Customer Reviews

HP 2509m 25-Inch Diagonal Full HD LCD Monitor (Black)

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I had been doing tons and tons of research about various monitors over the course of about a month or so. Recently I stopped by frys electronics and they had a sale on this monitor so I looked it up but there werent many reviews about it, however there were great reviews about last year's model. So I took the plunge I bought it yesterday and I love it. I have it hooked up to my macbook pro 13 inch, and am using 1080p resolution, it looks fantastic. The speakers suck of course but nobody buys a monitor just for the speakers.

Positive
-looks great
-colors are fantastic
-low response time
-HDMI port

negative
- only one hdmi port
- bad speakers
- no usb hub

However, This a FANTASTIC monitor, it is much more than I expected, the picture quality is amazing.
I would highly recommend this HP 2509m monitor

Pros:
- Big, nice 25" screen
- 1080p
- Sharp, crisp, clear picture
- DVI and HDMI inputs
- Hidden speakers, which are great for what they are, especially to HDMI sources like PS3/360 when you don't have the convenience of external speakers. These are laptop quality speakers, but the good kind of laptop quality speakers.
- Swivel function is very useful, allowing for free rotation
- Screen has a somewhat glossy finish, which is surprisingly anti-glare
- sRGB function is great for most people who don't like to calibrate. In a dim room like mine, setting it to warm with a brightness of 29 and a contrest of 64 yielded exceptional results.
- I tested my PS3 to this, connected via HDMI in both 1080p and 720p and it works flawlessly
- Video dynamic function works very well for fast moving games
- Input lag is good enough for me to do my combos in Blazblue
- Very little, if none, backlight bleed/flashlighting
- Price

Cons:
- HP logo is a smidgen off center
- Stickers that were on the frame of the monitor left small amounts of residue when peeled off, but were easy to remove
- No height adjustment
- Almost wish I got the 27" version!


As an audio engineer/music composer, I needed a new monitor to replace my current one. I've been in the market for some larger screen real estate, and something to connect my game consoles to when I travel, and have been looking for one suitable for my needs for at least half a year now. $400 and below was my limit, and I had been looking around at the newer models out there (LG, Samsung TOC, Asus, Acer, Viewsonic). Almost picked up the LG one on aesthetics alone, but a trip to the store to look at the color and I found that I didn't like what I saw, even after adjusting it to my liking. On the other hand, I thought the HP monitors looked pretty good, but were rather high in price ($400-$500) and lacked a DVI/HDMI duo. I almost decided to wait for the Samsung XL2370 when this monitor popped out of nowhere. Under $300? 25 inches? Dual HDMI/DVI? I bought it right away on impulse, and with confidence I can say that it far exceeded my expectations. Love the picture on this, and I'm glad I decided to get this instead of waiting for the smaller XL2370. After having a 25" monitor sitting in front of you, you really don't want to get any smaller than this!

Bought this montor from J&R via Amazon was amazing. Like another reviewer said, I also went to Fry's and evaluate all the high-end monitors, from Acer, LG, Samsung, NEC, some generic names in between, but I was impressed with this HP2509 (25") diagonally. I did have an HP 19" before, but this one is better with soft lines where it didnt hurt my eyes. At the time being I'm getting a 9600 NVIDIA HDMI 3DDR PCI-e 2.0 video card plus addition 700W Power Supply for my current system hopefully it be much better....may add more info when becomes available.

Pros:

I've had this for a few weeks now and really put it through it's paces. Movies from a Blue Ray DVD are crisp and clean and no sign of blurring or bleeding. The color banding I had with my older 19" NEC is also a thing of the past. Seems to do fine for gaming as well but where it really shines is for image editing in Lightroom and Photoshop PS4. As an active photographer who edits 1000's of images a year this monitor has really opened my eyes for editing and veiwing high resolution images. There's times you feel you can reach right into the screen and touch the subject you photographed - it's that life like! If you do a lot of image editing you will really appreciate this monitor for the ability to use Lightroom and CS4 and have space to work with. On my 19" I was always forced to zoom in and out to see the image details but not on this big screened monster.

Did I mention that this monitor is BIG? Big in size, resolution, and a big bang for the buck.

Cons: None that I can think of right off hand. The screen does have the reflective glare that other's have noted but I don't have bright light sources behind my monitor so it's not an issue for me.

