Customer Reviews

HP W2207H 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As others have written, the visuals on this monitor are excellent, the sound is on the tinny side. I'm writing to cover new ground. I purchased this monitor from Amazon on May 21. It worked well for a week or so, then came the problems. The screen would go black when it was powered up. Unplugging worked for a while, but eventually the monitor went all white. To make a long story short, we called HP and the tech figured it was a bad pixel. In the chain of interviews one woman tech agreed when asked, that they would send a new, not refurbished monitor. When a refurbished monitor arrived, I connected to an HP supervisor and found the full story. When you purchase from an authorized dealer (Amazon is not) there can be a store warranty (eg 30 days, 15 days, whatever the store chooses). If I had purchased from such a dealer,and was over the store warranty a few days, the HP supervisor could have (at their discretion) sent me a new, not refurbished monitor. As it was, HP sent the refurbished model under a manufacturer's warranty. The HP warranty allows them to send a a new or refurbished replacement. It appears to be random, odds are it will be refurbished. This one year warranty on the model purchased from Amazon began not on the May purchase date, rather it is from the January 2008 manufacture date. If I had returned this monitor to Amazon, I would be subject to a 15% restocking fee. Welcome to a rock and a hard place. Failures like this are likely rare, but it leaves us with a refurbished model instead of the new one I paid for. Buyer beware.

This is a sweet monitor! The colors are rich. This is a glossy display .

This monitor has a VGA and an HDMI input - there is no DVI so you need a dvi-hdmi cable if your going to hook it up to your dvi port on your computer's video card , the monitor does not come with this cable... it does come with and hdmi and vga cable.

I hooked my Xbox 360 using the xbox vga cable and it is awesome!

I hooked my computer using the hdmi to dvi cable (bought separately ) .. the button in from allows me to switch screen so both can be up and running using the one screen. You can also change the richness of the colors with a button in front too (photo,gaming,text,etc...) so when your gaming just press the button and jack up the colors ...

The monitor does portrait mode too.

Overall this is a quality monitor for a great price.... only short coming is the hdmi-dvi lack of cable , it should come with it but does not.

This is my first flatscreen monitor, and I bought it based on the sharpness of the unit on display. I use it strictly for reading and comparing huge documents, and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I must say, I got what I paid for. The screen is crystal clear and the unit is gorgeous to look at. I'm computer illiterate, but I was able to install it myself, and it worked right out of the box. (Running XP.) The screen gives off no discernible heat, and it tilts and floats up and down beautifully on its adjustable pedestal. If you watch movies or play games, I would think this screen would be a real winner. I've only had it two days, but I could not be more pleased.

Great 22" monitor in terms of color, display, sharpness, brightness (a little high in factory setting) in the market.
I thought that the pivot feature may be great and may be worth buying this monitor just for that feature. But software bugs drove me crazy in just after 4 days of use. I run vista home premium on my notebook (sp1 now) and the HP auto pivoting software started acting up in just 4 days. Once I removed the HDMI cable and took the monitor away, laptop display was 90 degreed turned and was unusable. Whatever I tried with the HP My display options (manual pivot, choosing 0/90 degree turns etc) none of that worked.
Finally I went to display properties (there is a new tab for Pivot) and chose to put an icon in the tray apart from choosing manual mode). Clicking this icon and choosing pivot options works ok.
Still unhappy with this workaround, hoping for HP to fix their software..
If you don't have a need for this auto-pivot feature and happy with landscape mode this is the best monitor to use.
Update: Still no software update to fix this problem as of date.
There is a workaround: if you take care to put the monitor back to landscape before removing the notebook always, then it will work correctly!
That said, it is a great monitor and I highly recommend this monitor.
UPDATE Sept,7,2008: Upgraded to the latest PivotPro software and boy, do these people know the spelling of QA or testing the software before releasing? If I forget to get back to laptop display before taking laptop away from this monitor in portrait mode, (or if the battery dies so that the laptop goes to sleep mode, when you start again but without this monitor?) you have to waste another 10 minutes to get back your display correctly on the laptop.
So as long as you keep this monitor in landscape (normal 1680x1080) mode, it is a great monitor; otherwise you have to contend with all sorts of software bugs.
Update - Dec, 2008: As per suggestion from Paul (see the comments for this review), I tried iRotate (from softpedia: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/iRotate-Download-17093.html), and am a happy camper now; thanks to Paul for sharing this tips.

