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.