To Widescreen, Or Not To Widescreen

[us3rnotfound]

Ok, I'm either going with the ASUS m6ne (non widescreen) or the m6bne (widescreen), which route should I go?

Both are same price, btw

 

[MDE]

Wide = good. Unless you need the thing to be light, I'd get the widescreen.

 

[corkyg]

Really depends on how you use it. If you travel a lot and take it with you, then wide screen equals extra pounds etc., and sometimes you don't have room for big screens on airline seat trays. But - if you mainly use it in a non-travel mode - go wide screen

 

[us3rnotfound]

i am debating this very much. I play a lot of games, so I'm thinking non widescreen.

 

[Abhi]

You can usually set the widescreen to give black bars on both sides during games, in order to preserve the aspect ratio of the game...
Many games these days do support widescreen as well.

Widescreen has its advantages, its a joy to work with, however, they make ur machine bulkier, wider and more battery hungry.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Abhi
You can usually set the widescreen to give black bars on both sides during games, in order to preserve the aspect ratio of the game...
Many games these days do support widescreen as well.

Widescreen has its advantages, its a joy to work with, however, they make ur machine bulkier, wider and more battery hungry.

There's an option in the ATI Control Panel (assuming you get one with an ATI video chip) to disable\enable stretching, sometimes things actually look a bit better stretched, but the distortion throws off gaming (especially in FPS games).

 

[chuchichan]

If games get distorted, do programs, such as MS Word, Internet Explorer, etc. get "stretched" as well?How much juice will the widescreen suck?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: chuchichan
If games get distorted, do programs, such as MS Word, Internet Explorer, etc. get "stretched" as well?How much juice will the widescreen suck?

Nope, normal programs aren't distorted, only fullscreen apps like games.

 

[chuchichan]

What models of laptops have the best screens? I liked the look of the HPs. On Dell's website they say the Inspiron 8600 is widescreen. Is this a true widescreen? Also, on a side note, does the Mac Powerbook 15" have a widescreen?

 

[paranoidandroid]

i miss my hp/compaq x1000 widescreen. it's amazing, looked better than ones on the powerbook 15incher b/c of the higher resolution (1600x1050) the best was putting 2 IE windows side by side and still having enough room to have the AIM buddy list on as well. games do get distorted, but you can set it to where games won't stretch on full screen settings. if you dont need to be too portable, widescreen is a great investment.

 

[paranoidandroid]

oh yeah, the hp/compaq x1000 had 4 hrs battery life on medium settings. much better than my current ibm t40. also, it ran really cool and quiet. it's about 6 lbs, which is very comparable to an apple 15inch powerbook. it also has an aluminum top, which protects the lcd very well. the rest is made of durable plastic.