Samsung make some of the best monitors there are...but at their prices you could get a monitor that's still very good in the next size class such as a 22inch Acer.
it all depends on if he just thought that's all he could get for that much or he doesn't want too high RES. Samsung's monitors are amazing this is true but they are also 100 bucks more than say a still good monitor such as Hanns-G so it all depends on what he's looking for.