Samsung SyncMaster 245T
Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP
BenQ FP241W
Gateway FHD2400

What's the primary usage?

In order of my preference:

BenQ FP241W - Old and discontinued, you basically must order it directly from BenQ. Best of the bunch in my opinion.

Samsung 245T - Overall good, but some input lag from what I can remember.

Dell 2408WFP - Some ghosting issues, minor input lag from what I can remember. Behardware.com stated this monitor is not the best for gaming.

Gateway FHD2400 - Inexpensive. It uses a 6-bit TN panel which means limited viewing angles, possible image artifacts, less than acceptable color accuracy (for me), tendency for more backlight bleeding, and relatively poor black levels (amongst other). Should be adequate for most average users and gamers. Plus side (other than price) is the faster response time.

No ghosting on the 2408 - that was the 2407. Input lag is slight, but not nonexistant. The color is phenomenal though - it is the one I would go for.

I'll be gaming, watching a lot of movies/tv shows, and surfing the web, reading, etc.

I just bought a e248WFP for $335 on ebay... it was 325 when i first saw it, then i went back and it was 345 but they had a 10% off deal which made price + shipping $335.

It's for my wife and i'm pretty sure she'll like it.

Of the ones you listed I like the dell. the 2408 is nice, if I'd bought that vs the 248wfp, i'd be the only person noticing any difference and it would be the amount of money in my pocket.

Trust me, there is a very noticeable difference between the E248WFP and the Ultrasharp 2408WFP. Whether the difference is worth $300 is debatable, but anyone who isn't blind could probably see the difference. The Ultrasharp has significantly more vivid colors, is slightly brighter, and has a much wider viewing angle.

I'm concerned about the input lag on the Dell. It looks to be the best, along with the Samsung, but I want to know if it will really hurt my gaming.

I've tried one, and I can't notice the lag in 99% of cases.

Nearly all LCD monitor experience input lag. Some more than others. The only question is will you be able to actually detect it?

In the following link I posted 4 review regarding the Dell 2408WFP. Three were technical reviews, and one is a user review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] od-monitor

The technical tests shows as much as 80ms of lag, the BeHardware.com review even stated that it fails as a gaming monitor. However, the user review "Layman's Point of View" stated that he did not notice any input lag at all.

I all boils down to how your brain processes the info your eyes transmit to it. You may notice input lag, you may not. No way to know until you test drive it, then again there is no play to test drive it unless you have a friend who has one.

My NEC LCD2690WUXi has been tested to have input lag of about 30ms - 35ms (from what I can remember), I do not notice any input lag. I guess that could be due to the fact that I am not a hardcore gamer and half of the games I play are not FPS games, but strategy.