I bought this to replace an older 4:3 Princeton LCD. Worked fine right out of the box with my Lenovo T61 laptop and its built in NVidia graphics card. My previous experience with 15-17" widescreens was poor because they had a much smaller effective screen height than 4:3 which resulted in very small text and graphics for a given screen size. For example, my 15.4' laptop widescreen is very difficult to view with the native resolution of 1920x1080. The 25" diagonal width worked out to be about the same height as my 4:3 LCD which is what I wanted: I didn't want to lose any screen height. I was concerned that the resolution might be too small to read but it worked out about the same. My 19" LCD 4:3 displayed 1280x1024 and this HP displays 1920x1080 so the text and icons are about the same size. I use this for business purposes so the widescreen format wasn't important but having the extra screen width with the same height as the monitor I was replacing was important for viewing multiple windows side by side. I wound up buying a Planar dual display mount and have the older monitor and the HP side by side in dual display mode. The Lenovo T61 NVidea card is capable of dual monitor displays. I have PLENTY of workspace now and although it looks a little odd with a 4:3 next to the widescreen, it works well for me.

This HP monitor has VGA, DVI and HDMI ports and it comes with one of each cable in the box. The stand is a little flimsy and the monitor will wiggle if bumped. As I stated above, I took the stand off and use the Planar dual mount which is very rigid. As for the screen, the monitor has excellent contrast and color. Yes - The screen is a little shiny and has a little reflection but it is no worse than CRT's and I think this shiny front gives the monitor the rich colors and excellent contrast. I use this in a very bright office with lots of sun and have no problems. You might have some issues if light is behind you though.

Can't go wrong with this one. I noticed the price has gone up. I paid $279 for mine before Xmas and now it is up to $297 but still worth it for this size, quality and name brand.

This monitor is fantastic. Don't listen to the bad reviews talking about the glossy finish. They picked their monitor out in an amateurish way and now they're paying for it.

The glossy finish is designed to give you a crisper image. If you work in an area where there is a lot of light behind you when you're working (like a window behind you or something) you shouldn't get a glossy monitor. To that effect, this monitor has a better picture than any matte finish monitor ever will.

This is easily the best monitor I use on a daily basis, even when paired against a comparable 1080p Viewsonic. As a software developer, I look at several monitors all day long. This thing is a treat for my tired eyes.

Hands down, this is the best monitor I've ever used.

Pro's:
- glossy extra clear display
- no anti-reflective coating distortion
- price
Cons:
- bad speakers
- no rotating stand
- stand does not raise and lower

I am a professional Photographer and I just returned a $1100 NEC LCD2690WUXi2 in favor of this monitor. The reason is because of the glossy screen. While people sing the praises of matte finish and anti-reflective coatings, these features actually cause a sparkle effect that distorts the clarity, especially when reading black text on a white background. Even though this monitor has a low color range compared to the more expensive models the clarity more than makes up for it. If you are working on editing images for hours or viewing black text on a white background then this monitor is the deal of the decade. The anti-glare filter that manufacturers are putting on the "Professional" monitors ruins them. If you have not heard about this then just do a google search with the name of a Professional monitor and add the words: anti-reflective and sparkle. It will lead you to forums with unhappy consumers. Save your money. Buy this monitor. Be happy!

I can't believe this monitor has no extremely negative reviews. I guess I'll be the first.

So to preface: I've been using only IPS monitors for the past 5 years. Maybe this has skewed my view on TFT monitors, I don't know, but I will say it's possible I'm just spoiled.

For starters, the monitor itself looks really nice. The bezel is pretty, the stand looks nice, and even the buttons provide a little aesthetic appeal. The stand is a bit wobbly as people have said, but it's not like the thing is just going to fall over sitting on your desk. I don't have a real problem with it, other than you can't adjust the height, but I knew that before I bought it, so that shouldn't really be a complaint.

The monitor does get very bright, has some nice color response, and plenty of settings to tweak. Aside from it being nice and big, that's about all the positive I can say for this monitor.

The settings out of the box are waaaay too bright, but that's pretty typical. I opened up a Windows Explorer window when I first turned it on and I think I went blind for a couple of minutes. You'll need to adjust the settings, or this is painstakingly obvious:

The viewing angle on this monitor is atrocious. If you are not looking directly at the dead center of this monitor, the colors start to wash out on either side. If I move my head to the left literally 2 inches, the right side of the screen turns yellow (on a white background, such as this Amazon page on which I'm currently writing). Forget about trying to watch from anywhere past a 30 degree angle. The entire screen has the yellowing effect, and it will (or should) drive you crazy. I tried to turn on a movie and watch from my bed - I had to get up, swivel the monitor, then aim it down so it was pointed directly at my eyes. Nuts to that. I've adjust the brightness, contrast, color temperature for about 45 minutes and even tried a monitor calibration disc. It improved slightly, but I think it's just a design flaw. I have it turned to almost blue right now just so when my head moves, the picture will look white. Sad.

