I am also a perfectionist when it comes to expensive screens such as ACDs. I picked up mine at a CompUSA store whose manager in the Apple section said they have the free-of-charge exchange policy for the first 15 days or so if the ACD I find something wrong. Both of my 20" and 23" were from CompUSA (different stores).
Why don't you check out the well-established 3rd party brick-and-mortar retailer if they have a customer-friendly exchange policy?
Okay, I returned my Display for an exchange and the problem is still there but, not as bad so I think I'll keep this one. they didn't even plug it in and look at it... for all they know, it could've been perfectly fine. Anyways... it wasn't fine and I got a new one. This one is actually better, but the effect it still slightly there but, I'll keep it since it's not as apparent. I didn't see this effect happening on the 23" ACD but, the same thing was happening on the 20" Display Model they had out but, that one was worse than this new one. I think it's just how they come... or maybe a bad batch... I wouldn't really classify this as BAD because most people wouldn't even notice it to even care or even if their screen has it... they might not even know it. I think I said before that I work with photos at work and they need to be "color corrected" to be printed on a flexo press and my eyes have become very observant to every color shift such as being able to tell if something is too warm, too cold, too dark, too light and there's very fine adjustments that we do to them to make them look as good on press as they do on screen. Maybe that's why I criticize these displays. However, after all that, I must say that this is a very well built display and the hardware is amazing and the brightness is top notch... whites are very white (unlike my yellowish whites on the PowerBook) and overall I'm satisfied with this display as a whole.
So in conclusion... if you're thinking of getting a high quality widescreen LCD... definitely choose Apple for the most professional looking hardware and sharp image. Trust me, I looked all around for a third party display and they all disappointed me in one way or another. A lot of them felt cheesy or there was too much design to them or ugly buttons on the face of the display. On the other hand, Apple's displays are very sleek and beautiful as well as very very well put together with a nice aluminum case and that solid feel. Also, it's very easy to tilt the display up and down... you almost don't have to use any force yet when you're not touching it, it stays exactly in place. The brightness buttons are on the side and so is the power button (touch buttons). Lastly, there's 2 USB and 2 Firewire ports on the back and there's only 1 cable that pops out the back and it goes through the stand and splits into 1 connector cable and 1 USB cable and 1 Firewire cable (to make the ports on the display work) and the power cable that plugs into the power block which then plugs into the wall or powerstrip. There's my mini-review.
Quality: 10
Design: 10
Ease of use: 10
Ease of setting up: 10
Price: 5
Picture Quality: 8
Overall Rating: 9
