I just last week upgraded from an old now-fuzzy (but great in its day) CRT to the NEC2690 (with SV) also. I'm amazed by how much better the NEC is in virtually all respects. The image has gorgeous colors and is much sharper, I've noticed no issues with side-to-side or angle variations, and my first attempt at calibrating with SV gave an image that matched my printed examples so well that I felt no urge whatsoever to try to tweak things in any way (which was never the case with my previous CRTs). Some people on the forum here have been having trouble getting the prints and monitor to match, which may be a function of what paper and lighting conditions you're using, but I had no problem; great match the first time.
However, I know nothing about the Eizo or Samsung monitors, so I'm no help with that comparison...
Lisa