Widescreen Monitor or Standard Monitor ?? That is the question.

dcellwood

Hunting for a new monitor. Like the look of this

Fujitsu Siemens Scaleoview L19W-2 19" TFT Monitor 1440x900 800:1 300cd/m2 5ms Silver/Black - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128559

@

Ebuyer - £84.99 with £10 off on google ceckout.

Great price. My PCs the same make and they're a good brand name.

But do I need a widescreen monitor ? I watch all my films on my DivX player / TV so I'll be using the monitor purely for the Web and the other regular applications.

Any advice ??

codger

I hesitated over w/s when my CRT 17" finally died.

I finished up purchasing an almost new 20" widescreen from a private seller.

It's turned out to be the best IT investment I've ever made.

But I guess everything depends upon the model: mine's an Acer Ferrari F20, and Acer (in my experience) do some pretty good monitors. My F20 is also a TV receiver and yes, I do watch Freeview on it -- for DVDs though, can't see the point: surely it's better to flake out on the sofa in the lounge than be sitting at a computer desk in the study????

Two important points to bear in mind:

(1) Thanks to advice received on MSE from users far more expert than me, I was told to think CAREFULLY about widescreen size, because a 19" w/s isn't a "natural" size at all, whereas a 20" is: the screen 'real estate' is superior to the 19" and the native resolution is better.

(2) You need to understand what you actually want a widescreen to do before buying one: it's a tool, not a fashion accessory. I work in Microsoft Word 50% of the time so the ability to have two document pages open side-by-side is a real boon. I also do a lot of post-processing in PhotoShop -- again, the experience of working with this software is made immeasurably more enjoyable, and productive, thanks to the 20" widescreen.

As with all things IT, it's surely a case of matching hardware to individual need.

Skint1

I have a 19 inch widescreen because I like to watch films on it and play games.

neilwoods

All depends on what you want to use it for.

Contrast ratio isnt all that good on it, only800:1 so films not great. But good for general everyday use, emails, surfing. The respone time is about standard, 5ms.

So for the price, not a bad monitor.

dcellwood

Bought it. For £85 and for what I want it for I think it's the right choice.

Thanks for your input.