Gaming monitor question with hd 5870

""will I have to run that for the desktop and deal with tiny icons "" ... NO any res 4 the desk top
the higher res 1 is better and the 5870 card likes 1900x1200 or even 2500x1600
just remember you really get what you pay 4 in monitors and they dont need upgrading as oftern, so go hard

On the icons thing you can just make them bigger you know.
Response time really isn't an issue these days unless you are a real quality freak anything of 5ms or below is fine. Contrast is more important as this defines the displays ability to display bright whites and dark blacks. there is some manufacturer bullshit that goes on here though with some quoting different numbers like there are two sets of numbers on the second monitor you linked to. A lot of monitors these days use dynamic contrast which is an inbuilt adjustment to the back light it dims it for dark scenes and brightens it for scenes with lots of while. this varies in quality between monitors .
As magicbullet said if you went for a 1200p monitor it would give you more room for spreadsheets etc and the only thing different in films would be slightly bigger black lines at top and bottom. (but this is probably out of your price range anuway)If you do plan to use it with blu-ray then the minimum you want is a DVI connection that is HDPC compliant then you can use a HDMI -DVI adapter.
The best advice i can give you is go and look at a monitor instore if you can even if you have no plan to buy at that store, you can buy online later but its really important as far as i am concerned that you actually see the thing working if image quality is at all important to you.
If not then basically anything that is 1920x1080 with a decent contrast ratio will be fine.

Mactronix

no way i would save up for the Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP, S-IPS and 2560x1600, the refurb is only $1200 and comes with a 3 year warranty

Save up and go 1920 x 1200. 1080 monitors are not where it's at. I've had 1920 x 1200 before anyone had one 3 years now it's the only way to game. My next monitor will be a 30 incher at 2560 x 1600. Don't hold back or cut corners.