Flat Screen wide screen or regular? comments/opinions thinking 19' screen

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angelnek1

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#17222 17-Nov-2007 18:51

Hi,
I want to replace my CRT with a flat screen, I do not do gaming, but I do watch tv shows on line if I miss them.

I am thinking of getting a 19" with speakers, but I don't know whether to get a wide screen or regular.

Opinions comments welcomed.

thanks
angelique

tonyhughes

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#95717 17-Nov-2007 20:19

I moved everything but my tablet pc to widescreen (15.4" laptop, and 19" external lcd for the tablet).

For pure office productivity work, I would use a standard aspect. For anything else, I would go widescreen, its lovely.

See if your budget will stretch to a 22" - there are some good deals around, and the extra 3" and extra resolution over a 19" is a HUGE difference.

angelnek1

21 posts

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#95734 17-Nov-2007 23:59

I was thinking the widescreen for my office because I hear you can view two pages at once side by side on it, and yest I also am hearing that 22" are about the same cost as 19",
thanks for the input.
angelique

maninimepo

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#95802 18-Nov-2007 21:05

angelnek1: I was thinking the widescreen for my office because I hear you can view two pages at once side by side on it, and yest I also am hearing that 22" are about the same cost as 19",
thanks for the input.
angelique

Well it depends on the application, and the resolution of the monitor. Native on a 19" is 1280x1024. Not very likely to get two windows on that!

19" Widescreen has a native resolution of 1440x900, so more likely to fit two windows but not particularly likely really.

A 22" Widescreen will give you 1680x1050 (the same as a 20" widescreen). Now two windows starts to become a real option (unless you are using very small windows).

I personally would always go for a 20" over a 22". They both give the same resolution, just 20" is in a smaller space so it feels more crisp and detailed. Like using a 15" compared to a 17". They both show exactly the same stuff, just the 17" makes it look crap lol. The PPI is really important for the quality of a screen, and a 20" is better than a 22" in this regard.

Widescreen tends to be pretty much standard now, and I'm glad. I love widescreen monitors. They feel bigger :s

I would really recommend going for a 20" though - you can never have too much screen real estate, and there isn't really any benefit to a 22" over a 20"

edge

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#95808 18-Nov-2007 21:33

Totally personal (subjective!) opinion but I think on balance I agree with maninimepo. I have a 22" Chimei at home (for a couple of months) and a relatively new (couple of weeks) 20" Philips at work. Both widescreen. I really loved the 22" at home - and it is still great. Howwever, I must admit I don't miss much having the 20" at work. Still enough physical real estate to put two apps side by side at work with the 20" - even with my half century old eyes! Guess it just comes down to what you find best at the relatyive prices. certainly no disadvantage to having the extra 2" but, conversely, you would have to look at what advantage you see in having the extra.

I think in hindsight my opening statement may be tautological - I guess all opinion is, by definition, sucjective?!

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into."
— most commonly attributed to Jonathan Swift, author/theologian

nate

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#95809 18-Nov-2007 21:39

Just to add my $0.02, I'd recommend a well known brand - I'm a big fan of Philips or Viewsonic, good bright clean colours compared with the cheaper Chinese brands.

tonyhughes

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#95820 18-Nov-2007 22:46

re: 20" vs. 22" - the 22" will physically show the actual size of 2 x A4 sheets, plus enough extra for the Vista sidebar...

paradoxsm

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#95830 18-Nov-2007 23:09

Speaking of LCD's I think my faithful 17" is about to kark it, I have left it running for 2 days continuous and when I got home it was flickering tonight and seems to be rather hot.

I have had a bad run with Viewsonic CRT though I always loved the bright colours which was always top.

I'd go the full 22" if you have the room. Now I better start looking at some too!

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nate

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#95837 19-Nov-2007 02:01

paradoxsm: Speaking of LCD's I think my faithful 17" is about to kark it, I have left it running for 2 days continuous and when I got home it was flickering tonight and seems to be rather hot.

If only your monitor was still under warranty, would love to hear you ring tech support and tell them that!

angelnek1

21 posts

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#95840 19-Nov-2007 05:27

Thanks for all the input, well I am definitely going widescreen, and am not going 19", will defintely be a 20 or 22"
Am preparing for the big sales day after thanksgiving as my buy date.
Was out comparing monitors yesterday, (while my computer was in the shop-for the third time this week-don't even get me started on that one!!!)

Funny I say some with 700 contrast that looked better than others with 1000/2000 and 3000, so I am wondering if I need to just see and choose and dismiss this variable.

Also did not see any difference between response time being a 2 or a 5, but I don't know how to guage that. (I am not a gamer, so I guess I can throw out that variable also.

Need two, one for the office which runs xp and the other for the house which is vista, so maybe 22 for the vista and 20 for the office?

I saw maninimepo mention ppi, as important, what is that?

angelique

maninimepo

72 posts

Master Geek

#95926 19-Nov-2007 13:55

If you aren't going to be gaming, then forget about response times - they're not really imporant. 12ms would be fine.

Stats and specifications are only good up to a certain degree. The best way to find out if a monitor is any good is just go and have a look at one in action! :)

PPI is Pixels Per Inch.

The higher the number, the better, I personally wouldn't want anything less than 100.

With more PPI, the screen will feel more crisp and detailed. Have you ever used an Apple MacBook Pro?

The 17" model crams 1680x1050 onto it, which means 132PPI, and I'm sure you'll agree they're fantastic.

A 22" screen has a native res of 1680x1050, which means 90PPI. Shows all the same stuff, just in a bigger area which means it's less crisp.

It's all just personal opinion though. The best way to find a monitor is to go and see some in action and choose one that looks the best! :)