Flat Screen Monitor - what should I look for?

Hi all;
We want to buy my daughter a flat screen monitor for her birthday, but are not sure what to get. What things should I look for in a monitor to make it worth purchasing? And is name brand important?
Thanks for the help in advance!

 

Flat screen as in LCD??

I would stick to Brand Name.
My Samsung has 3yr warranty, many only have 1yr

 

Well, right now she has one of the old style monitors, that are quite large, and she is in college, so has limited desk space. We were hoping to provide her with a new monitor that would take up less space. I presume we are looking for an LCD.

 

I would recommend Dell monitors. I have the 20" widescreen monitor and it is amazing. However, you are probably looking for a monitor that is a little cheaper, so you might go with a 19" for around $200.

http://www.slickdeals.net/ has new Dell deals everyday. If you want, you can get a whole computer with a 19" Analog monitor for $331. I bought one for my in-laws and it is really a very good computer for the price. The only thing I would do is pay the extra $10 for the Windows XP CD and wipe the harddrive and install Windows to remove the crap that comes pre-installed.

 

"Refresh times are the most important, the price can be very cheap with a bad refresh time meaniing you may get ghosting."

Major Attitude is correct, but this is only applicable for gaming. If your daughter is not going to be doing any gaming (First-person shooters like Doom3, Counter-Strike, etc.) then don't worry about the refresh rate. Just get as big a monitor as you are willing to get from a good company. (Samsung, Dell, Viewsonic and NEC to name a few)