Customer Reviews

HP W2408H 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I recently did some much needed upgrades for my home office and this by far my favorite. I first saw it in Best Buy, came home to check for online reviews and to see if I could find it cheaper...I did at Amazon!

It's VERY easy to set up and is crystal clear. ( I mean, razor sharp -- no stretched or blurred look anywhere!) However, there was something not quite right with the colors (especially greens) that really bothered me. PLUS the HP "My Display" software that goes with it that contains all of the drivers etc, is not fully functional on non HP machines. (meaning no calibration was available for color or contrast beyond what's built into the monitor itself which was never enough to fix my problem) I was so frustrated and disappointed. (I had been warned of this on another site but thought I'd take a gamble) Well, after trying to hook it up via the HDMI (from VGA) cable that came with it to a new $150 video card -- the colors were still way off and now the screen was all jumpy from that stupid card...(that went right back!) Then, I noticed something when I right clicked on my desktop to adjust my display settings (in XP pro) there was a selection (that had been there all along...duh) that said NVIDIA Control Panel (my internal graphics card) and I was able to calibrate the colors and adjust everything else there and now everything's hunky dory! When it first boots up, the colors look a little neon-ish again but within seconds it goes to the profile I created from my graphics card software. I am sure many would have figured it out sooner than I did, I just wanted to prevent anyone else from beating their head against the wall for a week like I did if I could. (BTW, I have completely removed the video card that I bought and it's hooked up via VGA and it is still crisp and clear)

**BTW, even though the My Display software is largely useless for me, I left it there. For some reason when I uninstalled it, the light that's under the transparent power button on the top of the monitor goes away. That was the only noticeable change after uninstalling it but it annoyed me, so I reinstalled it and it's back on and I just ignore the software**

My husband and I publish a local magazine that is glossy and full color and I am able to do so much more with this monitor than I could before. I can view two (sometimes 3) projects side by side if need be...I love that! And typing an email in outlook looks like it's in about a 60 font! And programs like Illustrator where you need a lot of workspace it's invaluable. I never have to scroll around to grab or view something. My last monitor was a 19" Sony flat panel (that cost more than TWICE what this one did 4 years ago) and I thought it was just fine but once I plugged this lil beauty in I quickly passed it on to my son for his computer. I haven't needed to use the portrait position of the screen so I haven't even tried it. But it came that way when it arrived and was very easy to swivel back around.

One bad thing...don't count on ditching your speakers for the ones that come with this one -- man do they stink! I swear my laptop has better speakers. But it's sort of like people griping that their cell phone camera doesn't take good enough pictures. If you want a good camera buy a camera! If you want a good monitor buy this one and just pretend the speakers aren't even there. The price is way worth it even without the speakers.

I'm a photojournalist and bought this monitor after my old 21" CRT died. I've been very pleased with the HP W2408H over the last couple of weeks, but it does need calibration. If you are a gamer or general user, you will love the brilliant picture straight out of the box. For photographers and editors, the colors are too bright and saturated, too "juicy" for critical use.

I uninstalled the monitor's software, dragged out my venerable $100 Pantone ColorVision ColorPlus (the consumer colorimeter sensor for monitors) and it gave me a nice, clean image in minutes. A worthwhile investment for anyone.

The monitor's wide-screen real estate makes editing hundreds of photos quite a bit easier than with the old square CRT. It also uses less power and produces less heat than a CRT, a nice plus these days. The image is smooth, even and neutral with calibration. Like any LCD, though, you do need to view the screen "on axis."

Just to verify what others have said, the built-in speakers are total garbage: weak, tinny, and pointed out the rear so you cannot hear what little sound they do produce. You definitely need external speakers.

With the exception of the crummy speakers and the iffy calibration software, the monitor is excellent. Five stars.

