One of my clients recently purchased four of the Samsung 997DF-T/T monitors you mentioned.  Their geometry isn't the best I've seen in a CRT (can't get the edges of the screen to look quite straight), but their picture quality is very good.  They're being used for spreadsheets/word processing/programming rather than gaming or graphics, and their 0.20 mm dot pitch does a great job of displaying sharp text.  I haven't played any games or done any graphics editing on them, so I don't have an opinion of their color fidelity.  So, I consider the 997DF a very good value at ~$200.
My client purchased these monitors because of positive experiences with the 17" Samsung 753DF, which was Samsung's corresponding 17" model a few years ago.  The 793DF, the current 17" model, is very cheaply made--the decline is appalling.  The 19" 997DF isn't bad in terms of build quality, but because of the decline in 753DF->793DF, I'm pessimistic about the construction of upcoming Samsung CRTs.  I guess the CRT market will virtually disappear within a couple of years anyway, so it'll scarcely matter.