widescreen or normal?

[THEORBO]

how have people here chose between the 20.1" widescreen LCD vs. the regular 20.1" LCD? Why is the widescreen cheaper? I am not an avid gameplayer and am trying to decide which to buy. What do you suggest?

[drew-and-not-u]

I, and many other people prefer widescreen. Although widescreen diplays have somewhat lower total real estate, they have more usable real estate. you're able to have multiple windows open side by side, widescreen movies fit much better, and it's a more natural shape to look at all around.

[lcsonka39]

If you play an occasional game .. nothing crazy .. just a normal first person shooter (ex: Day of Defeat)... how will the widescreen handle the game -- stretch? do nothing?

[myjobwenttochin]

Don't buy a widescreen monitor if you plan to use the monitor for internet use.

Web pages appear very small.

Fonts are impossible to read.

[Maestro2u]

I think it boils down to personal opinion myself, so I'll chip in and give you some of my thoughts on the matter.  I'm waiting for the corrections to the 2007 wfp before I buy one, but coming from a 19inch crt I'm most looking forward to the extra horizontal real estate.  I don't think vertically I'm going to miss anything, even though a 20.1inch widescreen is only slightly taller than a 17inch monitor (1080 pixels vertically instead of 1024), but horizontally it will be like having an extra .63 of a 17inch monitor attached (1650 pixels is roughly 1.63 x 1024). 

For browsing I'm looking forward to tiling windows vertically, and for gaming the extra viewing area to my left and right, whether it be Word of Warcraft, a first person shooter, or an real time strategy, I can't wait.  Also to keep in mind, my long term goal is to have a 2nd monitor.  I'll just keep my 19 inch crt as my second monitor until it dies, but once it does I will have to decide then if i want just a 'little' 17inch or 19inch  4:3 ratio lcd, or possibly a 2nd widescreen.  Something to think about I hope.

Just my two cents, good luck.