Widescreen notebooks get even wider

As recently as a few years ago, all notebooks sold had screens featuring the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, the same dimensions as old CRT televisions and computer monitors. Then came widescreen, and laptops quickly jumped into a brave new world: The 16:10 aspect ratio became standard, and the now-common 15.4-inch laptop gobbled up market share. Today you'll be hard-pressed to find a non-widescreen laptop on the market.

But now a new change is underway as laptops have begun to move toward an even wider standard: 16:9, which is the same aspect ratio you'll find on most widescreen TVs.

I've been checking out my first laptop with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 16-inch diagonal screen (this is what most 15.4 inchers will become) and I like it, for the most part. The Gateway MC7803u has extra side-to-side real estate that makes it easier to fit -- almost -- two web pages side by side without having to overlap them and without requiring side-scrolling. There's a little bit cut off on the right side of each page, but for people like me who almost always have two pages open (one for reading, one for blogging) and are constantly flipping back and forth between them, the extra side-to-side length is a real help, and I can get by in most cases without any side scrolling. As well, having the same aspect ratio as a TV means many DVDs and movies can now fill up the entire screen with no letterboxing. If entertainment is critical to you, this can be a big deal.

16:9 isn't without some drawbacks. While the expansion in width is impressive -- from 13 inches wide to 13.8 inches -- you do give up a bit of vertical real estate, going down from about 8.15 inches tall to a mere 7.75 inches. If you primarily work in a single document all day long (like a Word file), the extra width will be meaningless to you, but you'll definitely notice losing nearly half an inch of vertical space in which to work. The overall area is virtually unchanged: Going from 106 square inches on a 15.4-inch, 16:10 laptop... to 107 square inches on a 16-inch, 16:9 machine.

Wider laptops will create headaches for some people, too: That extra inch will mean laptops won't fit in many bags for 15.4-inch machines, take up even more room on lap desks and tray table. You'll also have to handle extra weight, too: While machines vary pretty widely in heft, the Gateway MC7803u is a pretty fat 7.8 pounds. (It's also a pretty sexy unit, with a bezel-free screen, backlit keyboard, upscale leather and metal trim, and fully loaded specs (2GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 3650, 320GB hard drive).... and costs just $1,000 flat.)

Is it worth it to go to a 16:9 notebook? These machines may be novelties right now, but judging from the way the market is heading, soon you may not have any choice in the matter: Glass makers like standardization, and getting laptops in line with TVs again is probably inevitable. (Good news, though, for those that dislike change: I'm told that further aspect widenings -- the next stop would be 2:1 -- are probably not in the cards.)