Don't get me wrong, CRTs have a good 50+ years of experience on technologies like plasma and LCD. CRT picture quality should be second to none. However, plasma and LCDs aren't that bad, especially consider the overall footprint in comparions to former. I'll take my Dell's 15 pounds any day of the week compared to a 100+ pound monster.
If you do go with a fixed-resolution display (like plasma and LCD), please be sure to know what the native resolution is. 720p broadcasts (ESPN, Fox, and ABC only) are 1280x720. Everybody else in the HD game uses 1080i, which is 1920x1080. If your display doesn't natively support 1920x1080, it will have to shrink the incoming signal to fit it on the screen. Some folks are willing to live with that. But, if I am going to go HD, I don't want my display to show fewer details than what's provided. I'd rather UPconvert 720p than DOWNconvert 1080i. By the way, LCDs are progressive displays by nature. They will convert interlaced signals to a progressive display.
To my knowledge, the Dell 2405 is the cheapest 1920x1200 display anywhere. Unless you are running a movie hall, 24" will do just fine. Besides, you can use it as the second display later when you get the unit you really want (Aqous 45" for me ... if not Qualia 005 ).
Oh yeah, I mounted my 2405FPW to the wall this weekend. Had I taken wood shop back in school, the little entertainment center I attempted to build would still be standing, just under the display. And I'd even have photos of it. :/
-SUO