NCX isn't just blowing smoke, he does extensive testing on monitors, he is the reason I picked up a HP 2509b years ago. Don't take it personal if he says that new Dells are crap, he is just stating the facts as of right now.
FYI Best Buy has the HP 2509b for $199, I picked this up last week after reading the review from NCX. It really is a great monitor, I can now play Thief 1 & 2 or any stealth game that has very dark areas again (Metro 2033) and enjoy it.
I have a IP35-E and windows 7 beta, RC and Retail have always found and installed everything just fine no downloads needed. But yes you should be able to use vista 64 but drivers for Win7.