I'v been taking my time in buying a LCD monitor for my macbook, this is mainly because im waiting for a new line of 22" widescreens to come out. I think the Apple cinema displays are very overpriced and im going to go with something cheaper.

What i want to know is what is the advantage having HDMI and HDCP in LCD monitors?

there arent many 22' LCD which aesthetically please me, i want something that will look half descent with my white macbook and that doesnt like like a toy like the CHIMEI 221Dhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImag

if you know anyone who is buying a Mac Pro, you can ask them to get you a cinema display for $800. The offer lasts until the end of the financial year.

HDMI for display purposes basically is DVI. It also supports audio over the same connection, along with HDCP. HDCP is simply a drm scheme so you can't make a digital copy, and will be needed for HDDVD and Bluray to get the full quality.

On a 22" monitor HDMI would not have any real value. Bluray really needs a 65" or above sitting at around 3m or so to get the best out of it. Panasonic have a nice 65" available @ around 15K

I am also thinking of getting a 20"-22" LCD and have found the Dells to look OK. Some of the 19" models also come with quite high res. I like the idea that they come with USB ports as well. Some of the cheaper ASUS monitors on ebay look OK as well. I just need something that will do 1680x1050.

DELL 2007WFP will do that quite well.
you just missed a deal they had.
price has gone back to original, i got mine for 529 with bonus mouse!

In other words HDCP isn't a feature so much as it allows a feature (higher resolution output) that was arbitrarily removed.

A great example of how HD-DVD and BluRay are both defective by design.

At least HD-DVD has no region coding.

I have an ACER AL2416W which is 24" @ 1920x1200 . I'm quite happy with it. I paid $899 when it was on special back in March. It doesn't have USB ports or anything fancy like that. The most annoying thing is that you need to dive through several levels of the on-screen menu to switch video input from DVI to the alternate VGA.

HDMI joke. why would you send digital audio to a TV that only has 2 speakers that are so piss poor in quality that .
DVI to screen , no problems. If you have a truly digital image to be displayed, otherwise you are wasting your time and MONEY

You said your using your macbook with your new LCD monitor right? Do these macbooks have some sort of HDCP to get the full resolution? or is this software to crack it to run without the HDCP junk. If they don't then whats the point?

Therefore there is no advantage for you.