I think I can help you out Computernewbie. Over the last 2 years I have changed monitor 3 times. My first was a 22" viewsonic with 1680x1050 resolution, my second was an awesome Samsung 25.5" with 1920x1200, and right now I am using a Sharp Aquos 52" LCD HDTV which is 1920x1080.
Don't fill your head with useless technical knowledge, you're not builing the monitor you're just using it. If you stick with the high end brands like Samsung, Hp, Dell, Viewsonic, they should all have the features we told you about throughout this thread. Even the HDTVs, which are not intended for usage with computers primarily, are equipped with features to compensate for the change of resolutions. I found some of the better monitors I have seen out there are the Samsung, especially in the 1920x1200 range. If you go with a 1920x1080, its the same as a 1080p HDTV, it will play blu-rays, and so will any monitor with higher resolutions. If you pick a 1920x1200 monitor, and change windows to 1680x1050, it won't look as good, and you will regret doing so very soon. Use the native resolution in windows, and you can adjust the video games to lower resolutions (such as the 16080x1050 you were mentioning) in order to gain more performance during play.
What would I recommend? Well if you can't afford a big HDTV like I bought, I would recommend getting a 24"-26" monitor with 1920x1200 if you need more windows space and play many old games, or the 1920x1080 for movies, blurays, and recent video games. Both will suffice, there are no significant downsides to either. So in this case, what should affect your decision is the quality and price of your purchase, whatever it may be.