Widescreen v. 4:3 monitor size

Jan Regnier · February 18, 2013, 11:58:56 AM

Hmmm...we have Windows 7 and 17 Inch monitors...and we don't have display issues.. we are using 1024x768 and Windows Classic.

Gene Foraker · February 18, 2013, 02:11:38 PM

In my opinion, 17" monitors would be a really bad idea unless they are not the typical widescreen. It is pretty hard now to get monitors that are not widescreen. We have 19" 4X3 monitors. You would probably have to have well over 21" widescreen to have the same height measurement which is what controls font size.

Billy Welsh · February 18, 2013, 02:50:32 PM

To get the same height as a 19" standard, you have to go to a 22" wide model.

Jan Regnier · February 18, 2013, 03:23:43 PM

Quote from: Billy Welsh on February 18, 2013, 02:50:32 PM
To get the same height as a 19" standard, you have to go to a 22" wide model.

Our dual monitors are (or were) the standard "square"....we only have one widescreen but it's resolution is also ok.

Billy Welsh · February 18, 2013, 03:38:33 PM

Quote from: Jan Regnier on February 18, 2013, 03:23:43 PM
Quote from: Billy Welsh on February 18, 2013, 02:50:32 PM
To get the same height as a 19" standard, you have to go to a 22" wide model.

Our dual monitors are (or were) the standard "square"....we only have one widescreen but it's resolution is also ok.

Are you buying those currently? I did find a standard Dell a while back, but had to hunt for it.

Jan Regnier · February 18, 2013, 03:48:36 PM

Bought 2 in Oct from Newegg.com.

Jeff Golas · February 18, 2013, 06:02:26 PM

In the past couple months I ordered several directly from Dell! Heading out now but if I remember tomorrow (or pm me) I'll post the model number.

Jeff

Quote from: Billy Welsh on February 18, 2013, 03:38:33 PM
Quote from: Jan Regnier on February 18, 2013, 03:23:43 PM
Quote from: Billy Welsh on February 18, 2013, 02:50:32 PM
To get the same height as a 19" standard, you have to go to a 22" wide model.

Our dual monitors are (or were) the standard "square"....we only have one widescreen but it's resolution is also ok.

Are you buying those currently? I did find a standard Dell a while back, but had to hunt for it.

Hans Manhave · February 18, 2013, 06:59:43 PM

Search TigerDirect.com for item V18-1953. A 19" ViewSonic VA926-LED for $179.99. Probably others. Some nice used Dell 24" on eBay for that price.

Gene Foraker · February 19, 2013, 10:39:42 AM

Quote from: Jan Regnier on February 18, 2013, 03:48:36 PM
Bought 2 in Oct from Newegg.com.

Ditto on the Newegg site. They let you search by parameters when you get into a product line and one of their search tools is to choose widescreen or non-widescreen. It makes things a lot easier.

Mark · February 19, 2013, 10:48:12 AM

I've been buying 17" standard 4:3 monitors from CDW. there was one order a few years ago that the invoice said standard but they kept sending wide. After that was finally resolved, we have been ordering 17" 4:3 standard monitors from them.

I hate wide-screen for work.

Billy Welsh · February 19, 2013, 11:19:44 AM

Quote from: Mark on February 19, 2013, 10:48:12 AM

I hate wide-screen for work.

Agreed. I've got 3 22" wides so as to avoid giving up the vertical of the 19" standards I had. If I were running flight sims it would be awesome; for work it means a lot of wasted pixels.

As I said in a prior post, Dell does not make it easy. They are our vendor of choice, and my workload being what it is I just went with the flow when they quoted wides and told me there few standard available. As always, you guys have educated me and next time I will know better.

Gene Foraker · February 19, 2013, 11:50:55 AM

Quote from: Gene Foraker on February 19, 2013, 10:39:42 AM
Quote from: Jan Regnier on February 18, 2013, 03:48:36 PM
Bought 2 in Oct from Newegg.com.

Ditto on the Newegg site. They let you search by parameters when you get into a product line and one of their search tools is to choose widescreen or non-widescreen. It makes things a lot easier.

I just did a search by parameters on Newegg and 98 different non-widescreen models showed up.

Hint to the mods, maybe this should be split and moved to Hardware.

Jim Jensen · February 20, 2013, 09:40:40 AM

Topic split and this one moved. It does leave Ben's question a little lacking in responses, though.