I work as a graphic designer and recently purchased two of these monitors for my Mac Pro at work. I was conflicted on whether to give these a try or buy the 24" Dell UltraSharp displays, since I had previous experience with that model. But after having some technical issues with the Dells, I thought I'd give HP a shot.

When I first got the monitors, I had to use a DVI to VGA adapter while I waited for my DVI to HDMI adapters (about $15/piece) to arrive and during that time I was quite disappointed. The text was blurry and it had some significant ghosting issues where there would be a white "shadow" of every hard line displayed. I decided to wait until I got the HDMI adapter before I decided whether or not to return them.

Once I received the DVI to HDMI adapters (DVI and HDMI are exactly the same technology, just different connectors) I was pleasantly surprised. Not only were all the ghosting and blur issues fixed, the display overall looked better than I ever anticipated. The specs may or may not be up to the UltraSharp line, but to my eye these monitors beat the UltraSharps hands down.

One caveat is how the amazing picture is achieved. It seems the display may be over-saturating the colors. I've noticed significant saturation just in the OS X interface. For screen-to-print calibration, it's not the best choice, but as long as you keep in mind that what you're seeing on screen is much more colorful than what will print, you'll be fine. Despite the fact that it is a hyper-realistic image, it's worth the "wow" you'll say every time you boot up.

Just make sure you keep it all digital. DVI to VGA looks HORRIBLE.

I love this screen. Going to the 24 inch size was maybe a little bit more than I needed, a 22 inch would have been adequate, but I have no regrets whatsoever. Easy on the eyes plus I watch MLB.com baseball games on it and some TV so the size is just perfect. Color contrast is excellent as well.

What I really like is the new e-mail reader on Vista being able to have my folders listed to the left of the screen and immediately right of that have a colum listing all the e-mails in my inbox and plenty of screen left to the right to display the actaul e-mail message itself. This way you have amuch better look at all the emails you have versus the little pane on top of the e-mail messages showing only a handful of messages.

Plus the screen is so big that working with multiple windows open is a lot easier because you have enough room to see a lot more of all the window. Another plus I found is when reading my hometown newspaper online, it comes up as a PDF file and on other screens it was rather small and required enlargement with a lot of scrolling. With this screen I have no problems viewing the newspaper at all.

I haven't used the rotating screen function, this screen is big enough to use in the landscape mode, plus it seems to be a littel awkward to rotate such a big screen.

I did buy a small metal screen pad from Staples to lift it up a few inches and like that better, it just didn't raise up as high as I would like, I've found this to be true on all of the monitors out there so it's nothing specific for this model. Just a general ergonomic thing for me. Plus I like the little stand as it really doesn't take up any more space than the monitor then the speakers easily fit under the monitor and I have room to place the tape dispensor ect. underneath it, so it actually opens up more space on my desk.

The monitor has built in speakers which can do in a bind but it's nothing you want to use for listening to any quality music with.

I have noticed when viewing TV from my HP Pavilion that the screen is a little darker than it needs to be. Not sure if this is in the monitor or the computer and may easily be the computer as I can watch TV from the web with no problem but from the media center it's a lot darker than I want it to be. Also when watching TV you need to adjust the monitor to rotate about the y axis and be fairly close to perpendicular to your viewing angle or you get a variance in darkness as well. No problem with the adjustablity of the screen though.

I use the adjustable brighness when doing computor work and it does a great job but with TV from the media center I have to manually turn the brightness all the way up. Again I have to check, this is probably something in the media center I need to adjust.

One other minor issue I've run into is when using Quicken 2000, some of the smaller text just doesn't show up as well defined as it should be. I changed the size of the text in my registers and that solved the problem there but still text in the general Quiken system still has the problem. I may just need to go ahead and update my Quicken software to a newer version, just havn't found the need to just yet, it still does everything I want it to do.

Bottom line is I haggled with saving the $100 and getting the 22 inch monitor but I'm very pleased with going ahead and getting this one. I have no regrets and would recommend you do the same, you'll be looking at it a lot the rest of you life so why not be easy on the eyes.

