widescreen- to have or not to have

i know this is such a commonly asked question, but i still can't decide which one is better.

i don't mind the 15.4 inch (1280x800) resolution, however my biggest concern is when running programs(ok, mostly games) that don't support the widescreen resolution.
i have lots of old games that don't for sure, and kinda worried that it would look horrible. no, actually, i don't know how they would look.

would they be stretched to fill the screen(which i think WOULD look horrible), or would it fit vertically, but leave blank black spaces horizontally left and right?

or is there an option somewhere where i can choose and configure?

 

The omega drivers allow you to stretch to fit screen (horizontal distortion) fit while maintaining aspect ratio (black bars left and right) or no scale (small picture in middle.) All of my newer games support widescreen.

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x512 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

hmm, just to get some more grip on this..

say i have a game that will run only on 1024x768.

what are the possible outcomes on the 1280x800 widescreen using the omega driver?

 

Normally, if the games max res is 1024x768, the LCD will lower its resolution to 1024x768. In the case of a Widescreen, normally it'll again lower to 1024x768, but will stretch the picture to full screen. If you make a change to the driver settings, you can disable the stretching feature so it'll still drop to 1024x768, but now you will have an unstretched picture, but you will also have black borders on the screen (remaining unused pixels).

-Vb-

 

definetely widescreen is the best choice.Old games may have some borders but,I play doom3,farcry,wolfestein smoothly and fullscreen.and havent got a problem yet.


Fujitsu Amilo M 1420-1.7 Dathon,1gb(333mhz),Ati 9600Pro 128
  15,4 " crystal view WXGA (23 million),7200 rpm,DVD+RW+R    
                                         M 1420 photo

 

I wish some moderator could start a thread where widescreen notebook users could report which games look good and work well at 1280x800. I suspect even demos may not be a reliable indication since by the time of the final release a resolution previously not supported may be provided.
Anyway, to me the number one news item is that Rome: Total War , which I've played in the demo, looks utterly spectacular and natively supports 1280x800. Railroad Tycoon 3, with the post - 1.0 patches (but not that original), works fine. The Dawn of War demo was less successful and the April demo for the Rise of Nations -- Thrones & Patriots expansion release works at 1280x1024 with an awkward 224 vertical pixels missing. Halo recognized and uses 1280x800, but a child can understand how to play better than I. The Tribes Vengeance demo froze my notebook utterly.
Since a "Gold" Rise of Nations edition combining original plus expansion is imminent, I'm wondering/hoping for 1280x800 support. I think this a type of game especially to benefit; I hope somebody will report before I risk $30.

 

I could do that right now, thanks for the suggestion.

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x512 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

Check out this board for widescreen info:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/phpBB2/index.php

HP zx5000 - P4 3.0HT, XP Home - 15.4" Brightview WXGA - 128mb ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 - 512MB SDRAM (1x512) - 60GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive - DVD/CD-RW Drive - 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth

 

Gee, thanks guys! That Widescreen Gaming Forum specifically offers a solution for Rise of Nations (I guess I'll be getting the RoN Gold combo!) -- one merely resets to AllowAllResolutions=1 in a config file called rise2.ini .
After installing DNA Catalyst 3.0.4.9
[ http://www.dna-drivers.nl/viewtopic.php?t=3644 ] RoN: Thrones & Patriots demo looked somehow different and better.
I was surprised by how easily the DNA installer did its work -- I had been quite nervous. I did the install in Safe Mode but with no measures to remove factory-original drivers. I've now been told by their site guru that I was supposed to install in normal mode and it's a surprise that it worked! The one annoyance was that, first, one window opened up afterwards offering to set up a TV, and once I unchecked the "Always open this on boot," there was another one offering setup tutorials.