Excellent monitor, highly recommended!

I've had the new HP w1907 for over a month, and I've been very happy with it. I have only a few grips, and would definitely buy it again (in fact, will be getting it for my parents when it goes on sale again). First I should mention that I got it immediately after it was released, on sale for $230 CAD. At this price it was a steal, but I'm not sure I would spend the full price.

Out of the box, it is relatively easy to assemble, but the base did not really "click" into place for me. However, I don't see how it can come apart just sitting on top of my desk. It is attractive and well built. The bezel is shiny black and the base is silver. I'm not crazy about the shiny black finish, but the overall look works well. The base has one large round rubber foot which rotates, so if you want to swivel the monitor sideways, it will swivel on the rubber foot. This also makes it really hard to slide - you have to actually lift it a bit to be able to slide it across the desk. It also tilts up and down - just make sure to grasp the base tightly when you tilt it.

The monitor worked fine before driver installation. I just changed the desktop resolution to 1440x900 and it was perfect - note that this is very important, you must use it at its native resolution of 1440x900, or else it looks fuzzy and pixelated (this holds true for all LCD's). Nevertheless, I installed the driver and the associated My HP Display software. This gives options for changing various display settings, which I won't go into in detail. However, I think that this part is more complicated than it needs to be, and the calibration doesn't seem very intuitive to me. I'm happy with the settings I have now, and hopefully I won't need to play around with it often. It also has presets for text, movie, gaming, and photo, along with your custom settings.

This monitor also comes with the Brightview panel - I personally like this a lot better than the flat, matte finishes, but I guess it is personal preference. Glare is not really a problem if you don't have a light source or window facing it.

Picture quality is awesome, text it nice and sharp, and black is really black. Response time is great in games, but pretty much all monitors nowadays are good in these respects. Mine does not have any dead or bad pixels at all.

One of my gripes is that it does not come with a DVI cable (this cost me an extra $15 at a local computer store, but will be considerably more at the big box stores). And, using an analog connection with this monitor is a complete waste of money. I used the analog cable for about a week when I got a new computer, prior to installing a DVI-capable video card, and let me tell you, I was not impressed. In Windows XP, prior to installing the driver, the screen edges were cut off by a few pixels, and even after driver and software installation the display quality in general was much poorer. A digital connection is well worth the extra price of the cable, but HP loses points for not including it.

That just about sums it up. Feel free to leave a comment if you have specific questions that I didn't address. In short, I highly recommend this monitor as long as you get a good price and use it with a DVI cable.

____________

Here are the specs from the HP website:


The HP Pavilion w1907 LCD wide-screen flat panel monitor has the following features:

BriteView Technology enhances clarity and provides brilliant colors
1440 x 900 factory-set resolution
Video inputs supported:
VGA analog signal
DVI-D digital signal
Supports High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) to prevent transmission of non-encrypted high definition content
Plug and play capability, if supported by your computer system
On-screen display (OSD) adjustments for ease of setup and screen optimization
Energy Star compliant

Technical specifications

LCD feature Specification
Display size 19-inch (48.3 cm) diagonal and viewable image
Display type: Thin-Film Transistor LCD active matrix, BriteView technology
Input terminal: VGA 15-pin D-type connector, DVI-D connector
Scanning frequency: Horizontal scan range 30-83 KHz, Vertical scan range 55-75 Hz
Native resolution (H x V): 1440 x 900
Contrast ratio: up to 1000:1
Response time: 5 ms (on-off)
Pixel pitch: 0.285 mm
Power source - AC/DC adapter: Input rating: 100 to 240V~
Power consumption: < 49 W in operating mode, < 2 W in sleep mode
Operating environment:
Temperature: 32 degrees F to 104 degrees F (0 degrees C to 40 degrees C)
Humidity: 15% RH through 90% RH (non-condensing)
Storage environment:
Temperature: -4 degrees F to 140 degrees F (-20 degrees C to 60 degrees C)
Humidity: 15% RH through 90% RH (non-condensing)
Dimensions H x W x D, including base: 14.9 x 18.2 x 7.2 inches (37.8 x 45.2 x 18.2 cm)
Weight Unpacked: 11 lbs (5 Kg)
EMI standard: FCC Class B
Mounting: Standard VESA 4-hole 100 mm x 100 mm
EPA Energy Star: As an Energy Star Partner, Hewlett-Packard has determined that this product meets the Energy Star guidelines for energy efficiency.