don't know if it's any help, but I've got a samsung syncmaster 713bm nothing special, and probably a lot smaller than most of the professionals and semi pros on here. but it does let you calibrate the monitor quite easily. Probably best to set the display to a standard colour profile too so your graphics program knows how to display your picture on screen based on the colour profile of your on screen image,  the profile used by your monitor (eg sRGB)  and the printers colour profile (eg cmyk). I always ask for a colour proof too if  getting it printed professionally , then you can ask them to lighten it or whatever . They then match their print run to that and it saves you from getting a nasty shock at the end. It's a small price to pay for a lot less hassle. I was pretty pleased with the result, (but the eyedropper was no use for picking pantone colours, better to use a book if you have access to one)

(oops - just relised how long ago this was posted. you've probably worked it out for yourself by now) If not good luck.