Getting an LCD screen for home use.

So I've ordered a Dell 1520 with a 2.2ghz processor and the 8600M GT card. I was wondering about buying an LCD screen for use at home. My big concern was about going widescreen or not. I'm on a standard 15" screen that I've used for a while now and I'm just used to it I guess. The new LCD's I'm looking at are a 19" widescreen and a 20" standard. Will I have many issues with the widescreen as far as older games and stretching goes? That's really my biggest concern.

 

Once you move to Widescreen you will never want to go back. You get so much more space. Check out newegg.com they have 22 inch Samsung LCD widescreens that are only 250 bucks. 19 inch are even cheaper for older games just set the game to your native resolution of you screen and it will look great.

 

But even if I set the game to the screen native resolution, won't I still get stretching?

 

You can set scaling to "keep aspect ratio". Then you'll get black bars if the game isn't widescreen.

 

Ah, alright. Guess I just have to decide on whether or not I want to see black bars.

 

Not as annoying as you might think. I was just playing Heroes of Might and Magic III and it don't support no widescreen. You don't even think about the black bars. And th 19" standard defintion isn't technically standard def, since it's 1280x1024. That's a 5:4 resolution (it's squarer) and for non-stretched gaming in older games, you'll need to scale while keeping the aspect ratio, giving you small black bars at the bottom. But this only applies to older games.

 

For some games you can go into the registry and manually change the resolution so that it will stretch the image. I did that with Warcraft 3 :-D

 

I thought just us Southerners talked like that, I didn't know the Swedes did it too?

I'll probably end up going with the widescreen then, even some of my friends said they'd never go back.

 

Widescreen is quite nice.

I tend to mix and match accents, since technically don't have one. It is particularly noticeble when i write, since all that's seen is the language, and not my own peculiar, hard to place accent.

 

Would a 22" be overkill for an extra screen? I just can't get over how short the vertical screen size is on the 19" widescreens. My only problem with going 22" is worrying about whether my laptop will be able to push games on a 1680x1050 resolution. Inspiron 1520 with a 2.2ghz Core 2 and 2 gigs of ram plus the 8600M GT. Will that resolution be a problem you think?

 

For the current games it probably will be able to keep up at high-med settings. With new games coming out you may have a problem. I had ordered a 1680 with my laptop and I called yesterday and changed the order to a 1280. I feel it's the safter choice. I'd say go with a 1440. But don't take my word on it get the opinions of a few others.

-Taylor

 

Problem is, most 1440x900 screens are 19". I don't think you have much choice with 22".

 

I know, that's kind of what I was asking, was if I should just get the 19" because the 22" will have too high of a resolution? Or can that laptop handle 1680x1050 fairly well? Would a 22" scaled back to 1440x900 look terrible?

 

u can check if ur local bestbuy still have the 22" widescreen lcd for 179. Its west....something brand. i forgot. but i think thats a really good deal.

 

To me, Non-native resolutions look horrid. The 8600M GT will have problems with 1680x1050 gaming at higher settings in the future. Now it's at mid-high. From what I understand.

 

if you have an older game, you can choose not to stretch the image, run the game in standard 4:3, and run a 17" image (approximately, i did the math for you)

new games that use wide screen are well worth it. it is much more cinematic.