Another big plus is amazon.com had the best price with no shipping and no tax you just could not beat the price. Only a little bit more than a remanufactured model from HP but with a full warranty.

One more comment, I was very impressed with the packing. The way they wrapped it up was rather unique and no doubt very helpful in protecting it during shipping.

All I can say is "wow." This is the best monitor I have ever had. The picture is sharp and clear and the colors just jump out at you. I previously owned a Sony CRT monitor and a Viewsonic 22" LCD (which I still have.) I initially purchased the HP W1907 monitor with my new HP computer but found it to be too small. I returned the 19" and purchased the w2408h...and I could not be happier. It was easy to setup using the HDMI cable, which is included with the monitor. One concern I had was would this monitor fit on my computer desk...no problem at all. It actually fits better than the 22" Viewsonic as the stand allows for better placement. The menu allows enough adjustments to meet anyones needs. I can not comment on the speakers as I do not have them connected. In short, I would recommend this monitor.

I have had this monitor since Christmas and to me it just so vibrant in the colors and clarity.

I matched my 24" inch monitor with an HP Elite 9000's desktop and they were married flawlessly. Each complemented the other as would be expected being they are often sold together. The monitor can be moved up and down to position as you like and can be turned sideways to provide protrait view if desired. It has full resolution providing more real estate and pixels to give you awesome detail and colors.

I have no blur, no burns no issues with viewing angles. My computer is positioned near a window that gets bright afternoon sun. Definitely some glare as the monitor itself is a very glossy shiney black border around the screen that also attracts fingerprints as well, but easy to clean too. Simply putting the window shade down made it much better but even with it up as long as you are in front of it you'll see the screen very well.

It has a 1000:1 contrast ratio which is superb for a monitor, however, I now see 3000:1 monitors in some stores but at double the price in many cases and they are geared to being a primary or secondary HDTV for many.

This for me is only for my desktop and for me to do graphics work and just do tons of photo edits, viewing and the ability to do side by side work on photos and documentation.

This monitor can be seen at most retailers, so go to the store and watch it along with the other 2 dozen 24" monitiors to compare to what you like best. I think everyone has a little bit different colors likes and dislikes. Remember this monitor has allot of calibration that can be done to change the colors, resolution to your specific liking.

Great value for the money, but I would look at competing products if you want this for a business/production environment.

1- Off-axis viewing is not very good. Even if you are right in the center, both color cast and brightness throughout the screen are uneven.

2- The mounting and pivot mechanics are marginal at best. You will have to tilt and finagle the monitor as you pivot if you don't want to bump the table/stand with the corner of the monitor. And, it is not exactly a fluid, quality movement. You won't want to do it throughout the day unless you buy a separate, wall-mount pivot.

3- Make sure you buy a third-party cable unless you have an HDMI output on your video card (few computers do). Amazon sells a few. I hear the image is much better with a DVI-HDMI cable (or straight HDMI) ... but, I'm using VGA since my cable was back-ordered. :-)

4- The piano black bezel may look good in the showroom, but it quickly gets fingerprinted-up. Felix Unger would probably wipe off the black by the third day of ownership.

5- The speakers are so bad, I think they should have used the production $ to add a DVI connector and a matte finish.

ALL THIS SAID, for a home user or cash-tight small business, it's a lot of screen for a very reasonable price - and the pivot is a great feature, especially if you do large spreadsheets.

I'm a little concerned with how many 'refurbished' units are flooding E-Bay and Amazon ... we'll have to see about reliability. (I've never seen so many rebuilds of one brand or model.)

I bought this monitor about two months ago and could not be more pleased with its quality and screen size. Actually, I bought it after reading the user reviews on Amazon. I was nervous at first as I was migrating from a 19" Sony crt which weighed about seventy pounds, and it was time to buy an LCD.

