There are alot of good monitors out there from Philips, LG, Samsung, Dell, Viewsonic..etc. The more costlier ones would be to find those with the new backlit LEDs which for better uniform of illumination, brighter colours and much better power saving...eg. But present day crop of LCD displays that is above average price for most brands are pretty good. I am doing design and photo editing as part of my job but there are enough good monitors out there that does not cost that much for even me to use and do my work.
The only thing for me personally is I like a glossy screen as oppose to a matte. Colours really pop and you get more clarity compared to a matte finish which I think dull colours and sharpness somewhat. But that is subjective lah and personal preference. It also boils down to what you use your monitor (or computer) for... you might have to make a list of what you want to do with your computer. Example, for gamer they want to make sure they get one with the best refresh rate. Alot out there are in the 8ms but for gamers we try to get the 2ms ones that way with very fast 3D gaming we don't get too much ghosting or blurring as the screen try to keep up. Mac are not favored for gaming 3D since their 3D card options are very very limited. But if gaming is not important to you then it should be fine. But there is watching fast action movies too...I guess faster refresh rate will help.
Colours wise..well it is not just a monitor game, it is also whether you are serious enough to plop down more cash to get colour calibration hardware to ensure your screen is well calibrated so you get to see colours the way you shot it. But remember that mean you have to ensure your DSLR and room lighting ambient is part of that calibration equation too if not...you will still get it wrong. Talk about being pro or a anal rententive hobbist ..that is the name of the game. heheh
I use Macs like I use PC. The interface is nice and all that stuff you hear..well tell me something...you buy it to use or to look at the Mac when you boot it up... see the screen save and all that stuff or are you going to startup your program and use it..and when you go that...what does the program look like full of menu bars and workspace? What pretty about it? It suppose to be a work horse after all. Sexy exterior is only nice if you appreciate looking at it in your own room ....alone. Unless you bought a notebook and only use it at cafes...then I don't know lah heheh.. I have set up a sweet looking PC rig at home and only I see it..but that is fine. It was never meant to be a showboat.
I bought it for what it does best and I also have a mac that does what it does best at one time for design though it is old and dying now. But I saw no reason to upgrade it. But these days...software wise, ADOBE the premium brand for all things design, web, multimedia building..etc ..not all of their sofware of course but there is a majority of new releases comes out on the PC platform first. It is all about the size of the users base. As much as people want to say every creative design uses a Mac..that is just not true. A lot of creatives and the likes of them are also using PCs. So the PC market gets served first. So when you want to choose between the two, think more then just skin deep...dig deeper and also know what you want. If in the end a Mac fits you for what you want to do with it, personal style or a certain software is only available on a Mac ...etc then I say go for it.
But don't be sway by human sentiments. You have to pay money for it so your choose should not be an impulse one. That's my two bits.