CNET Editor's rating: 7.7 out of 10
Reviewed by
Rich Brown
Review date: 08/16/07
Release date: 04/03/07
The good: Attractive looks; strong overall image quality; HDCP-compatibility lets you watch protected HD movies.
The bad: Less-than-stellar HD movie playback quality; HP's software continues to be a work-in-progress.
The bottom line: It's a little shy on features, and we wouldn't recommend the HP w2007 for HD movie watching. Then again, we wouldn't suggest you use any 20-inch LCD for that purpose. What we did like was the overall image quality of this display, which we found outstanding, and it's ultimately what saves the monitor.
Similar to its larger, 22-inch line mate, the 20-inch HP w2007 wide-screen LCD delivers high image quality and an attractive design, and with only a small price premium compared to other displays in its class. The $260 w2007 is a simpler model than HP's w2207, although both units offer HDCP compliance for watching protected HD content. The My Display software bundled with both displays still doesn't really function properly, but that's a minor ding against this otherwise polished LCD. You can find less-expensive 20-inch wide-screen displays on the market, but few produce as sound an image, at least for general computing. If you're looking for a small-scale HD movie display, you'd do better to keep looking.
Design
The HP w2007 is essentially a scaled-down version of the w2207. Both share a stylish, glossy black bezel with gray plastic trim, as well as a conveniently designed stand that doubles as a keyboard dock. Unlike the pricier w2207, the w2007 has a much more basic range of motion. You can only tilt the screen up and down from between minus-5 to plus-25 degrees, rather than the w2207 that tilts, moves forward and back, and whose screen also rotates 90 degrees. The w2007's limited range of motion is in keeping with its lower price, and we found we were happy enough with the adjustability it offers. We also like its onscreen display, which is simple to navigate.
Manufacturer's specs
Resolution: 1,680x1,050
Dot pitch: .258mm
Pixel-response rate: 5msn
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Connectivity: DVI, VGA
HDCP compliant
Included DVI and VGA cables
Features
HP's monitor is fairly spare for its price, as far as features go, especially when you consider that you can get a lesser-known, less-stylized 22-inch wide-screen monitor for about the same price. It offers a DVI and a VGA output, but no HDMI out. It also has a basic audio output via a pair of typically underwhelming LCD speakers. We're glad that it has HDCP compatibility, which lets you watch protected HD movies (even if the quality isn't the best we've seen, as outlined below). We were once again let down, however, by HP's My Display software, which is essentially supposed to bring the features of the onscreen display to your desktop. We updated our Windows Vista desktop to the latest ATI graphics card drivers, made sure we had the latest version of My Display, and while the system itself recognized the HP w2007 monitor as such, HP's own My Display was unable to make the same connection.
Performance
For the most part, we were impressed with the HP w2007, at least as far as traditional computing tasks. Of all the LCDs we've reviewed recently, it actually scored highest on our suite of image quality tests, besting several larger, more expensive displays. It scored highest on our grayscale and uniformity subtests. Otherwise its color, sharpness, DVD movie, and gaming scores weren't the highest we've ever seen, but collectively they were all good enough to make this a very strong all-around display.
Our only complaint with the w2007's image quality is its HD movie playback, particularly the color quality, which we found bland. But because this is a relatively small screen for movie watching, and one whose native resolution won't support 1080p content, we're willing to bet that many of you in the market for a 20-inch LCD aren't too hung up on HD quality. We're glad that HP made the w2007 HDCP-compatible, but we consider that capability more of an added bonus in a display of this size.
Service and support
HP's support of this display remains behind others in the industry, backing it with only one year of parts and labor coverage. Other vendors commonly have three-year plans. At least HP's Web site offers plenty of support resources, with drivers, downloadable manuals, and an online tech support chat feature.
Intro:
The HP W2007 is a 20 in, flat panel computer monitor.Compared to other flat panel monitors on the market, it is midpriced at around $260.It has a built-in set of speakers and microphone.This model features a 1680x1050 native resolution.Weighs 19.8 lbs.
Noteworthy Features:
Has 1680x1050 resolution, which is higher than some similarly priced monitors.By way of comparison, the average cost of a product with this high a resolution is $345.Reduce the clutter on your desk by using this monitor's built-in speakers.Accepts DVI input, which allows for greater signal clarity than traditional VGA.
Weaker Features:
None noted, given available product data.
Suitability:
A flat panel monitor, suited for those who want a larger thin screen monitor.
Value:
In general, this monitor has great features for the money.In fact, you would usually pay about 50% more to get a flat panel monitor having comparable viewable size.
Suggestions:
(1) Before purchasing an LCD monitor, consider visiting your local store for a live demo to ensure that its overall image quality, color, and sharpness meets your expectation.(2) Since this monitor is DVI-capable, you might want a DVI-enabled graphics card in your PC to connect with it -- this will pass the digital video signal directly without converting it to analog, making for better performance.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Incredible monitor!
I don't need a monitor to have "features" as long as it is easy to use, has great colors, ...
