Widescreen or square?

[phantomcow2]

I am planning on replacing my 10 year old 17" CRT monitor at last! The replacement is going to be a nice, contemporary, LCD. I want at least a 20" this time. More real estate on the screen is a great thing to have, and I don't want to regret buying anything smaller in a year from now.
I want my decision to cater to the three most frequently used applications:
Solidworks
MasterCAM
Firefox for general internet use and reading PDF manuals.

I don't have video games on this comp, nor do I have or plan to have image editing or any multimedia editing programs.

What are peoples preferences for these applications?

[ger21]

I upgraded to a 19" LCD from a 20" CRT about 2 years ago. Huge improvement. Next upgrade for me will be a 24" (or bigger) widescreen. Widescreen is preferable for apps that let you dock toolbars on the sides of the screen. The downside is that the height gets smaller. Since you're coming from a 17", a 20" widescreen would be a good choice. If I went to a 20" widescreen, it would be smaller to me. If you can swing it, I'd get a 24" widescreen. Prices are dropping fast. I was at Costco the other day, and they had 3 PC's that came with 24" widescreens, for between $1299-$1699.

[phantomcow2]

If I could swing it, I'd say damn it all and get a 30"
I unfortunately, cannot swing that much . Would the height actually get smaller than my 17" is now?

[Matt Berube]

Samsung SyncMaster 215TW-Black - flat panel display - TFT - 21" Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Part number: 215TW - Black Product Short Spec: Display (projector) technology: TFT active matrix Display (projector) diagonal size: 21 in Max resolution: 1680 x 1050 Dot pitch: 0.27 mm Response Time: 8 ms

I have had this for 6 months and I love it. I use mostly Mastercam but also Topsolid. This cost over $500 when I got it but I bet it's less now.

Here is a picture to show what you can do with toolbars with the widescreen. I removed an entire row from the original config. On this monitor I lost a little bit of height but picked up lots of width from my old 19" CRT. If you had a 17" CRT I don't think you'll lose height with any decent sized new monitor. Definitely get a widescreen. It's so much better with Mastercam's Op Manager.

One more thing, when you get your LCD monitor if you feel like the white screens are burning your eyes out of their sockets, adjust the color "tone" or "temperature" setting. That was my only issue when I first got the monitor (too bright) but it's perfect now.

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by phantomcow2 If I could swing it, I'd say damn it all and get a 30" I unfortunately, cannot swing that much . Would the height actually get smaller than my 17" is now?

A 36" is nice to hang on a wall LOL. Saw one at Best Buy 6 months ago $3,699.00.
19" to 20" are nice. Being that I'm a little Old School a Square 19" Flat Panel Dell E193FP is what I have been using for about 1 year now. Great for working on CAD and CAM. Can't afford SW or MC but at least BCC is getting a little better.

If you can get Dell Credit I'd look at the 24" Monitors.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/c...n&s=dhs&~ck=mn

Cheers!!!!!!

[phantomcow2]

I am actually seeing 22" monitors at good prices. I don't think I would lose any vertical height compared to what I've got now. Right now I've got only 9.625" of vertical and 13" of horizontal. Looks like I would get possibly MORE vertical by going 22" wide. This thing would be bigger than my parents TV

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by phantomcow2 I am actually seeing 22" monitors at good prices. I don't think I would lose any vertical height compared to what I've got now. Right now I've got only 9.625" of vertical and 13" of horizontal. Looks like I would get possibly MORE vertical by going 22" wide. This thing would be bigger than my parents TV

Speaking of TV's you can always use a Big Screen TV as your PC Monitor. Much Cheaper too. You only need a Graphics Card that the right Connectors and Cables.

I have a friend that does this.

[CNCRob]

I just upgraded my old 19" crt and got a new 22" Wide Screen Samsung lcd over Christmas and have nothing but good things to say about the wide screens. I love it. I would think if you get a 20" wide screen the height would be just a little taller then your 17" crt. My 22" wide screen is nearly an inch taller then my old 19" crt.

[phantomcow2]

Originally Posted by tobyaxis Speaking of TV's you can always use a Big Screen TV as your PC Monitor. Much Cheaper too. You only need a Graphics Card that the right Connectors and Cables. I have a friend that does this.

I think an LCD TV would be even more expensive than a monitor because it has a tuner as well. I do have an S video out and DVI out on my graphic card though.

[Boatista]

The difference between a SQUARE LCD and a WIDESCREEN, really boils down to minimum resolutions. A SQUARE monitor, whether it be the smallest LCD, up to the most gargantuan CRTs is capable of 800 by 600 resolution, and in older operating systems, even 640 by 480. The minimum resolution of a widescreen LCD is 1280 by 800 (768) without distortion. This means you need a very large widescreen LCD in order to compensate - 24" or better. SQUARE LCDs are no longer made, and top out at 19". The myth about square LCDs is that they are not as good at multimedia. Don't you believe it! They do everything and anything a wide will do, but they are twice as expensive to make.