Hi there,
about a month ago i bought myself a new laptop (Lenovo V570) which has decent power and have no problem editing my photos in both photoshop and lightroom. The only problem is that the screen is really bad as colors/light change a lot with the screen angle..
So im thinking about buying an external monitor. Im thinking about the Cineman Display (used one).. i have always loved how the Apple Screens look.
my budget is about $500.
Thanks a lot,
A

Probably the most important thing for the monitor to avoid color/brightness changes based on angle is to get an IPS display. Here's a list of monitors that use IPS panels that is a good reference kept pretty up to date.

At near that price point, a lot of folks like the Dell U2410 or HP LP2475 24" monitors. The Apple's are generally well regarded as well, as long as they aren't glossy (which may or may not bother you depending on working conditions).

Many thanks for posting this very useful link.

In 2010 I purchased my first MacBook Pro from my local SIMPLY MAC store. I wanted to get a matte screen but was told by the salesman that they were no longer available. I later discovered that they were in fact available on special order from APPLE, for a $50 added charge. (Was the salesman trying to clear old stock?)

In spite of this, I have lived happily with my glossy screen. Provided you work in a semi-dark room, there is really no problem with spurious reflections. And you can use the screen to advantage. Simply turn the brightness control down to zero and then tilt the screen until the reflection of your eyes is centered. Voila, you have the optimum viewing angle and it's perfectly reproducible!

Now that i read more about it, is it even possible to used that Apple monitor on a PC Laptop? My laptop has USB2, HDMI, VGA and Esata

Alfredo - I can't speak for all laptops, but mine has an HDMI, DVI, and even a DisplayPort. It has nothing to do with PC and Mac and everything to do with the output ports available to you. PC monitors will have the same DVI inputs as Apple monitors, or be able to be adapted to use the same connections.

In your case, you could probably use your HDMI port and a converter cable, like one of these.

David beat me to it. You should be able to run any monitor made as long as you ahve the right adapter cable