external widescreen monitor

Wasn't sure where to ask this question, but hope this is the right spot.

As the internet has become more widescreen, I am close to breaking down and buying a widescreen monitor. My concern is that since I work a lot with texts, the shorter height (relatively speaking) will make text appear smaller. I have heard that some monitors permit you to flip them to the vertical position for text and back to the horizontal for other things, though they might be pricey.

Right now I use a 17 inch non-widescreen monitor. It is okay at the moment, but I would not mind going a little bigger as my eyes sadly age. Let's say a traditonal 19 inch monitor would meet my needs in terms of text size. How big a widescreen would I have to get, to get the equaivalent text size?

Muchas Gracias.

 

I presume your 17" monitor is running at 1280x1024. Most 19" monitors I've seen also run at SXGA, so you'll be buying bigger pixels rather than more of them.

If you're concerned about losing vertical resolution going to widescreen, then ensure any widescreen monitor you look at is running an equivalent vertical resolution. In this case, you'll probably want a WSXGA+ (1680x1050) monitor, available in sizes from 20-22".

WXGA+ (1440x900) may also be an option, since you have a similar pixel count (slightly smaller) but you will lose 124 pixels of display height.