HP LCD screens any good?

[Drifter73]

My 19" KDS, which is about 3+ years old, is about to die, and I was thinking about getting an LCD screen. I'd hoped to get it locally, but with only Best Buy and Circuit City, I don't think it's gonna happen since neither one has a very good selection. Anyways, when I mentioned to my father I was looking for an LCD he decided to help out in finding one, and after some independent research he found me the HP1905. Looking over the reviews, it even has a consumer report good rating, and several positive comments online I've found, but with 16ms response I figured it would be too slow for gaming (and I couldn't find if it was 6 or 8 bit panel) so I bought an LG1920PQ at the local BB (for twice the online price). Very uneven backlight on that one, about 2 to 3 times as bright on the bottom as the top, so I got a refund. Anyways, HP now has an HP 1905e monitor with 8ms response, and pretty much the same spec as the 1905 other than a higher contrast value, and I was wondering if HP monitors were worth a purchase. Any info is much appreciated, thanks.

 

[Jiggz]

If I have to buy an LCD nowadays I will go for the widescreen. But if you really like the HP, the specs seems to be good. Although the price is a little steep compare to other wide screen or non wide screen LCD's. I have the Sceptre Xg-9 and very happy with it for a price $100 below the 1905e. With additional $50 you can actually get a 20.1 Widescreen Dell 2005FW or the 2007FW. Of course, that's IMO.

 

[Noubourne]

I wouldn't touch the 2007FW considering the other, better, similarly priced options out there in the 20" range. As the first responder said, of course this is my opinion based on the research I have done.

The BenQ FP202W and Viewsonic VX2025WM would both be on my short list. I'm pretty sure the FP202W sells for a mere $300, and it's a very good performer. A great price for a high quality widescreen panel.

 

[Drifter73]

I'm not really too interesting in going for a widescreen, and from what I read about scepter they do not cover dead pixels. Before I read that, I was actually looking to buy one of their LCD's off newegg. Viewsonic was another I had been interested in, but I'd read that many of their recent panels had some bad backlighting issues. As for BenQ, I'd seen several on newegg, but hadn't seen too many reviews so far.

 

[fire400]

HP is a reliable company. Monitors are backed by warranty, and dead pixels for HP LCD's are quite rare.

When 15" LCD's still cost a minimum of $300, HP released a .26 pitch at a similar price, whereas other manufacturers did .29 pitches on their LCD's. An example of how far ahead they were a number of years ago.

I think they're good, personally I'd say they are more stylish than some of the monitors I see today.

 

[Earwax]

I don't own an HP LCD monitor, but I do own one of their TVs and they have what I would consider one of the best technical support groups I've ever had to contact. Their warranties are legit, so you can be confident in getting what you pay for from them.

That said, I do have a dell 2405 Widescreen monitor, and it is hands down the best computer monitor I've ever owned. I upgraded from the 20 inch WS model about 2 years ago and it is almost night and day. Not sure what they're going for nowadays, but it was a bit pricey at around $900 when I got it.

I'd say if you can get a widescreen from HP go for it. If you have money to burn I'd consider one of the dells. Although I think their customer support is a little more difficult to deal with.

I've had a few problems with my HP TV and whenever an issue has arisen with it their tech support has gone out of their way to make sure it gets resolved.

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

HP's customer service is great. If there is a problem they will go the extra step to help you. YMMV

 

[Noubourne]

HP orders panels to use in their LCDs from other companies just like everybody else (except Samsung and LG and other companies that actually make their own).

HP's L2335 23" screen uses a S-IPS panel, and it's pretty highly regarded among the large WS displays.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the PVA panels used in the 2405, but to each his own. They are pretty well known to have worse color reproduction than the S-IPS panels, a slower response time, but probably better contrast. As a gamer, I'm currently an S-IPS fan.

My experience with Dell tech support doesn't really lead me to recommend them to anyone, so they'd need an outstanding component in order to sway me to purchase. The 2001FP would have been that purchase, but I wasn't in the market at the time. I've seen bad color banding on the 2007s, so I can't really recommend those.

 

[Drifter73]

One question I do have about widescreen monitors, can they be set to keep aspect ratio if you run in non native resolution? With black banding on the sides I mean, or the image shifted to one side or the other.
I've played with a few floor display ones and I could never seem to get the aspect ration to stick, it always stretched the image to fit the screen, which really bothered me. Seeing as how a local office max has the VX2025MW from viewsonic for 299.99 after rebates, I might reconsider getting one if it can be run in non-native res without stretching.

 

[MacVista]

I have a HP L1955 (business version of the HP 1905) and I think it's great. The L1955 is 8-bit.

 

[fire400]

Originally posted by: Drifter73
One question I do have about widescreen monitors, can they be set to keep aspect ratio if you run in non native resolution? With black banding on the sides I mean, or the image shifted to one side or the other.
I've played with a few floor display ones and I could never seem to get the aspect ration to stick, it always stretched the image to fit the screen, which really bothered me. Seeing as how a local office max has the VX2025MW from viewsonic for 299.99 after rebates, I might reconsider getting one if it can be run in non-native res without stretching.

if it's HD ready you should have less of a problem

but I'm playing Longest Journey 1 and the graphics are just spread out it's not as pretty, Starcraft isn't that pretty either, but it looks way better the Longest Journey.