Widescreen vs. Regular

[miston]

I'm in the market for a notebook, basically just something to sit back on the couch and surf the web while I watch TV, etc. So the main fuction is WEB BROWSING.

But all these WIDESCREEN notebooks are horrible for web browsing, right?!? Webpages aren't really meant for widescreens, as the pages are formatted more for portrait than for landscape, right? Am I making any sense?

But it seems like only the widescreens have that new high glossy display (HP Brightview, Dell Crystal Clear, etc.) I just ran into Office Max to check it out, and the ones with the high glossy display really look a LOT better than the regular displays. Are these worth it having a widescreen?

Are they're any non-widescreen displays that have the high gloss display?

thanks for any help

 

[Sabertj]

Well it would depend on what kind of websurfing you are doing, or atleast that could be part of your decision process. I know sometimes i wish i had a widescreen instead of scrolling to the right to see the entire page of certain websites I am looking at.

 

[papadiddydoo]

I would definately go widescreen. Not only is it clearer as you said, but why not kill two birds with one stone and get something that is nicer for other applications such as watching movies? If you look on anatec homepage, you'll notice they gave a review for the dell 700m. I think that is a good choice for your needs.

 

[papadiddydoo]

On top of that, i noticed that the review said the laptop runs very cool compared to the other small and thin notebooks or notebooks in it's class so while your sufing and watching tv you don't have to worry about the laptop getting to hot in your lap. Dell always has some crazy deal every once in a while. I remember in october, they were selling the 700m for $750 bucks, after $700 off. I was so mad i missed that deal by one day, i could have purchased a few and sold them on ebay to make a profit. =*(

 

[stingygrrl]

Originally posted by: papadiddydoo
I would definately go widescreen. Not only is it clearer as you said, but why not kill two birds with one stone and get something that is nicer for other applications such as watching movies? If you look on anatec homepage, you'll notice they gave a review for the dell 700m. I think that is a good choice for your needs.

funny... I decided not to get the 700m after reading that review.. .

 

[trikster2]

I have a WUXGA Dell lattitude D800.

The wide screen wastes way to much space in my opinion.

Many web pages are designed for 1024x768 or even 800x600 so most of the time the web page is only taking up 1/2 of the wide screen. In other words my beautiful 15.4" display, for the purpose of browsing the web my lapto is functioning more like a 12 or 13" screen.

Movies on the other hand are beautiful.

Never tried this, but I have always thought that a tablet PC would be great for browsing the web while watching TV. Your not doing a lot of typing and there is No screen blocking your view....

 

[miston]

Originally posted by: trikster2

The wide screen wastes way to much space in my opinion.

Many web pages are designed for 1024x768 or even 800x600 so most of the time the web page is only taking up 1/2 of the wide screen. In other words my beautiful 15.4" display, for the purpose of browsing the web my lapto is functioning more like a 12 or 13" screen.

EXACTLY! SO I really don't need/want a widescreen, because I never really plan on watching any movies, and if I do I can certainly live with a regular screen 4:3 ratio display

So, the question is do any notebooks come with the high gloss finish on a regular screen 4:3 ratio display?

Do I even WANT a high-gloss display?

 

[Robor]

I recently purchased a notebook and I went regular size rather than widescreen. Widescreen is nice for watching movies or putting 2 windows side-by-side but in most cases the extra side space isn't needed. I went with a 14" UXGA (1400x1050) screen. My coworker has a Dell 5160. It has a 15" UXGA screen and while it's nice having an extra inch of screen space I don't think it worth the drawbacks - heavier, bigger, hotter and louder.

One thing to note about the high gloss displays is while they look great they do reflect a lot so depending on the situation you may have annoying reflections to deal with.

Edit: I'd say go to the store and look at a lot of different notebooks and make sure to try and simulate the situation you'll be using yours the most so you can see how they will behave.

 

[jvarszegi]

Originally posted by: Robor
I recently purchased a notebook and I went regular size rather than widescreen. Widescreen is nice for watching movies or putting 2 windows side-by-side but in most cases the extra side space isn't needed. I went with a 14" UXGA (1400x1050) screen. My coworker has a Dell 5160. It has a 15" UXGA screen and while it's nice having an extra inch of screen space I don't think it worth the drawbacks - heavier, bigger, hotter and louder.

One thing to note about the high gloss displays is while they look great they do reflect a lot so depending on the situation you may have annoying reflections to deal with.

Edit: I'd say go to the store and look at a lot of different notebooks and make sure to try and simulate the situation you'll be using yours the most so you can see how they will behave.

You've got an SXGA+ screen, not UXGA. Compare it to your coworker's (if that is indeed a UXGA, which it may well be) and you'll see a huge difference. I think your choice is superior!

 

[gujuguy007]

i have widescreen and i dont think i could go back...the extra space does help with browsing websites. about 90% of the websites i go to don't end up distorted so as to take away from the content.

but listen to some of the advice above and go check out some of the laptops at a store and find what feels right for you. thats how i decided.

 

[RCmayor]

The wide screen takes a bit to get used to, but I don't mind it at all. When I go look at a 19" 4:3 LCD it looks weird. On the wide screen I generally just leave a side bar like favorites or a search panel open since it would be wasted room on the right side anyway.

 

[w0ss]

I recently got a 15.4" widescreen. It is pretty good. I will say it is pretty big but it works ok. As for web browsing I see no problems and dvd's do look better.

 

[MDE]

I absolutely LOVE my laptop's 15.4" widescreen. The only downer is that some games don't support widescreen resolutions and force you to have black bars on the sides or stretch the picture.

 

[dethman]

i HATE my 700m's widescreen for web browsing. i have to do way too much scrolling.

however, widescreen makes the form factor of the notebook very nice.

 

[Abhi]

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Abhi/desktop.jpg

This answers your question....

this on a 1680 X 1050 btw...

 

[halfadder]

My only widescreen is on my 15" PowerBook. All of my PCs use 21" CRTs. Widescreen is really handy once you get used to it. At first you will probably find yourself with reaallllly wide web browser windows! Or maybe wasted space on the each side of your main window. But once you get used to having a browser, email app, and IM clients all side-by-side, you'll be very glad you went wide!

But... dual 21" CRTs on a Radeon 9600 Pro with 3 GHz P4 isn't too shabby either!

 

[Wuzup101]

I really love my 15" powerbook's wide screan, it's a really nice feature. However, you end up with a bit less wasted space using a mac because the windows "maximize" differently ("maxamize" is the best comparison I can make). I would still say go wide screan for nothing more than watching watching DVDs. It won't take away from you're web browsing any... so don't worry about that...

 

[vegetation]

I'll never go back to anything less than my 15" WUXGA screen. I finally have enough pixels to have side by side full page legible documents and that's really important to me.

 

[ChuaChua]

I got eMachines m6809.
The widescreen is really handy when I want to have two windows open.
But the m6809 doesn't have a very bright screen, especially in a well lit room with multiple light sources.
In the dark, however.....it's really good.

Like MDE said, not all games support widescreen. If you look carefully at balls or some round things, they are squashed vertically.