Customer Reviews

HP 2159M 21.5-Inch HD LCD Monitor

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I wouldn't call myself very tech savvy, but you don't have to be to know that you purchased a good lcd monitor. I really can't compare it to other hd monitors since this is the only one I own. I previously owned a 17 inch lcd, which I used for typical computer tasks and gaming. I'll give my pros and cons on the HP 2159m:

Pros: -Full HD, HDMI and DVI
-1920x1080 resolution, very high for a display under $300.
-Wide viewing angle is great for movies.
-Integrated speakers
-Great for gaming, I used my Xbox 360 on it. You get up 1080p.
-VGA is actually very good. I tried my PC(1920x1080 60Hz) and
it impressed me.

Cons: -Speakers don't have such great sound.
-The glossy screen is a bit reflective, but not a big problem.

Once you own this monitor, you will find many things you like about it and some things you don't. But what can I say? I didn't buy the monitor for the intergrated speakers, I use my own speakers. The glossy screen is a bit reflective in dark backgrounds, I hardly notice it at times. They're just minor things. If your thinking of upgrading, do it. It's worth the $200+ you'll pay.

I wanted an external additional monitor for my HP laptop. After a lot of research I finally decided that for the price and what I wanted, to buy this one. The colors are excellent, especially compared side by side with the laptop. The blacks are very black, writing is sharp and clear on it. I've watched a Blu-ray movie on it as well and that was very sharp and clear as well. I use it as a dual monitor especially for photo applications and it is great for that. It allows for portrait style viewing as well but I have not tried that so can't comment on it. Very nice monitor at a reasonable price.

This HP monitor is high quality, with an amazing picture as well as a sleek look and HDMI as well as DVI inputs.

I was looking everywhere for a glossy monitor and was unable to locate one because for some reason, people still mostly prefer a matte display. Glossy is 100 times better. The picture is brighter and sharper and just plain looks better. Think about it. Before LCD's, every single CRT monitor out there was a glossy screen! I don't know what the big deal is. The reflections that I do get are almost unnoticable and unless your monitor is sitting directly in front of a window, it really is a non-issue.

The widescreen is awesome for movie watching and game playing and the blacks are nice and black and the colors appear true and sharp. There is not one single negative about this monitor.

The only minor gripe I have is that whenever you turn it on, a status box appears on the screen for about 5 seconds. It is a slight annoyance as I have absolutely no use to know my status every time I turn it on. I have, as of yet found no way to remove it. If anyone knows the solution, please let me know.

Also, I have not tested the speakers, but I imagine them to be just mediocre, considering that most integrated monitor speakers are very alike.

All in all, I'm extrememly pleased with my purchase and with this size and glossiness value, you can't beat the price.

Okay, to start off, I just have to say that this monitor was definitely worth what I paid, which was about $200. I bought this monitor to replace my old 15" CRT monitor that I had for many years. I just decided to upgrade since I had the spare cash and needed some more desktop space. This monitor is very crisp and clear. I am currently using it with the DVI connection with my fairly old Nvidia 8500 graphics card (I need to upgrade, I know). I have yet to view the monitor in HD quality since I don't own a HD enabled graphics card, even though the view in DVI seems to be just as good as HD 1080p, though I know there is likely to be a little bit of difference.

The screen brightness on this thing is amazing! I use it at 0% screen brightness because 100% is very, VERY bright. I also love that this monitor is energy star qualified, which means less power consumption when compared to other monitors of similar specs. One thing to note if you are switching from CRT to this monitor is that the colors are extremely vibrant, as I would expect LCD monitors to be. Though, this is not the case for some monitors of lower quality out there. I just recently upgraded my Windows Vista to Windows 7 and this monitor displays the new OS in all its shining glory.

When I unpacked this thing after I got it 5 days with the free shipping, I immediately noticed the size. I know there are bigger monitors out there but for me, this thing is huge. You could easily have two internet browsers open side-by-side with plenty of space (if you have the monitor on the highest resolution. Also, it should be noted that the monitor did not have any dead pixels upon arrival, meaning that this thing is well build and was well-packed (thanks Amazon).

This monitor also has all the ports that you need to hook your computer up to. The cables come with this monitor for VGA and DVI, but if you want to use the HDMI connection on the monitor, you will have to also purchase a HDMI cable as this doesn't come with one. I'd suggest getting a gold-plated one for the best connection. Also make sure your graphics card actually has an HDMI port on it before-hand.

My true only complaint is that I didn't wait until OLED monitors came out. But, that is a whole different category and shouldn't be considered right now...at least until OLED monitors become available for sale.

So let me try and sum this up with a Pro's and Con's list:

Pros

+ Large display at 21.5"
+ Very bright screen
+ Vibrant colors
+ Energy Star Qualified
+ More desktop space (if you're coming from a CRT monitor)
+ Built good and sturdy
+ Awesome for gaming, as well as internet browsing, etc.
+ Includes everything you need, minus the HDMI cable. (True plug and play)

Cons

- Doesn't come with HDMI cable (which is a minor gripe as they can be purchased at around $5-$10 here on Amazon)
- Low quality speakers (though everyone should come to expect monitors of this problem. I use external speakers).