We tend not to be at the "bleeding" edge of technology -- usually buy things when they become mainstream or needed as a replacement. We had a really great 20 inch NEC Multisync CRT -- excellent color. It finally failed, so we opted for an LCD monitor. We settled on this monitor because of the great reviews and the Amazon sale price.

The reviewers who gave it five stars were dead on about the image quality. I'm going to cover a few caveats that might be of interest to someone who's had a CRT monitor and is moving up to LCD for the first time.

First, size. Older CRTs typically had a 3:4 aspect ratio while the newer widescreen LCDs will typically have an aspect ratio of 16:9. Since displays are typically measured along their diagonal, a 20 inch widescreen could have a shorter viewing height than a 20 inch normal screen (not quite as bad as it might seem since LCDs typically quote viewable area while CRTs quote the display tube size rather than viewable area). The 22 inch HP has a slightly taller viewing area than the 20 inch old NEC -- perfect.

Video adapter. Our old computer has an old display adapter. The maximum resolution that it supports is 1024 x 768. HP recommends the new display operate at 1680 x 1050. It's a good idea to operate LCDs at the recommended resolution since the LCD has a native resolution -- any other resolution must be emulated with less than perfect results. Make sure your video card supports the recommended resolution. If it doesn't you may want to consider a new video card. If your computer is older, it may use the AGP instead of PCIX video interface. If so, you may need to shop around a bit to find an AGP video card for your computer.

Color. If you owned a really good color CRT, you might be a bit disappointed with this monitor -- the color saturation and contrast ratio still are not quite up to the old CRTs (in my opinion). It could be that a model from a higher price range might compete with the CRTs in this area.

Glare. This model has a high-gloss screen. If your old monitor was located in an area that had a window nearby, the glare might be a little distracting.

Viewing angle. This monitor has good viewing angles --though I think color quality suffers when viewed from more than 45 degrees. For a single user, shouldn't be a problem. If two people are sitting at the monitor (e.g. kids playing) the color may appear a bit off.

Convenience. Much thinner and lighter than a CRT. Reclaims a bunch of workspace.

If you want to use the HDMI cable instead of the VGA cable (unit comes with both), and your video card has a DVI port, you'll need to buy an HDMI to DVI converter (typically a few dollars).

All in all, a great monitor, especially considering the price. In the past, I wasn't impressed enough by LCD image quality to consider one as a CRT replacement -- especially since LCDs used to cost quite a bit more than CRTs. Looks like technology has advanced to the point where LCDs can compete both in price and picture quality.

I have this monitor for about a month and I am very impress. Photos and video are crisp and documents are clear. Some people complain about the glossy screen, but I don't have a problem with it at all....in fact it gives videos and photos richer true color. The design is very contemporary and compares to Apple's monitors. I highly recommend this monitor. Do yourself a favor and get an DVI-HDMI cable (not included)....the picture is beautiful! I got the Cables To Go - 40320 - 2M (6.5ft) Velocity HDMI to DVI Digital Video Cable for $15 on Amazon and it works great....don't be fooled by salesmen and spend $80 on a cable....this one works perfectly!

It's a nice monitor, blindingly bright at first but there are plenty of settings to play with, even the defaults don't seem to bother me anymore.

Now the tips...

Don't buy this monitor for the built-in speakers! They are bearable for computer sounds but make music sound like second-hand music from someone's MP3 player. Just forget it's got speakers.

Don't buy the HDMI/DVI "Cables Unlimited" cable that Amazon lists under "Frequently Bought Together". This monitor ships with an HDMI cable. All you need is an adapter (you can find them on Amazon for less than $5 inc. shipping). Besides not needing the cable, the Cables Unlimited one isn't very good. My cable died overnight after under 6 months. I'd have returned the monitor if I hadn't read the bad reviews of the cable while troubleshooting - it seems a common issue with that cable.

This LCD panel has an optimum resolution. This one is 1680 x 1050. If you only have a VGA video card you can probably find new drivers. I bought a DVI card and honestly can't tell the difference.

