ISO50

The bane of my existence is proofing, that subtle art form which attempts to ensure that the colors you are seeing on your monitor will appear the same way in printed form or on other’s monitors (when viewing on the internet).  I currently use a Samsung 204t LCD monitor with the Pantone Spyder2 calibration system, and while they perform well, I would like something more reliable (for instance the 204t displays slightly differently depending on what part of the screen you’re looking at; non-uniform brightness / color / contrast across the full area of the LCD).  Pictured above is the Eizo CG241w, apparently the industry standard, but at about $2,300 it’s a big investment. Consider that they are only rated to reliably reproduce color for about 5 years and it starts to look like a rather bad investment.  I have scoured internet bulletin boards and trade magazines, only to find a bunch of conflicting opinions and manufacturer shills. 

So that leads me to my question:  What has everyone else been using? Is there an alternative that isn’t as costly as the Eizo? Does anyone still use CRT?  I got rid of my last one a couple years back to go all LCD and now sort of regret it.  What sort of calibration systems are you using? Answer back in The Comments >

Keep in mind that I am all PC, so I can’t calibrate an Apple cinema on my system (there are no OSD controls on the cinemas, only OS-embedded software controls which are mac only).  Although I can use the Dell 24", which apparently has the same LCD element as the Cinemas (although both have received poor reviews).