LCD aspect ratio

[Seth_]

I'm going to be upgrading all of my pc's to LCD monitors. What are the advantages/disadvantages of a 4:3 as opposed to a wide screen?

Thanks.

[smurfy]

Why aren't you geting widescreen LCDs?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,118044-page,1/article.html

I use a 20" LCD widescreen and a 17" LCD 4:3 at work, 19" and several 15" CRT 4:3 at home.
Widescreen is better for multitasking and viewing DVD movies and far better when dealing with big spreadsheets, but otherwise for gaming, web use etc I don't see a lot of benefit in the added expense of a widescreen format.

[Seth_]

Thanks Smurfy, those were pretty much my thoughts as well.

Since I'm not a gamer and don't watch DVD's on my computer, I didn't see any benefit to the wide screen. Although, I do see some disadvantages (correct me if I'm wrong):

1) With all else being equal, I'll lose vertical space with the wide screen.

2) Web pages will be displayed with the vertical black bars on a wide screen.

[oracle128]

Widescreen gaming indeed has its advantages. You can see more, same as with video. That's why widescreen resolutions/FOVs are sometimes banned in online play.
1) With all else being equal, I'll lose vertical space with the wide screen.That depends on the resolution. 1280x1024 (5:4 - the moder LCD screen) has a vertical advantage compared to 1280x800 (16:10 - many laptop LCDs), but if you get a 1440x900 or 1680x1050 LCD you'll obviously gain horizontal space.
2) Web pages will be displayed with the vertical black bars on a wide screenNope. Web pages, and indeed most applications, will have more space, but again this depends on the resolution. On my widescreen monitors (a 1280x800 laptop, 1680x1050 laptop, and 1280x720 desktop/plasma), I can see more in a wider view compared to the 4:3 aspect respective resolutions.

[Seth_]

Ok, thanks for the replies, but I thought of a really crazy idea:

I'll drag myself away from my computer room and go to a local computer outlet to compare:D.