I also have plenty of flashlighting (light bleeding through on a dark picture). While watching the aforementioned movie (in letterbox), on all four edges I could see the backlight spilling through across the entire panel. Changing the settings I mentioned earlier seemed to have no effect, even turning brightness and contrast down to almost minimum. I, of course, don't notice it when just running applications or browsing, so it's not the worst, but I do watch quite a few movies on the computer when I go to sleep. If any of them are in letterbox, I think I'll never sleep again.

I've returned the monitor for a replacement just to see if mine was defective, and sure enough, the replacement had the exact same behavior. I'm astounded nobody has even commented on this before.

Finally, it is glass. Glass reflects. You know this. If you have a window or a lamp behind you, you WILL notice it. I'm not really counting this as a negative, because it should be known before buying. I only mention this because one reviewer actually said this monitor was "surprisingly anti-glare." I think this guy was using the monitor in a basement with the lights off. It is not anti-glare at all. Period.

It had promise, and it has its upsides, but for me at least, I cannot abide these flaws.

Purchased: May 2010

[Relevant usage information: MacBook Pro w/Snow Leopard, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, digital (DVI) connection]

- HELPFUL NOTE FOR APPLE USERS: After plugging in, make sure to go to Display Preferences and select "Calibrate". When the process begins, use the "advanced" options because it appears to do a more refined job at getting the color tone right (though it will take you longer -- about 7 minutes). After following all the directions, everything should appear just dandy. Try comparing window grays on the monitor with window grays on the laptop display.

- Have used this display in an office cubicle setting -- very happy after calibrating the color (Apple Preferences can do it for you)

- Some people complained about stickers that don't cleanly come off the casing. Mine didn't come with any extra stickers, so it may depend on the batch.

- Originally purchased for $227 before taxes on Ben's Bargains website. I also have an Apple 24in LED Cinema Display, which I love, but too expensive to buy two.

- Casing is simple and not ostentatious or over-techy (tho the screen size itself is a little showy).

- Unless you have a massive desk, I recommend you not buy the larger 27in: the 25in size already looks slightly ridiculous on a fairly large cubicle corner desk.

In Sum: After calibrating properly, the screen works very well, is very crisp, and no issues with viewing angle. Even moving between this screen at work and my apple 24in LED at home, there aren't any obvious pain points. The LED screen power-on is totally snappy when I open my laptop (I am using the Macbook Pro's "high" video card setting).

At the reduced prices ($227 on Ben's Bargains, $265 on Amazon) this is a wonderful monitor if you are used to the quality of an Apple cinema LED but don't have the cash to max out the quality and reliability of your screen.

I ordered this monitor from the HP website along with my customized desktop computer. The first monitor I received had a dead pixel, which was pretty distracting so I called HP about it. Their customer service is frustrating to say the least, I could hardly understand the people at the Indian call center and had a hard time conveying my problem to them. Eventually they understood what my issue was, and I was told that they would not take back the monitor because it was only one dead pixel, despite the zero dead pixel policy listed on HP's website. Then a day later I was called by them and told they would take it back, so I made the arrangements and shipped it out. A new monitor came a day later, and while it didn't have any dead pixels it has a stuck sub pixel, so on dark backgrounds I can see a bright green spot on the screen, but it doesn't show up on light backgrounds. According to HP's website they allow for up to 3 defective sub pixels, so I am hoping that over time it will correct itself, it seems like it may, at times it will flicker and return to the proper color, other times it does not.

I realize there are millions of pixels on this screen so having only one that has an issue is a very small percentage, but I was surprised to have an issue with two monitors in a row. I have purchased many items with LCD screens over the years such as laptops, tv's, other computer monitors, none of which had any issues, so I am beginning to think that HP just doesn't have much of a quality standard and just ships everything they make.

Besides the affected pixels the monitor has a great image. Buyer beware, just make sure you look into a manufacturers pixel policy before making a purchase. Since I have never had this issue in the past it didn't occur to me to look into it. Some brands have a zero tolerance for any problems, but HP seems a little lax unless its a dead pixel.