Okay, I guess I will weigh in on this.
IMHO the best thing you could do with $2000 is get two 17" LCD flat panels and a card that will run both, like a Matrox G450/G550. I will tell you which brands in a minute, right after I tell you why I think you should get 17" displays instead of 18".
All 17" and 18" displays have as a native resolution 1280 x 1024. This is the only resolution you should really run either of these at, since running them at anything other than 1280 x 1024 will give you a terrible image. Reason being, on each of these displays there are 1280 electrical junction points horizontally and 1024 electrical junction points vertically, for a total of 1,310,720 dots or pixels (plus or minus a few on the edges so you can move of the the desktop right or left a few pixels). Running at a resolution other than 1280 x 1024 will force you to do some kind of software interpolation or extrapolation, which manufacturers call 'digital linear smoothing' or some other such thing, but believe me, it is really ugly and you do not want to do it.
Okay, so now we know that you are going to run your displays at 1280 x 1024. Why 17" instead of 18"? Well, because the picture is clearer. Why? Well, because the 'pixel pitch' (distance between the electrical junction points) on the 18" displays is .2805mm, and the pixel pitch on the 17" displays is .2640mm. What does this mean? This means that the dots are closer together and as a result, you have a 'finer' picture - a clearer picture - with the 17" displays than you do with the 18" ones.
Okay, let's say you agree with me. Which displays?
I really like Samsungs. Their quality is excellent and consistent. The new 170T has impressive specs - 220 candle power, 400:1 contrast ratio, 160 degree viewing angle, both analog and digital inputs, just a fine monitor. And you can pick one up for about $800. Here is the link:
Samsung 170T
Another interesting player is Iiyama. I have owned their products since 1994 and like them immensely. They have some new products out and you might want to check to see when they are releasing the new 'thin bezel' line. Some of their monitors also rotate landscape to portrait, very cool for working with documents. You can find them here:
IIyama Monitors
Okay, so let's say you get two Samsung 170T's and the Matrox G550 Dual DVI. You've spent about $1750 (before tax and shipping) and what do you get? A 2560 x 1024 desktop that takes up very little space. Very nice for doing work between spreadsheet and data applications, web browsing between multiple windows, and other stuff. If you get two Iiyama monitors that rotate (like the Pro Lite 4332UT), you get a 2560 x 1024 desktop, a 2048 x 1280 desktop, or any combination of the two (the software supports independent rotation of each monitor).
Dude, this rocks.