To widescreen or not to widescreen?

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I really cant decide, need some swaying factors...Currently using a 17" crt...I like the idea of a widescreen...cause well, its widescreen....I also like the idea of getting an all over larger screen, height included!, so im really stuck guys

If I do go widescreen I going the Acer route, if not possibly the samsung route

I just need some deciding factors here before I order up in the morning!

Cheers
 
i'd say yes...I bought a 20" widescreen a few weks back...and normnal monitors now look like boxes and they seem to be missing something. Dont think I could go back to a standard one at home now! Its the only way to go.
 
I 2nd that! After using it for games and movies, it seems so much more natural, im using a "square" 19" at work and its so squashed and confining!

Widescreen all the way!

Its worth noting you may have to fiddle around a bit to get your games to work properly!
 
yep..im sitting looking at this 17" dell at work...and it looks like a box now...I guess the 20.1 WS monitors are about the saem height as this 17" but man....they are about 1.5x the width.
My mate just bought a 21" Dell 2007 that does 1600x1200 and it looks real big...but just somehow doesnt look right after playing widescreen for a month or two...and not so good for games.
Widescreen all the way...you may get bigger...but you wont go back!
 
Youll have to forgive me not being the best when it comes to resolution and the such....

So are the pictures for movies, applications coming off as stretched? and with games? I know you can sort games out so as they arent stretched...but what about things like movies that arent made for widescreen use...and desktop wallpaper and the such...how do that all comepare?
 
you can download widescreen wallpapers allmover the place. Movies on mine are displayed are you are meant to see them....If its widescreen it covers the whole of the screen...if not...you get two black bars down the middle. Most games now have widescreen opions...and the ones that dont usually have a hack to two to get them to go wide. Older games sometimes do get stretched with some monitors...but dont look bad IMO. The future is deinitely widescreen....you cant hardly bay a standard TV now days...and it the next year it will be the same with monitors.
 
Due to budget I hink ill be going for the 19" widescreen Acer then, and then update to a bigger better widescreen at a later date for more improvments

My biggest task was to get rid of the crt
 
if you can...stretch for a 20" widescreen...I know its only an inch...but its a good inch! It gives you a bit more viewable height.
 
WS Video Card

Hi All

Sorry to hijack.

I have a 17" LCD (Samsung) and am looking to go larger.

My current monitor is 1280x1024 and my video card is set at 1280x1024 to match.

But, if I go widescreen will I have to upgrade my Video card to one that has a WS resolution?

Can't see any mention of this when people talk about WS so would appreciate any help and/or comments.

Thanks
 
depends on the graphics card really. Unless it is REALLY old it shouldn't have a problem supporting a WS resolution higher than 1280 x 1024. The only reason you cant select higher than that at the moment is due to the display connected which is limited to that as it's maximum resolution
 
Thanks for your reply Baddass.

My card is an ATI 9600 AGP (I don't need 3d) and it does have the option to set higher resolution but if it does not 'fit' the native monitor resolution it will need to 'up/downscale' which I thought would reduce the display quality.

Are you saying it doesn't matter if this happens?
 
that shouldn't have any problems running a WS resolution if and when you connect a WS monitor to it. As a comparison, my ageing GeForce 4 Ti4200 happily runs the Dell 2405FPW at it's 1920 x 1200 native resolution over DVI and VGA :)
 
I think I can do 1920x1200 but can't really afford a 23" ws atm.

20" ws seem to be 1680x1050 but my nearest option is 1600x1200.

So it looks like 20" non ws (1600x1200) or go bonkers and get a 23" ws (1920x1200).

Maybe i'll wait until I can get a 23" ws.

Thanks for your help Baddass
 
you'll find you can do the 20"WS 1680 x 1050 anyway, it's just that without a supporting monitor attached, that option won't be available in your graphics card options. You could create a manual res for that, but without a screen attached that can support it, it wouldn't matter. The card should be fine to run at 1680 x 1050

on another note, for those looking ast WS monitors, this article might be helpful :)
 
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