Well, if you can stretch your budget just a bit, Benq has been selling 24" LCD monitors that are 1080P ready for a while now. They always rotate their model, so prices will vary. I bought my Benq FP241VW from Lowyat for RM2198 not too long ago. Still within your budget at least. I think Viewnet is still selling this same model. Look up the specs here :

http://benq.com/products/LCD/?product=997&page=features

Believe it or not, I do think that a full HD monitor makes quite a difference. You'll have to scrutinize a bit to look for differences, but it's there. It has nothing to do with gloating whether the monitor is 1080P or not. PC gamers have been enjoying the higher resolutions for years, so is that to say that a PC game running at 1920x1200 is no different from a PC game running at 1280x1024?

What kind of connection do you mean? The Benq is quite versatile, as it has pretty much all types of video connection: composite, component, S-Video, D-sub, DVI, and HDMI. In fact, it is actually the 27" that's lacking: no HDMI input.

Dude, it's a monitor. It's kind of expected that you'll sit nearer to the monitor. At normal PC viewing distances, you do appreciate the subtle improvements 1080P brings to gaming. You won't play a PC game from the couch at a distance of 5ft or more. Specs are there to inform the user, not to brag about. Of course in the end, it's up to the viewer to decide whether the added cost is worth it or not.