QUICK! Help me decide on buying either Dell 20.1 LCD Wide or NORMAL Aspect!

[DealMonkey]

Dell's having a big-ass sale today. What should I get? The normal aspect-ratio 20.1" LCD? Or the wide screen?

Argh! Decisions!! 😀

 

[Night201]

Wide Screen. I'm getting one in about a month.

 

[mpitts]

I have two of the widescreen 20" and I love them.

 

[masshass81]

I am planning to get the widescree. Read this, the thread compares the 2001FP w/ 2005FPW

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1454175&enterthread=y

If its too much to read, scroll through and click on all the PICS, most will compare widescreen w/ normal 4:3 aspect ratio. WS gives so much more horizontal viewing area in addition to having a more natural AR.

 

[lightpants]

vote for wide - I :heart: mine

 

[artikk]

widescreen is the future my man
for more advice scan through this thread.

 

[NutBucket]

I've had my 2005 about 2 weeks and I LOVE it. I can fit two word documents (full page) side by side. I much prefer it to a 20" normal aspect LCD.

 

[Kaido]

don't the 2005's have backlight issues or something?

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Kaido
don't the 2005's have backlight issues or something?

Only the first batch. I watched Return of the Jedi on mine yesterday and had zero issues.

 

[SuperTool]

Given the same diagonal, the wider the aspect ratio, the smaller the area. So I would pick the normal screen, purely as a area per dollar calculation.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Kaido
don't the 2005's have backlight issues or something?

Only the first batch. I watched Return of the Jedi on mine yesterday and had zero issues.

How do you like it? $500 seems like a great deal. I'm working on a publishing project and I could use a wider screen 🙂 Also, is a 64mb Radeon 9600 enough to run it?

 

[SouthPaW1227]

If you use it for movies a lot, go Wide. If using it for normal work (Word, Internet, Photoshop, etc.) get normal. I have one of each and the normal has more work room.

 

[tfinch2]

Wow this thread could really use a poll! WIDESCREEN!

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Kaido
don't the 2005's have backlight issues or something?

Only the first batch. I watched Return of the Jedi on mine yesterday and had zero issues.

How do you like it? $500 seems like a great deal. I'm working on a publishing project and I could use a wider screen 🙂 Also, is a 64mb Radeon 9600 enough to run it?

I love it. Nice and clear. A friend at work has a 20" LCD and I prefer this to it. I'm not 100% sure on your vid card. It just had to support 1680x 1050. I'm running of an ATI X300 PCI-Express card (new Dell). It *should* work just fine.

 

[Czar]

how does the height of the widescreen version compare to the height of the 19" dells?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
If you use it for movies a lot, go Wide. If using it for normal work (Word, Internet, Photoshop, etc.) get normal. I have one of each and the normal has more work room.

I do the following:
-watch DVD movies
-play Counter-strike
-surf the net a lot
-use the Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat
-use Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

That's about it. What do you think I should go for if I get one? How come the normal one has more work room?

 

[artikk]

Originally posted by: Czar
how does the height of the widescreen version compare to the height of the 19" dells?

the widescreen version has the height of a 17 inch lcd.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
If you use it for movies a lot, go Wide. If using it for normal work (Word, Internet, Photoshop, etc.) get normal. I have one of each and the normal has more work room.

I do the following:
-watch DVD movies
-play Counter-strike
-surf the net a lot
-use the Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat
-use Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

That's about it. What do you think I should go for if I get one? How come the normal one has more work room?

Technically it has more pixels. I think this widescreen provides more practical workspace personally.

 

[Kaido]

oh and if you hook up a VCR to the composite port, will the tape be stretched widescreen or will it look normal with black bars on the sides?

 

[MX2]

Another widescreen vote here😀

 

[SALvation]

What is the big sale? Is there something more than the 25% off that has been going on the last week?

 

[cliftonite]

Id save my money and get the 24 inch widescreen .

 

[SuperTool]

The regular one is 1600x1200=1920000 pixels
Wide screen 1680x1050=1764000 pixels
So you lose only 80 pixels in width, and gain 150 in height, and you get 11% more pixels with a normal LCD.
That's what I would pick.

 

[SouthPaW1227]

The widescreen has LESS pixels on it!

For more common tasks, it's beneficial to have lots of VERTICAL space (escp. Word, internet, and Photo work). The widescreen one doesn't give you much vertical room. You end up scrolling a lot more than with the normal screen.

For your uses, I'd go normal. Out of all those things, only DVD watching would benefit from the Wide. Get the normal & get more screen space.

 

[Actaeon]

I got in on the "same deal" they had last Thursday/Friday. A 25% off, then a $55 off 475+, ended up being the same price at $506 + tax + free shipping. It is coming in tomorrow via UPS.

I went ahead and got the 2001FP, simply because it is an industry standard 4:3 resolution, and not something funky. I just believe since 1600x1200 is a industry standard, espically with games, that it would be a better choice. That 1680x1080 or whatever seems a bit weird, and can be asking for trouble in games that don't support it.

I think the widescreen looks cool, but it is more of a novelty feature than a useful one. For movies, it might be a good idea, but other than that, I really don't see any thing different aside from the fact you have a shorter screen. I think it looks awesome, but it is not right for me. It all depends if you value form over function.