Think you take pot luck with monitors, I have had a CTX on for the last 3 years which was secondhand when I got it, must be 8 years old now and thats still going strong, although it did have a dry joint about 18 months ago with meant it lost the red off it.
A friend soon fixed it with a soldering iron.
I think theyre ok for the cheaper end of the market.
There are some good secondhand ones around if you look for them, as people go for the TFT ones, look in newspapers, shop windows and supermarkets.
A PC place near me has secondhand ones for sale from trade ins etc, so you may find a local place like that