anyway. Hopefully the prices will also come down in line with LCD price-drops over the last couple of years!!

Been with an Apple 30 for a couple of years now, like everything they are about a grand cheaper now. Would like to get a second one now the LR supports two monitors.
No complaints about them at all.

I use Samsung 305T and I absolutely loves it:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/483374-REG/Samsung_305T_SyncMaster_305T_30_Widescreen.html
I work a lot on Apple 30" and I can't see the difference just one and that is the price.

Yeah, that Prad website gives the samsung as an alternative to the Eizo screen... at half the price it also looks quite tempting.. hmm...

I just bought a samsung syncmaster 245T for $668.00 all taxes in (Ontario, Canada) - It is fabulous. I processed some raw shots with "out of box" settings and they were accepted on IS with no calibration or anything. (plan on doing this on the weekend)

My old crt finally crapped out. This is nice!