Yeah I am on a $600 27 inch U2713HM I got when it came out a year ago.
Took me a long time to accept the steep price but it has been worth it for my eyes.
$2600 nzd = $2200 usd, now that much I couldn't afford/justify.
I think the old Dell 30 inch has a harsh anti-glare coat that makes it sparkle? They finally solved that with the U2713HM which has a much lighter coat.
The exchange rate between nz and us dollars shifted dramatically in the 2006/2008 timeframe, I suspect in US dollar terms he spent rather less than that, probably closer to $1800 USD.
I've a Dell 2000FP that's still getting 8+ hours of serious use a day, even as it's coming up on its 11th birthday in a few more months. (And still looking pretty great compared to a current gen budget monitor.)
There has been so little movement in mid-quality LCD systems, it's nice to see some change. (Even if the 24" is ... profoundly uninteresting to me at 1080p)
Edit: Not that this changes the original point, just that, as an early adopter, I've been burned a lot less by monitors than by ... everything else.