Debbie Fuson · February 20, 2013, 12:36:19 PM

Quote from: Billy Welsh on February 19, 2013, 11:19:44 AM
Quote from: Mark on February 19, 2013, 10:48:12 AM

I hate wide-screen for work.

Agreed. I've got 3 22" wides so as to avoid giving up the vertical of the 19" standards I had. If I were running flight sims it would be awesome; for work it means a lot of wasted pixels.

I think it depends on how you use the widescreen.

We bought a bunch of 24" widescreens a couple of years ago after letting people vote if they wanted one big monitor or two smaller monitors. After they got the widescreens, they set them at low resolutions making it impossible to utilize them as intended, so then they needed a second monitor anyway. Widescreens are wasted on those folks.

But for me and several others, we run two 24" monitors, and love them! Great for spreadsheets. I can open multiple windows and keep 3-4 in my view at once. Heck, there are days I wish I had a third monitor of any size just to run my helpdesk email box.

Not saying you guys are wrong. Only that the extra workspace does come in handy for some of us.

Billy Welsh · February 20, 2013, 12:55:29 PM

Spreadsheets are the one item where I would REALLY miss the widescreens sometimes. My larger point was just that more times than not, on a typical day I am not utilizing all the width of all the monitors. Fortunately they've gotten so inexpensive, in the big picture I don't lose any sleep over it.

Personally I would highly recommend a 3rd monitor if you can swing it, based on the personal situation you are describing. While I would say the performance gains are not as much as when going from single to double, they are still significant for me based on what I do every day. I have done the same for several others in my office, and each of them also finds additional gains.

Conan_Ward · February 20, 2013, 03:18:02 PM

I think the problem i'd have with that (at least at home) is deskspace...my old 4:3 17's (both of which died within an hour of each other sunday night, perfect to go into holiday monday when I couldn't replace them). The new 24 thats replacing both will do alright for now, but I got out the measuring tape to see the reality of not fitting anything else in there for now...

Now if only the 24 will show up (waiting for it to get shipped to my local computer shop) so I can move my tower back from the living room...setting up on a card table in front of the tv just isn't as much fun as it should be.

Billy Welsh · February 20, 2013, 03:30:46 PM

So true. Using 2 hand-me-down standard 19's at home which is fine. Luckily also scored a hand-me-down computer desk with plenty of room for them.

Debbie Fuson · February 20, 2013, 06:18:57 PM

Two 24" monitors do take up a lot of desk real estate! When we started getting second monitors for my 24" users, I gave them an option of taking a smaller monitor for the second one. Those that said they wanted/needed a second 24", I had them come to my desk and see how much room they were giving up. Some did change their minds, and a few even asked to give up the one 24" for two smaller monitors.

Okay, guys, I have to tell you my funny dual monitor story. We have a remote office. One of the agency principals was there and sent me this email: "(Name of AM removed) wants to see what dual monitors look like. Can you take a picture and send it to her?" I'm like, what? What do dual monitors look like? Is this a joke? But I took a picture and emailed it to her and got a "Thanks!" in response. O-kay....

A few weeks later, the same AM emails and asks if when they get dual monitors, will they get "real" dual monitors. Her friend's office got "real" dual monitors, and they are just wonderful! I have no idea what she's talking about, so I ask, as nicely as I can, what she means. She answers that she doesn't want two monitors sitting together on her desk because that's just tacky looking!

So now, I'm really confused. What is dual monitors if not, you know, two monitors? She sends me a picture off the internet....of two monitors....on a dual monitor stand. Bless her heart, she never thought to ask if she could have a stand that held two monitors. She thought it was some kind of special monitor. And the kicker is that she wasn't asking to conserve desk space. No. She liked that her friend can move both of her monitors up and down at the same time.

DebAmstutz · February 21, 2013, 07:05:02 AM

She liked that her friend can move both of her monitors up and down at the same time.

At least it doesn't take much to make some people happy!

Hans Manhave · February 21, 2013, 05:04:15 PM

Because ammo is now the hottest commodity and one can watch the price, availability etc just like the stock market, I may have to install a third and fourth monitor.

But to continue the conversation on monitor proportions, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the size proportions of the wide screen monitor also. Even those come differently.

Mark · February 22, 2013, 08:33:49 AM

Quote from: Dutch Dude on February 21, 2013, 05:04:15 PM
But to continue the conversation on monitor proportions, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the size proportions of the wide screen monitor also. Even those come differently.

Yep. I wasn't paying attention and I bought two wide screen monitors with a very low and lame max resolution. I hate them.