LCD monitors

[JohnD]

I am thinking about getting a new monitor. My local supplier seems to be selling mostly widescreen LCD ones (my old one is TFT). Annoyingly they do not seem to have integral speakers these days. The 19" Widescreens with 3-year onsite warranty are cheaper than 17" regular. Is there any reason I should prefer reg or wide? I don't do games.

How can I tell if my PC and/or AGP card support widescreen? I understand that if not, the image will be distorted and annoying.


I can't seem to find the diagnostic tool that tells me about the motherboard

 

[djrock]

You can get them with integrated speaker but they are not very good! 19” WS resolution should be 1440x900. I think mostly all 19” screens are Widescreen.

If you right click on a blank part of the desktop, a popup menu should appear. Click on properties, Display properties should appear, Click on the settings tab at the top.

Now move the slider bar called screen resolution and see how high it goes. Make sure you click the cancel button, as you don’t want to change the settings. Whats the highest res can it go to? That will give you an idea if your gfx card can support a 19” WS. If not sometimes a driver update will sort it.

 

[JohnD]

what resolution do i need? 1440x900 or greater?

 

[djrock]

1440 x 900 for 19" WS. That particular resolution might not be listed but should appear when the screen is plugged in.