I finally upgraded from a 17" CRT to this 22" widescreen LCD. What a difference! The amount of extra space is wonderful and I'm now able to play computer games without feeling that my view is cramped. In fact, the screen is so big, I had to push it all the way to the back of my desk to be able to take it all in without feeling that I had to turn my head to read across the screen.

Some of the positives of the HPW2207h include a nice bright picture, beautiful colors (pictures just 'pop' out), easy control interface, and height adjustment. I was rather surprised to learn during my initial research that many lcd monitors don't have that last feature. I'm limited on height by a top shelf, so it was an important feature for me.

The only drawback that I've seen is that text seems a bit less crisp than it did on my CRT. I don't know if this is a factor of this particular monitor, this particular model, or possibly just they LCD technology in general. The only other LCD I've had experience with is a 17" at work. Whatever is causing it, I know that I do have to adjust my reading habits at times.

I should also point out that I'm currently using a VGA cable rather than DVI, so I'm hoping that the picture will be even better once I upgrade the cable.

I have not tried using the screen rotation because it wouldn't fit in my desk space, so I can't comment on that. In fact, I wish this model had a version without the screen rotation that cost a bit less - I hate paying for technology that I'm not going to use.

I also can not comment on the sound quality of the speakers - I have a wonderful subwoofer and side speakers, so there's no need to hook up the monitor as well.

I have seen some reviews (not necessarily on this site) state that they don't like the fact that this monitor is HDMI when most video cards don't have HDMI output. This was initially a concern of mine as well regarding a future computer upgrade, so I did a bit of research. It is now my understanding that DVI and HDMI are pretty much the same quality signal - the only difference being that the HDMI is also capable of tranporting audio. To get the higher quality digital signal, you just need a DVI-HDMI cable to use with your DVI video card and you won't be losing any quality over an HDMI video card (all other factors being equal). Of course, I will state that I'm not an expert in HDMI and that this is just information I've collated from the web from what appear to be legit sources.

If you pick up one of these monitors, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Hello Folks,

This is an absolutely beautiful monitor. I could not ask for/don't need more crisp definition, faster refresh rate, and/or more vivid colors.

There is one big problem though: GLARE

If you are like me, and have windows behind you, know that you will get enormous amount of glare. That "bright view panel" is acting like a sheet of glass.

I still give it a 5 star rating because it is such a beautiful monitor...but please be mindful of where you are going to have this monitor in relation to nearby lighting.

John

I've had this monitor just over a day, I'm still waiting for my HDMI-DVI cable to get here so I'm using the VGA port. Even with the VGA output it looks outstanding, the monitor is brighter than my 20.1" Dell 2005FPW and obviously larger. The design is sleek and the glossy finish makes it even more attractive. The software is helpful for calibration and the auto-pivot feature seems like it could be useful for certain occasions. Nevertheless, I have four minor quips with this monitor, nothing to really bring about the buyer's remorse but something the future buyer should be aware of.

1. Just about every single specification on this monitor is supposedly better than my Dell...at least on paper. The truth is the the vertical viewing angle is completely overstated, I'd say it's at MOST half of what they say (160). This may not be a factor for you if you sit right in front of your computer all the time.

2. Since my Dell also does portrait mode I expected the monitor to do it just as easily too. However, the fact is you have to raise the monitor to the highest level, tilt it back as far as you can, only then do you have enough space to turn the monitor a full 90 degrees. Doing this every time you wish to switch between landscape and portrait can be frustrating.

3. Since the USB ports are on the left side and portrait is 90 degrees to the right, if you have any wired USB devices connected to the monitor, it's going to fly up along with the left side of the monitor.

4. There is slightly more glare on the monitor due to the glossy finish.

My three year old Dell has a virtually complete viewing angle with no degradation/shift in color/contrast/brightness either horizontal or vertical. The Dell has zero glare, easier shift to portrait mode and supports a wider range for height adjustment. Unless the next iteration of the monitor fixes these minor annoyances, my next monitor will be another Dell.

Having said that, I am not expecting to return this monitor and I believe I will still thoroughly enjoy this monitor for what its worth and it probably IS the best monitor at this price point ($[...])