So overall, I believe that this monitor will last me for quite a long time as Hewlett-Packard makes some pretty amazing and long-lasting products, especially monitors. I've had this monitor for about a month or so now and it still looks awesome. ^_^

I shall update this review as my time continues with this monitor.

I bought this monitor just over a month ago and I absolutely love it, with one small exception. The 1080p resolution is awesome and having multiple inputs is great. I have it connected to my computer with the DVI cable and the picture is great. I also use the HDMI cable input for my PS3. Now my problem is that there is no audio output on the monitor itself(for headphones or external speakers). With no headpone jack on PS3, I'm stuck with using the built-in speakers. This is true for any device you connect with HDMI. Other than that, this a great monitor and I highly recomend it as long as you dont need it for anything other than a computer monitor, as you can connect whatever speakers you want to the computer itself.

I read many reviews for this and other monitors. I decided on the HP215M 21.5 inch HD LCD Monitor and have not regretted it. The delivery was quick, and the setup was truly plug and play. After a month the brightness and clarity of the screen still amazes me. I would purchase it again if I needed another screen. I am looking forward to splitting the view so I can have 2 programs open on the screen side-by-side.

I bought this monitor a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't try it until a few days ago for the SVGA cables gave me big troubles. With a good quality cable, now I'm enjoying the bright, crystal-clear colors of this monitor. The LCD panel size and the native resolution is optimum in my opinion. I strongly recommend this LCD monitor.

At first I was a bit surprised to see subtle blotchy patches of color and graininess. Like where the color is transitioning from one shade to another--instead of it being an unnoticeable gradient, there almost visible lines where one shade ended and another began (like in people's faces on videos). I tried to get used to it and I told myself that it was probably because the monitor resolution was so good that it makes lower quality source material actually look worse. I had also verified that the driver was installed properly and I was using the higher quality white cable (not the blue one). DVD's sometimes showed up nice, some pictures occasionally looked great. While some things like youtube or streaming content from netflix was almost unwatchable compared to my old tube monitor--but I assumed that was normal.

However, then I noticed that even high resolution 1080 photographs and wallpapers had the same color blotches and graininess which can't be so easily explained away. Plus Windows XP itself had grainy patterns like in program menu items. So I shopped around and got another monitor. Best Buy (of all the rip-off places) actually had great deal on a 23" Acer for $170 and I hooked it up and did a side by side comparison.

The Acer had no grain and no color blotches even in low quality source material like youtube (it was just normally blurrier as you would expect with lower resolution streaming video). But all around by comparison the Acer was crisp and perfect as I was used to on my old tube monitor--and for less money.

So anyway, maybe I just had a bad one of these HP monitors and it wasn't explicitly horrible all the time--sometimes I thought I had sort of fixed the graininess by slightly adjusting the contrast, but not really. The low quality image was noticeable most of the time in the monitor I had, so I wouldn't recommend it.

As far as better brands, I recommend (if possible) going to a office supply store or somewhere that has lots of them hooked up to actual computers side by side so that you can see what you're getting. Just reading reviews doesn't quite cut it for this sort of purchase since its something that you're going to stare at for hours on end inches away from your face.

Sorry to have to leave a negative review, but I was very disappointed in this monitor. While the external finish of the unit is great, and text is clear and sharp, and it's great to have a 1920x1080 monitor that doubles as a small HDTV for such a low price, there is one BIG problem: vertical viewing angle.

It's important to keep in mind that there are two types of LCD panels - one is much more expensive but it has a much wider viewing angle, especially in the vertical plane. I don't remember the names of they two different types of panels, but this HP unit is definitely the cheaper type with a VERY narrow vertical viewing angle. As mentioned in other reviews, out of the box brightness comes set to 'sear your eyeballs'. But the problem is that, even after adjustment using a true test disc like Video Essentials, the brightness level shifts greatly if you move your head up or down just a few inches. And the 'proper' brightness is with your eyes close to parallel to the bottom of the monitor, which of course can't be done for regular use. I use Adobe Premiere for HD video editing, and use the very darkest work background - which on a properly calibrated monitor appears dark charcoal gray, almost black. On this monitor, it was anywhere from medium gray to very light gray, depending on if you move your head up or down a few inches. Also, despite all possible adjustments, colors look slightly posterized on this display.

I was hoping to get lucky and get a great 1080p HD monitor for under $200, but as they say 'there's no free lunch'! To get a truly high-quality display at this size and resolution requires spending more for the better type of LCD panel. I wish I could recommend this display, I wanted to love it after reading the reviews, but the huge problem of viewing angle is simply unacceptable to me. Sadly, it's going back to Amazon.

I needed to replace an older HP 21" I passed to my daughter. In looking through the choices, I reviewed the 23" HP, but settled on this smaller footprint model. I just received it. Stunning quality with my nVidia 9650 video card. The sound probably isn't Bose quality, but for us folks with human ears, sounds fine to me playing rock and roll - loud. Set up is a Forrest Gump simple 5 minutes or less. Open box $186 with free shipping. Like James Brown said - "I feel good."