Dual LCD's, need a little help...

[shaba230]

Hello,

I am purchasing dual LCD's. Here is the dillema:

First: Should I go widescreen?

Second: Should I do 19 or 20.1"?

Here's my situation:

I NEVER play games.

I very very very occasionally watch a movie on my computer.

I do a lot of word processing, research on the internet and data analysis using excel/access and MATlab.

I will likely add an HD tuner card to my computer in 6 months or so to use my computer as a dvr although the whole idea is up in the air as I'm not a big television fan muchless a fan of using my computer for entertainment.

I always thought that getting a widescreen meant more screen area, but this is incorrect. I did the math and a 19" 4:3 gives 15.2 width, 11.4 height which is quite a few square inches larger than the 16.56x9.315" dimentions of a 16:9 19" monitor. (19 sq. inches)

Finally, i was thinking as a last resort because i'm so damn indecisive, to get a 19" 4:3 and a 19 or 20" widescreen.

Thanks for all your help in advance

 

[Hose]

Hello,

I am purchasing dual LCD's. Here is the dillema:

First: Should I go widescreen?

Second: Should I do 19 or 20.1"?

Here's my situation:

I NEVER play games.

I very very very occasionally watch a movie on my computer.

I do a lot of word processing, research on the internet and data analysis using excel/access and MATlab.

I will likely add an HD tuner card to my computer in 6 months or so to use my computer as a dvr although the whole idea is up in the air as I'm not a big television fan muchless a fan of using my computer for entertainment.

I always thought that getting a widescreen meant more screen area, but this is incorrect. I did the math and a 19" 4:3 gives 15.2 width, 11.4 height which is quite a few square inches larger than the 16.56x9.315" dimentions of a 16:9 19" monitor. (19 sq. inches)

Finally, i was thinking as a last resort because i'm so damn indecisive, to get a 19" 4:3 and a 19 or 20" widescreen.

Thanks for all your help in advance

1. Widescreen or Conventional is a personal preference. One's not necessarily better, they're just different.

2. A 20.1" UXGA screen will display more info than any 19" because of the number of screen pixels. The "square inches" does not determine how much is displayed, but rather the pixels.

3. If you have a PCI slot open, you can get a Hauppauge PVR-150. It gets good reviews.

Though gaming isn't important to you, what about "viewing angle" or "portrait mode"?

What about cost? You could spend as little as $300-ish for 2x19" LCDs or as much as $2,000+ for 2X20" for high-end, with lots of choices between.

 

[shaba230]

1. Widescreen or Conventional is a personal preference. One's not necessarily better, they're just different.

2. A 20.1" UXGA screen will display more info than any 19" because of the number of screen pixels. The "square inches" does not determine how much is displayed, but rather the pixels.

3. If you have a PCI slot open, you can get a Hauppauge PVR-150. It gets good reviews.

Though gaming isn't important to you, what about "viewing angle" or "portrait mode"?

What about cost? You could spend as little as $300-ish for 2x19" LCDs or as much as $2,000+ for 2X20" for high-end, with lots of choices between.

Well, I know you say it’s a personal preference, but I am not sure which one I have a preference for. Obviously I've only used 4:3 CRT monitors in the past at home but I am not sure if it would be more beneficial to use a widescreen instead. For this reason I was hoping I could get some insight from users of widescreen panels to help me make my decision as to why they like the widescreen monitors better or worse.

Now when you say the number of pixels will determine how much is displayed, I am a little confused. While I do understand the concept of pixels quite well I am confused because you are comparing a UXGA 20" to a 19" ??? This kind of ties into your third point of how much I plan to spend. I'll be going on the low end of both sizes, if I do 19" probably max 180/monitor, if I do 20" probably looking at 280/monitor. I mean I am okay with spending the extra money if it is really going to be that worth it for me.

Now why I said it would tie in together is that:

19" 4:3 = 1,310,720

19" 16:9 = 1,296,000

20.1" 4:3 = 1,470,000

20.1" 16:9 = 1,764,000

I don't mean to bash but you make no sense comparing UXGA displays to SXGA+ displays. While you are VERY correct in pointing out that physical area in and of itself does not yield more information being displayed on the screen you failed to comprehend the fact that you should be comparing apples to apples and by that I mean comparing a UXGA widescreen to a UXGA 4:3 and when you do that 4:3 wins every time.


But again, I am posting this in hopes for someone to tell me the pro's to having a widescreen over a 4:3 other than watching movies or gaming.

Thanks

 

[Hose]

If you're not considering movies or games, the only "pro" I can think of is greater horizontal display... that is, you could show more colums of a spreadsheet on one display page and display the entire page of a website that was silly enough to have its format in widescreen.

Personally, I don't like widescreens. Some images appear "vertically squashed", some images appear "horizontally stretched". Some media won't fill a widescreen completely. So, if you're looking for someone to tell you why "you shouldn't like widescreen", you have my opinion. Others will say they like movies or games better on widescreen because images are more panoramic.

The considerations of UXGA vs SXGA might be significant. The UXGA has a greater number of smaller pixels which generally results in (a) more information being able to be displayed at one time, and (b) a sharper image though text is smaller.

I responded to your post because I have a lot of experience with multi-monitor and multi-card setups. However, I wouldn't presume to suggest "what you should like".

Perhaps you should visit a retailer and observe lots of monitors side-by-side. Then maybe you'll know what you like.

 

[shaba230]

I actually did go to the store today, and i loved the widescreen monitors. I felt like I could fit so much more stuff into those displays....however when i saw the Sony LCD's with xbrite, i was just in awe. They look AMAZING!!

I was dying to see a sony widescreen so I could try and pick one up but turns out they dont make it

Do you know of any other company that makes an even close comparable to that beautiful display taht sony offers? It was almost as if there was a film on top of the display just to make it look amazing.

 

[Hose]

I actually did go to the store today, and i loved the widescreen monitors. I felt like I could fit so much more stuff into those displays....however when i saw the Sony LCD's with xbrite, i was just in awe. They look AMAZING!!

I was dying to see a sony widescreen so I could try and pick one up but turns out they dont make it

Do you know of any other company that makes an even close comparable to that beautiful display taht sony offers? It was almost as if there was a film on top of the display just to make it look amazing.

I too am a fan of the Brite screens, but you'll probably want to be assured that you can control the lighting environment where you'd use them. There can be significant glare and reflection from other lighting.

2 Brite widescreens come to mind... the NEC 20WMGX2 and the Gateway 2185W. Best Buy carries the NEC and Circuit City carries both , though not all stores carry all models.

 

[shaba230]

thanks i'll go down there and check them out today

(EDIT)
OMG I just looked online the NEC has a built in tuner so its like 600+ and the NEC is 21". MY GOD I can't afford TWO of these!!!