The HP w2408h is a 24-inch monitor seemingly designed for use by graphics professional with its high 92 percent colour gamut and flexible viewing modes. But how does it perform?
Design
The HP features the ever-popular combination of a silver and piano-black finish. It's relatively classy, and the controls are well located on the fascia -- though for some reason the power button is located on the top.
This stand is fully height adjustable and will also flip into portrait mode -- there are also clasps to hold your cables in place so it's easier to manoeuvre. These little touches extend to the stand itself: it's designed so that an HP keyboard can be docked on top to keep it out of the way.
One thing we did find is that our screen didn't sit fully square -- it tilted a little to the right. In the end we had to prop the HP up with something as it wouldn't swivel enough to even out.
Features
For a monitor hovering at the one grand mark, the w2408h does lack some of the features of its competitors -- though its ergonomics render it more flexible.
The 24-inch panel itself boasts a 5ms response time (on to off) and HP's BrightView Technology for better contrast. It has a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, making it capable of displaying high-def content.
For connecting PCs and other digital equipment the monitor comes with an HDMI port with HDCP support -- for decoding 1080p content. Unusually, it lacks a DVI connector, which OS versions seem to have, so you'll need to buy a DVI-HDMI cable.
Unlike the HP's main competitor, the Dell 2407WFP-HC , this monitor lacks advanced features like component, S-Video and Picture-in-Picture.
Rounding out the feature count, though, are a set of onboard speakers (2 x 2W) which can decode HDMI audio, and four USB ports including two on the side.
Performance
Considering this is one of the few monitors which can be viewed in portrait mode, we tried this first and found it worked quite effectively. The whole screen remains fully lit -- so you don't need to tilt or move your head constantly to look at different parts of the screen. However, looking at it from the sides in this orientation renders the screen negative and unreadable.
Back in landscape mode, the HP's colour performance is very impressive: its ability with colour makes Web pages and games alike look spectacular. For an LCD, black levels are also very good.
Playing the PC game Crysis was a revelatory experience. If you have a machine grunty enough then this monitor can make it shine. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, on the other hand, did show up a tiny flaw -- when the HP displays a black screen there is backlight leakage from the bottom of the screen.
While photos look colourful and bright, we initially found the reflective coating could be distracting when viewing text -- all the letters had a faint blue ghosting effect. Calibrating the monitor alleviated this somewhat, though the lack of dedicated "Picture" modes means that this may not be the best for watching movies.
It's worthwhile to note that your PC's graphics card and processor perform the image processing done by most modern TVs and DVD players. If you plug a device such as the PlayStation 3 into the HP, though, it acts simply as a monitor. As a result, we wouldn't recommend it as a first choice for movie fans. While a Blu-ray like Mission Impossible 3 looked good, the graininess of the film ends up overemphasised. The detail and colour are still good though.
This is an excellent monitor, but we feel that the Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP- HC offers more features and performance for the same or less money -- if you can pin down a good deal on their Web site (it's at AU$849 at the time of writing).
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JTH
07/10/2008, 06:05 AM
rating
9/10
I purchased this to do CAD. Paid $450. Could have purchased a totally adequate Soyo for $200 less but chose this because of the swivel screen for designs that are vertical. HP quality was a somewhat secondary consideration.
Was very skeptical of the glossy screen.
I would give this a 10 except for the glossy screen
Pros: HP installation disk updated my drivers on my 4 year old IBM Thinkpad to wide screen resolutions which I was not able to do manually prior to purchase.
Screen is more than bright enough in all conditions. I see none of the visual problems that are mentioned in the year old reviews.
This display takes a lot of getting used to for photography mainly because I have been working with displays that do not show the full color gamut. Coordinating and color management between the docked laptop display, this display and the printer will take some work but will yield superior results. Watching slide shows of my photography is pure joy on this monitor.
The 4 extra USB ports are a great bonus.
Cons: Glossy screen is a nightmare. Purely for marketing. I do not want to rearrange the lighting in my room or close the curtains for this monitor. Looks like it's back to the 80's shopping for antiglare film or attachments.
Takes almost 3 hands to swivel this to vertical.
Monitor software does not play well with the IBM docking software. Much easier to use the physical buttons. (IBM fault not HP)
Monitor parameters are not idiot proof. You do need to read all the documentation to get the image you want.
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Mike
21/08/2008, 04:48 PM
rating
4/10
If you are worried about angles then this one is not for you. Yes the height is adjustable but if you want to be comfy sitting back low on your chair then you will most of the action at the top of the screen.
Pros: - Nice colors, vibrant.
- Good for gaming with lesser input lag.
Cons: - HDMI sucks **** You keep seeing your reflection on the screen which also sucks **** Movie action scenes is horrible on this monitor
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This screen is amazing.
15/08/2008, 04:34 PM
rating
10/10
I purchased this screen about a month ago for $450.
Pros: superior picture, vivid image, amazing colors, HUGE even when compared to other 24" screens. I run this on my computer using a HDMI to DVI cable...I hooked up the ps3 HDMI to HDMI...believe me....any game you think might have looked good on your regular tv you ought to see this one. This screen literally makes any game whether it be pc or ps3, 10 times better because of the image quality.
Cons: The screen dims or lightens depending on the room's ambient lighting. However this can be turned off with a few clicks on the option menu. I have the screen on full brightness whether the room is bright or dark...
Another CON is it stays on all the time. My old monitors used to go into stand by, this one keeps the lights on slightly...because of this the monitors back panel could cook a egg. before I knew this I went to bed, woke up the next morning, and I swear the back of the panel was 200 degrees. Now I have to manually turn off the screen even when the pc is shut down.
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Phil
21/07/2008, 10:18 PM
rating
10/10
Just picked mine up, 21 7 08
I run extended desktop with Philips 190X5 as the attached monitor. The w2408h blows it away. Love it!
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idobref
27/05/2008, 10:50 AM
rating
10/10
I've had it for 3 days already and i'm loving it so far!
Pros: great crisp bright vivid picture :P
Cons: none so far!
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rlachiv
29/04/2008, 11:47 AM
rating
4/10
JUst bought this monitor yesterday. Looks very pretty but has some annoying "features"
Pros: Pretty, large, fairly nice picture quality
Cons: SOftware glitchy and HP support is terrible. Couldnt get the monitor pivot software to work. NOISY!!! It was louder than my PC with 4 fans running.
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Mike
06/04/2008, 02:52 AM
rating
10/10
Before buy I was worried about gray levels and shiny surface. No problems. Really fullfills HD standars. Excellent colours and gray levels. Mine was calibrated at 6500K or sRGB, no blue cast mentioned at some web-sites, or noise; totally silent. Version GTGF31, manuf. February2008 in Czech Republic. Sold in Europe.
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Kloddhopper
01/02/2008, 12:22 AM
rating
2/10
A TN film panel for $1200? LOL, they better get people roaring drunk first and maybe taser them to get their wallets.
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Javier
06/12/2007, 12:59 PM
rating
10/10
Is perfect
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keyboardMASH
22/11/2007, 03:53 PM
rating
10/10
The w2408h has a TN Film panel. Claiming that it's designed for use by graphics professionals is ludicrous.
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