I was prepared to purchase a Dell Ultrasharp 19 inch MONITOR for a system I am currently building when  someone suggested that I consider a Dell 17 inch LCD TV monitor instead (screen of TV a couple of inches shorter in height but a couple of inches wider). They said it would function the same, but would allow me to split screen documents (VIEW two pages at once) and be better for video viewing (movies, presentation videos, etc.).

I do biomedical research so my primary use for this new computer will be statistical analysis (medical and financial programming (SAS, SPSS, EXCEL), internet research, digital picture analysis (MRI, CAT, ultrasound images, etc.), digital video (presentations and analysis)...and non-work related DVD viewing and music recording, burning and listening.

I'd really appreciate help to know which monitor system would be best for these uses? Would there be any difference in refresh rates or letter clarity (documents)? Ultimately I guess I am wondering about the pros and cons of each.

Thank you *very much* once again for your help!

TV: 25ms RESPONSE time, 400:1 contrast, 450 NITS brightness, 1280 x 768 (WXGA) native resolution, display 21.4" x 11.4" x 3.5" http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/lcd_w1700?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~tab=specstab#tabtop

LCD Monitor: 25ms response time, 600:1 contrast, 250 nits (typical)brightness, 1280x1024 Pixels max resolution, Diagonal Size: 19"
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?TabPage=techspecs&sku=320-0699&category_id=211&c=us&l=en&cs=19
but this can do this same >http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/q307/8/73.asp&NoWebContent=1   or the monitor buyers guide>http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-7610_16-5084364-3.html