Building New System, Should I get a Widescreen monitor???

[lorthus]

Im building a new system and I'm getting a 19" monitor but I'm wondering If I should go with Widescreen or not....
I'm going to play some games and Im also going to play some movies....

 

[col-p-todd]

widescreen is the future, more and more games support widescreens now and it looks alot better.
I,m waiting for this monitor to come in a newegg:

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/LCD_Digital/LS19MEWSFXAA.asp

 

[ghowthoo]

I say go for it! I absolutely love wide screen. I have a 21 inch HP f2105 wide screen flat lcd and it rocks!! I play games at 1680x1050 wide resolutions wonderfully! and if my system cant play at those resolutions due to say my graphics card not being able to handle a graphic intensive game like say oblivion or fear at those resolutions etc... then...

i'd set it down to 1280x1024 and the monitor plays it fine... it'll scale it down to fit to your wide screen... if you dont like the way it looks because it stretches it alittle bit... (i dont notice it at all really.. so its super to me)... you can have the monitor scale to the actual resolution instead of trying to fit the screen etc etc! hope I made sense... ive forgotten all the technical terms and such for this... haha

 

[crazypyro]

Won't regret it.

I went from 17" > 24" widescreen. Its that much better. i can't believe i didn't do it sooner.

 

[MrMr]

Oh ya. Widescreen goodness all around. I switched form a 19" 4:3 to 19" wide-screen a year ago and I'll never go back.

 

[plankmeister]

Put it this way.... can you think of a reason not to go widescreen?

 

[Stuff99]

For a 19" monitor I was dissapointed with widescreen. I thought the same thing as everyone else here was saying before I bought one but it makes the monitor feel like a 17". If you are going to go widescreen you need to go with a bigger monitor. I was VERY pleased with a widescreen 22" monitor by Acer. In my opinion, if you are set on the 19" don't get a widescreen, but if you can afford it, you should definately invest in a widescreen 22", I use it for gaming and I couldn't be happier!

 

[Eurasianman]

Yes. Like someone else said, unless you play EA games, don't worry about it.

However, I've played BF2 and BF2142 and to me, it's not that bad.

I game on a Samsung SyncMaster 940BW @ 1440x900 (if the game will support it :tongue. Got it for $220 after tax at Best Buy a few months ago 8) . Best gaming monitor I've ever owned.

Oh yea, this is coming from a 17" LCD @ 1280x1024

Oh yea, if you can, look for one that supports HDCP so that in the future, you can watch BluRay or HD DVD whenever they become popular. That's my only regret with my widescreen.

 

[dean7]

Here are some things to note (I've owned WS monitor for a while now):

1. Some games don't support widescreen aspect ratio. But, I have a monitor with 1920x1200 res, so if I run in 1600x1200 and tell my monitor to not stretch (it has a bunch of different modes for handling non-native and non-WS resolutions), it's still in it's native res with bars on the sides. So, you can easily get around this.

2. The native res on most WS monitors is pretty hefty. If you are trying to run games at 1920x1200 you are going to need a pretty expensive gaming box. I think 1680x1050 is probably a better gaming resolution, so you could always stick with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014105

But, it's not going to be as easy to power as a 19" gaming monitor (something to consider). Anyway, that being said, I love my monitor. After using WS I wouldn't go back (especially after seeing DVDs on it and downloading some WMV HD content).

 

[Rhinofart]

Widescreen is the future. Go the exact opposite of women. Go wide and large.

JK about the women thing people!!!

Seriously. Go for a widescreen, and at least 22 inches or so. You WONT regret it.

 

[lorthus]

Ok so I have $300 to spend on a monitor Widescreen which one should I get??
Im not spending a dollar over $300... If I can spend less its even better

 

[Stuff99]

This product from newegg has gotten some pretty good reviews, it's a 22" widescreen for 299.99 (incl. Shipping) so you even get to save a penny!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824252006

One of my clients wanted a monitor that was large but not to spendy and I got him this one (the black version) and the picture is crisp and displays games, text, and movies just beautifully. I would highly recomend

 

[hella-d]

Trust Me Youll Like A Widscreen, In Fact I Run 2.... 22" Septer And A SiliconGraphics 17.3" In A Dual-Monitor Setup

 

[outlw6669]

Wide screen = Awsome!

I would agree that this looks like a good monitor.

 

[dsidious]

Absolutely, a widescreen is much nicer than the reqular type. Some old games like Diablo 2 only work at 800x600 and don't look so good, but newer games and movies are fine. Make sure you get something with 5 ms or less response time. 8 ms is probably OK too but I can't confirm it from personal experience. I use an LG204WT (20", 5 ms, $300 Canadian at Future Shop right now, $400 regular price) and I'm extremely happy with it. I have a Viewsonic VX2025WM (20", 8 ms, also 1680x1050) at work and I'm happy with it. I don't know how it behaves in games though, I haven't tried it.

I did a lot of research and it seems that Samsung is one of the best, along with Viewsonic. Not happy about their prices though. Acer has great prices, especially on their 26" widescreen model, but the reviews weren't great.

If your graphics card has something like a VGA and an S-Video output and you're interested in a dual monitor setup then Samsung is good, it has some models that accept S-Video input.

When you buy make sure you pick a store with good return policies. That is, if you get dead pixels on a monitor from FutureShop you can return it and get your money back or a similar model without defects.

Good luck!

 

[Rhinofart]

That's if you have more then the required dead Pixels. I have a couple of workstations that I administer that had dead Pixels. We got a crapload of flatscreens from FS in Edmonton (20 on that one order) and a couple developed dead Pixels and they said that they couldn't replace because there wasn't enough dead Pixels to warrant the return to the manufacturer. :twisted: Things may work different if you get the extended warranty plan, but on 20 flatscreens thats another couple of monitors!!