I don't need a monitor to have "features" as long as it is easy to use, has great colors, and looks nice. It has an auto button to automatically set the resolution to the best possible one your computer can handle, it allows for VGA and DVI cables, it has great colors, and one of the best response times I've seen. I don't know why it's bad for HD, I have an okay computer and watch 1080 movies all the time in brilliant color. No lag and the movies look just as good as on my HDTV.
Read more
by Nimbuster90 (see profile) -
December 31, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great, but pricey monitor
I agree with the previous review. This is a great monitor. I use it to display charts and it works ...
I agree with the previous review. This is a great monitor. I use it to display charts and it works great. Bright, easy to read, easy on my eyes. I also used Acer (22?) and Samsung (20?) and I have to say this is the best monitor of them all. Even though I gave the Samsung fairly good marks, in hindsight it was just a piece of crap: uneven backlighting, lot and lot of light leakage and my eyes got tired after few minutes watching the data in that monitor. The HP has none of that. Great even backlighting, no leakage, quality display.
I use this monitor with my HP laptop and since both have glossy screen finish, my eyes do not have to adjust to different screen finish (both the Acer and Samsung had matte finish).
I can?t comment on the speakers (user review) as I do not use them or the software issue from the C-Net review, since I just plugged the monitor in and worked great from the start with my XP.
For whatever reason this monitor is no as easy to find as many stores stock either the 19? or 22? (e.g. BB, OD). But check your local Wal-Mart where I got mine.
Read more
by straca (see profile) -
September 14, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Everything looks beautiful to me
I have not tried to use this lcd to watch hd movies or tv. However, I can say that I ...
I have not tried to use this lcd to watch hd movies or tv. However, I can say that I have watched movies and played games using this model and both my wife and I are impressed. The colors are bright and well defined. Blacks look great and distinguishable. I can't say that this product is perfect, but I can say that I have not been disappointed by anything this lcd has done with the exception of the speakers. If you want good sound, you will have to get a quality set of speakers (you would do that anyway, right?). I love the settings for movies, photos, gaming and text. A great product that I would purchase again.
Read more
by DHacker3 (see profile) -
August 21, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular outstanding monitor
this monitor is a good buy if you're looking for a good large monitor. the 5 degree tilt is ...
this monitor is a good buy if you're looking for a good large monitor. the 5 degree tilt is plenty enough in my opionion any further and the display may not look to good. the speakers arnt the greatest, but are you buying a monitor for the display or the speakers? the color is brilliant, if you have an nvidia card then adjest the viberance and you'll see the display really shine.
Read more
by zephzoota (see profile) -
June 27, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Quality, Beauty, Simplicity and a decent price... what more do you want?
I got this because i needed a light, travel friendly monitor for college that could double as a t.v. ...
I got this because i needed a light, travel friendly monitor for college that could double as a t.v. Man...it was waaay better than i thought it would be. I got this one by accident when i went to buy the 22" version. Not only did i save money on this one but I don't even remember why i wanted the 22 in. I tried both and their differences are not that vast, not at all. I've had this monitor for 10 months now and i still can't find a reason to knock it or upgrade to the 22 in. I don't need portrait view, i'm not an HD ***** (the HD quality is great though) and I can live without the most obscure, nit-picky features. Just one thing though; remember the price and other features well because people are going to ask you about it like you made the damn thing.
Read more
by Dell2350 (see profile) -
May 20, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect BEA-utiful
Great monitor,,,cant go wrong buying this one
Great monitor,,,cant go wrong buying this one
Read more
by dwanefair (see profile) -
March 14, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular great buy, great monitor
This monitor was a great value from Wal-Mart at around $250 and a wonderful upgrade from the CRT that came ...
This monitor was a great value from Wal-Mart at around $250 and a wonderful upgrade from the CRT that came with my computer. It's well worth the price and Illustrator and Photoshop look great on it. There is plenty of room for a Firefox window and a few chat windows (or if you run Vista, the sidebar).
Read more
by jgreene777 (see profile) -
January 4, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Wow, Great Monitor
I think it is perfect so far. My HP laptops got me hooked on Brightview, glossy displays and this does ...
I think it is perfect so far. My HP laptops got me hooked on Brightview, glossy displays and this does not dissapoint. It offers a stunning image. I bought mine from HP refurbished to save an additional $60.
6 out of 10 - Good Could be better
For general computing, watching videos, etc it works great. For things like graphics editing though, you may want to look ...
For general computing, watching videos, etc it works great. For things like graphics editing though, you may want to look elsewhere.
The monitor's built in range of brightness and contrast didn't quite cut it; using photo friday's monitor calibration image, colors x/y/z (f3f3f3/fafafa/ffffff) were indistinguishable even at the extremes of contrast and brightness. A software calibrator that runs in the background was able to fix this though, as well as color balance issues.
The other problem with this monitor is the uneven lighting. The monitor seems to be lit from the bottom, so pure white (ffffff) at the bottom of the screen looks light gray (almost ececec) at the top.
Read more
by yann_leei (see profile) -
September 27, 2007
Hide
More stores below
Show
Print friendly version
Email to a friend
del.icio.us
