Windows XP 4:3 or 16:9?

[yankii]

Should I get a Windows XP laptop that has a 4:3 screen or a 16:9 if I mostly want to play games [visual novels]?

 

[Latiodile]

if you're going strictly for early windows xp era games, 4:3, 16:9 is going to either stretch everything or have black borders

 

[yankii]

if you're going strictly for early windows xp era games, 4:3, 16:9 is going to either stretch everything or have black borders

I checked the specs and it only lists 4:3 resolutions for external displays. Does this mean I can't do 16:9 at all even on a 16:9 monitor?

 

[Latiodile]

I checked the specs and it only lists 4:3 resolutions for external displays. Does this mean I can't do 16:9 at all even on a 16:9 monitor?

what's the gpu? is it VGA or DVI? typically if the highest resolution is like 1920x1536 or something you should be fine with running a standard 1080p monitor and enabling scaling in the display itself

 

[yankii]

what's the gpu? is it VGA or DVI? typically if the highest resolution is like 1920x1536 or something you should be fine with running a standard 1080p monitor and enabling scaling in the display itself

I don't think it has a GPU. Specs just say Pentium 4, and VGA output up to 1600x1200.

I don't mind low res as long as it can output to a 16:9 external display.

 

[Latiodile]

I don't think it has a GPU. Specs just say Pentium 4, and VGA output up to 1600x1200.

I don't mind low res as long as it can output to a 16:9 external display.

it can probably output 1280x720 and 1600x900 just fine, that's just the max resolution the gpu/igpu is capable of outputting.
mind handing me the exact laptop model number/name if you have access to pictures of it? i can look it up for you

 

[yankii]

it can probably output 1280x720 and 1600x900 just fine, that's just the max resolution the gpu/igpu is capable of outputting.
mind handing me the exact laptop model number/name if you have access to pictures of it? i can look it up for you

Seller says it's a ThinkPad T30.

 

[Latiodile]

Seller says it's a ThinkPad T30.

it has an ati radeon 7500 and pentium 4-m, it should be able to output just fine at 1280x720 either internally on the display if it's the 1400x1050 model with scaling to add borders, or you can set it to only output to an external monitor and run it at 1280x720 or 1600x900, don't expect to be running anything more intense than idk quake 3 on it though

 

[SonyUSA]

For any XP era use 1024x768 at the MOST. Anything higher is going to cripple the hardware performance, even if it does support it. Most games will launch in 640x480 or 800x600 anyway, the 1024x768 is just for comfort on desktop and system management therein.