At the moment I have a rather narrow paddle strop/hone from Dovo corp. It's rather narrow so my teacher has taught me to use an X pattern. I think I would like a hone that is wider than the straight blade so i would not have to use the X pattern. My questions are this:

1) If I bought a wider hone would I still need to use the X pattern?
2) Waht hone brand would you recommend? I have been hearing a lot about the Norton Waterstones.