Alright first of all, I apologize if this would be better suited for the official GDM-FW900 thread but I felt it was a specific enough question that I could warrant making a new thread for my inquiry.

With that out of the way here's some background: I'm a home theater geek/video production major who can't seem to stop fighting the urge to find the perfect display to fit my needs. I'm living in a dorm and I'm on a fairly modest budget. I play a lot of games (360, PS3, Wii, and little on the PC) and I watch a lot of movies (both on Blu-Ray and SD streams on Netflix via my 360). For the past year I've been using a 32" Sharp Aquos LC-32D43U, it's a nice TV and compared to most anyone else I know at school it's one of the finer displays in any dorm on campus. That being said I also don't know anyone who's quite the videophile I am and at the end of the day it is an LCD. Being an LCD, no matter how good of an LCD it is, my black levels are obviously not what I would desire and there is some noticeable black crush on top of it. Also being that I game a lot lag is an issue for me. All things considered the lag on this display isn't bad, but it is there and because of that I never really feel I'm at the top of my game. I play with some hardcore dudes too so even when I'm bringing my A-game I'm fighting to keep up.

So I've been thinking lately about selling off the Aqous for $500 (more if I can get it) and picking up a GDM-FW900 with an HDFury so I can strip HDCP and get 1080p from my Blu discs. This isn't some half-cocked random idea either since I almost bought one before I got the LCD, then I ended up going with the bigger is better mentality. I really don't care about the size issue anymore, I'm sitting 6 feet from the LCD and I'll be sitting 2 feet or fewer from the CRT so it won't make a big difference, if anything I'll benefit because I'll be able to get 1080p on this thing which should be a discernible difference from 720p on a 24" display at that distance. I also like the idea of actually being able to scan at multiple resolutions to so I can actually display 480p content at 480p instead of blowing it up to 720p; that would be great for old games, the Wii, and SD Netflix streams. I'd also love to be able to experiment with RGB on my older consoles and this seems like a great display for just that.

Here are my concerns: First and foremost, I don't know where to find one in good condition. There don't appear to be any in my State (Maine) so local pickup is out; and the only place I can find them online is Accurate IT, great site but the only thing they have in stock are B-Grade Refurbs and an A-Grade Refurb. The A-Grade would be dandy but it's $600, a little more than I can see myself doling out here, the B-Grade's are reasonable but I'm concerned with both what kind of condition they'd be in and how much life they have left in them.

Another concern I have is warm-up time, I've heard these things need like 20 minutes to warm up before they look their best. I can see getting annoyed at either having to warm-up my monitor for 20 minutes before using it or accepting a sub-par image for the first 20 minutes it's in use. I suppose I could get past it but still the concern is there.

My biggest concern is in relation to my biggest gripe with the LCD: lag. Is gaming on the FW900 going to be relatively lag-free? I realize it's impossible to completely eliminate lag but I do believe it's possible to make it a non limiting factor; especially if I output every game at it's native resolution and eliminate the need for scaling. This also pertains to the HD Fury, will it introduce any significant lag? On the 360 and PC I could circumvent it by directly using VGA but on the PS3 the only way I can really connect it at all is via an HDFury. Unless the FW900's VGA and/or BNC ports will accept component via the proper adapter.

One final thought: Will this monitor display 640x480i/p, 1280x720p, and 1920x1080i/p?

Ok, I think that's everything. Sorry for the essay but I've given this a lot of thought and I have my finger on the trigger. Any help you guys and gals could give me will be very very appreciated.

The biggest problem you'll have is finding one in great condition. The vast majority of these displays were used for business and have a lot of hours logged on them. Big CRTs only last so many hours before the electronics start wearing out, and the Sony 24" monitors had their share of problems. I personally wouldn't pay more than $100 or so for one, $600 is outrageous. Although your loacation certainly limits your options for bargain-hunting.

The Sony should suffer almost no lag relative to the LCD, and will display all those resolutions you desire (let's not get into a horizontal resolution debate). As far as warm-up, all big CRTs especially with an aperture grille need a little warm-up time for the geometry to normalize. But no way that should take 20 minutes. If a guy is selling you a CRT that takes that long to "warm-up" then there's something wrong with it.

I have purchased two FW900s(one A-, one B-) from AccurateIT and have had no issues with either of them. Something to think about is buying a B- unit and removing the anti-glare coating if you plan on using it in a low light environment. This corrects the only real "flaw" (i.e. possible chipped coating) with the B- units and also produces quite a bit more light. This is an easy process. See the thread at hardforum for more info.

A- units will have flawless coating (only a positive in high ambient light situations, in my opinion) and have a 1 year warranty if you're concerned about failure down the road.

These monitors absolutely need 30 minutes to warm up before they will look their best. There is a dramatic difference in image quality after said warm up period. This is consistent on both my FW900s and with the Image Restore function within the OSD that is disabled for 30 minutes after initial power on - specifically stating that the monitor needs to "warm up".

The FW900 is lag free. It will feel like a different world when compared to your LCD.

I don't know if the FW900 accepts interlaced inputs. The official thread here at AVSForum suggests that it does but I've never tried it. All the progressive resolutions you listed I can confirm as working.

I use mine with PC input only so I can't comment on HDFury.

For what it's worth, I strongly feel that the FW900 is the best computer display you can purchase for entertainment purposes. I really enjoy mine.

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. I believe I'll keep the FW900 on the table as an option. Still have to see if I can even find someone who will buy the LCD. For all intents and purposes I have every reason to jump on it and never look back. It just seems too perfect though, I see something going wrong. My biggest hurdle right now is I'm in a frame of mind thinking "Are you really gonna give up 10"? That's a lot of viewing real estate" even though I know it's not going to make a difference when I'll be sitting 2 feet from the monitor, hell at that distance I'd actually be able to discern 1080p from 720p.

I'm rambling. Any more input you folks have will be greatly appreciated, I have a lot on my plate for the next three weeks so I've got plenty of time to mull this over before I have the time to act on anything.