Be Excellent To Each Other

I'm looking for a new PC.. again.. but this time it's for real!

My question to the group is... why would I want a widescreen monitor?

I won't use my PC for games (I have an Xbox, Wii, Dreamcast, N-Gage etc) and I won't watch films on it (It's not as comfy as my sofa) so why would I want a widescreen monitor?

Would going widescreen effect websites and all that? Wouldn't they look weird? And what about MAME.. I do plan on using that alot! Wouldn't all the games look funny?

I don't think I'd want one or like one but I'm all ears!
What does everyone else think?

Also... Are http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/default.aspx any good? They seem pretty easy to build your own PC with!

Do you program?

Never!

I can't even think of a witty comment, it's that far from my mind.

Not unless they've been badly designed. You have your widescreen monitor at a widescreen resolution - so you just have more pixels available on the x-axis than you would have before.

I'm typing this in widescreen - it's like the future or some shit!

Anyway, you don't need a new monitor, you just need more.



[edit]I had a cold, obviously.

Depends on how you work. Naturally I have them, and my newest is a Dell 24 inch. I use software with alot of screen clutter which also requires two large video windows to be open.

Yes you can run multiple monitors but for my workflow one is easier unless the second is purely displaying one of the video windows.

Also with a 24" widescreen panel you can play back HD reasonably which is a benefit for me (what with editing in HD and all).

HAHA!

I'd say If you can't think of a reason for it, you probably don't need it.

And don't forget that a 24 inch WS is significantly smaller than a 24 inch "normal" monitor in terms of vertical screen space.

Malc

I like your thinking... I was just looking to see if there would be a good reason i've overlooked to get one. I don't think there is, so i'll stick with a normal sized monitor.

Now.. about eclipsecomputers... ahem!

Have you met women before? One word: Shoes.

We've got massive wide screens in our library at uni, and it's very useful for having say 2 word documents or word and a pdf... etc up at the same time.... but depends what you're doing with it.

And the fact that you have no shoes makes you what? A hobbit.

I don't have a widescreen monitor. Well, I don't own a monitor as such at all, owning an (Intel) iMac, but that does have a 16:9 screen. Which I much prefer to the old 4:3 ratio. I think the beauty of 16:9 on a computer screen is that is feels more 'natural', seeing as our field of vision is wider than it is tall.

It may or may not have any bearing on things, but most (but by no means all) "widescreen" monitors are 16:10 rather than 16:9. e.g. my laptop is 1920x1200 rather than 1920x1080. So you'll get black bars when viewing 16:9 video.

/whistles

Well that's different. Women collect shoes for no reason. You collect shoes because of all the bowling you do.

The bowling shoes are dead, unfortunately. That reminds me, I need to order a replacement...

I have very few shoes. I bought some new ones the other day, but I still have very few. What I have is handbags, and hats. I must have 100+ hats dotted around the place.

I also have a widescreen monitor, though, but it is attached to my laptop, which was given to me. Never seen a site look strange. Oh, just realised that this monitor is widescreen, too. I do watch movies on my pooter, though, and that's great.

Just remembered where we are going today - to buy me a new hat

I like wide-screens better than normal screens. That is all!

I prefer wide screens to normal ones now. My Dell laptop has a wide screen and it as acebest for working on.

Word and excel are easier to work on.


I will be replacing my screen at home when i can.

I also have a widescreen monitor. 22'' 1680x1050. Never had any problem with emulators. My MAME version forces 4:3 by default (you have black borders on the sides) and every other emulator i tried has that option.

It just depends on whether you want more pixels that way, or more pixels that way.

Hmm - you can turn it on its side if you want a "high-screen".

Depending on your video card drivers, yeah. Modern drivers would let you have a 960x1280 screen if you wanted, but you'd have to have an appropriate stand or wall mounting. I can't see many widescreen displays having a central pivot, or being sufficiently elevated to rotate like that.

Older PC games throw a fit when you play them on widescreen monitors, and they'd probably appear both stretched and rotated if you rotated the screen. (A decent widescreen monitor would give you full control over the scaling and the option to have vertical/horizontal bars, but I think that only existed in a dream I had.)

Both my Dell and my Samsung can rotate. Have never tried it mind.

The Dell can change aspect ratio on certain inputs + has a zoom. Handy for playing the C64 using the composite in. Not sure on VGA/DVI.

Just press Windows key and left arrow if you have XP or onward, no?

Not on all computers, no.

If you look in the bargains thread, SVP have some 17 inch widescreen LCD's for 35 quid. Larger sizes also available.

my monitor doesn't rotate, unfortunately. It would be awesome for those vertical shmups

That is a good price.


I kinda like this

http://svp.co.uk/product/lg_w2252tq_22_ ... itor_hw499

Would it allow a connection of a x-box?