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Why a widescreen monitor?

19 years ago

I'm shopping for an LCD monitor and have discovered that widescreens seem to have flooded the market. I can see the advantage if you watch movies on your computer, or maybe if you play games, but I do neither. Are there other advantages?

The shape is somewhat appealing, but I don't want anything to get vertically squashed. Also, they must take up more space, yes?

Thanks!

Susan

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Comments (10)

sue_va
19 years ago
Hi, Susan

I have a wide screen now, and I don't really see the need for it. A lot of sites don't use all the space, some have their info centered, leaving space on each side, etc.

I keep mine on Minimized or at the most about 3/4 the real size. I don't like trying to read such long lines if I'm on a site that does stretch text all the way across.

Sue
mikie_gw
19 years ago
I would imagine to keep the tv & computer formats alike.

The future tv programming will be wide screen aspect ratio.
Our computers are supposed to be multimedia devices and someday, if you're not already doing so, we'll all likely watch some sort of tv videos on our computers. And visa versa, watch some computer programming on tv's.
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marthapartha
19 years ago

V-I-S-T-A

marf
tumblenweed
19 years ago
I just like the looks of my widescreen tv and laptop:-)
wizardnm
19 years ago
I have a 24" wide screen monitor. I love it! Nothing is squashed vertically (you can play with the resolution) and I find it much easier to read and see. Everything is in the right proportion.

Nancy
jerzeegirl
19 years ago
Just a caution about the size of the screen - When we were computer shopping, DH and I debated about the 24" widescreen vs the 20" widescreen. I am very glad we got the 20" because it is really big and I find that I have to sit a bit back to be able to see the whole screen properly. If we had the 24" I think I would have to sit in the next room!

My DH would be able to answer the why get a widescreen question with just two words: giant Solitaire. Yep, it's an addiction and it is really cool on the widescreen.
gipster
19 years ago
Hi Susan,
I would go with a widescreen.
Widescreen is the future(which is now).Yes they do take up a little more space (width)but it's not much.
The upside of widescreen is you can have 2 windows or webpages open side by side and be more productive.Granted widescreen is a little more expensive ,about $30 or $40 more then a"standard" monitor but it's worth the little extra money.
Most people consider a 19"monitor the new standard size whether it'widescreen or standard.You can get a 19",20",or 22"widescreen for $209,$233,and $289 respectively.
Hope this helps ya.

Here is a link that might be useful: Newegg
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
19 years ago
For some of us who have not-to-serious visual problems it is often easy to remove ones glasses, push back a bit and just hold down control and scroll to make large fonts. This sometimes makes some curious frames when reading local newspapers, magazines with many adds, some forums or whatever. A wider screen might make my daily reading look more "natural". Occasionally there is a rare site which I cannot read with the large fonts.

So, perhaps many people with glasses could learn to take advantage of the widescreen rather than paying for tri-focals or straining ones back leaning closer to the screen.
alisande
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks, everyone! I'm glad for the encouraging words on widescreens since that expands my options considerably. (No pun intended!)

Susan
Jonesy
19 years ago
I would have trouble playing a giant solitaire, would be turning my head all of the time instead of moving my eyes back and forth. LOL

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