I'd suggest the LCD, though I tend to think 17" is tiny anyway. I picked up my 19" LCD for AU$250, if you're looking to get one they aren't too much and I think the colour is better on my LCD than any CRT I've used in a home setup before. Is there any reason you can't use both?

Besides, LCD screens don't flicker because the lamp is on continuously which if you're at the computer heaps is a great thing.
was put impeccably into words at DebianDay for me last Saturday, by Knut Yrvin of Trolltech - adults try something once, fail, and then are like "ffs this doesn't work". Children try, fail, and then try again, and succeed - maybe on the second, or even fifth retry. But the thing is that they keep at it and overcome the problems in the end.
-andrewdodd13