I initially looked at Dell and their new monitors, but due to the cost factor and user reviews, I ended up buying this HP. I couldn't believe how well this thing was wrapped and boxed. There were no "dead pixels" and I'm using the standard resolution from the factory.

Also, since I built a new computer from scratch, my graphics card GeForce 9800 GTX, came with the adapter for DVI to HDMI, so it was not an issue. Also, this monitor comes with a standard VGA cord, but to get the correct clarity you'll need the DVI to HDMI adapter.

I use AutoCAD and Chief Architect software as I design custom homes, so I was looking for a monitor that had extremely tight text and graphics quality. This monitor has not let me down.

Take a look at other monitors like Samsung, Dell, and others and read user reviews before making the decision to buy. It's one of the most important decisions you'll make besides having a fast PC or Mac. Also see one of these monitors on display at Best Buy or other stores and judge for yourself. I couldn't be more happy with buying this excellent monitor. I works fabulous with pictures and Photoshop. I'm not a graphics designer so I can't speak for color correctness.

There are other monitors that are three to five times more costly, but for the money, this HP 2408H will be very hard to beat.

okay, those who do RAW images and are Photoshop snobs for perfect colors and hues, go spend some serious money (>$1K) on a professional, photo worthy monitor; those who want a great picture on a BIG screen for less than $500, then this one fits the bill.
Background: I work in a large academic bioresearch lab with co-researchers coming in and out all day. When not stuck in a biocontainment hood or separating DNA or RNA from cells, I pretty much spend my work days in front of computers analyzing and graphing data, building plots, writing papers, checking emails, or loading my iPod. I decided to use only my new Thinkpad for all my work and get the desktop computer off my work area, but the 14inch screen just is too small for having lots of programs and figures and email, and plots up all at once. So I looked around, found this on Amazon (since I'm Amazon-prime... free shipping on a 24in monitor more than paid for the annual fees). Now I'm very happy, and co-workers are quite envious as they stare at their dim, puny 15" or 17" LCDs. THis display is nice and colors have good saturation, but most of all... lots of real estate to keep all my figures and plots on-screen. I'm sure an expert side-by-side comparison of this with a much more expensive monitor would show how the colors bleed in some text, but the black is very black, the colors are strong and bright, and for $450, I'm extremely pleased. The speakers of course are "tin"-ey sounding, but I didn't buy it to listen to music, I keep the volume down low on it, just enough to hear the "new email" bing-bong wave -- who needs Hi-Fi for that? And occasional You-Tube or news videos have crappy sound anyway. Set-up was simple and a no brainer -- plug-in, reset the resolution on video properties, you're done. If I'd wanted great sound, I'd have kept my big speakers (but they take up too much space). Don't buy this monitor if you also want a great sound from integrated speakers, as those two terms (great sound, integrated speakers), really don't go together in any setting (unless you're buying a home entertainment system for >$2K).
All-in-all, I'm really am happy with the value here. 18 months ago, you couldn't touch a 24in monitor for less than a G, now under $500, that's deflation in a time of $4 gas. Plus at least HP is a US company (of course not made in US, but what consumer electronics are these days), so some $$ stay here in the US of A. Amazon prime, one-click buying, and free 2nd day delivery right to my desk made this as easy as it gets.

Joel in Massachusetts

I was looking at a similar spec NEC monitor (the ASLCD24WMCX-BK or similar) and then saw this one in person in a store.

This monitor does not have quite the same specs as the NEC, especially where viewing angle comes into play (160degree vs 178degree) which comes into play with a monitor this large.

But the base on this one has the NEC beat hands down. I will take the less than ideal viewing angle any day for a monitor that is this adjustable. The base is excellent.

If you find you don't move your monitor or can handle a base with limited range of motion, maybe you should look elsewhere and get a monitor with better specs on viewing angle, etc, but otherwise this is a great choice.

As with all monitors, the speakers are no good, but why would you think they would be?