HP L2208w

...took one look at the HP L2208w and thought "it will do"

Upon arriving at home wtih it I noticed how well protected it was. Its unlikely that the screen will come to you damaged in any way unless someone deliberately ignores that fragile logo....There was very little assembly required and its base just folded out from under the screen without any addional fuss or worry. Truly a pleasure. However I began to get very worried ...
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Product Description HP L2208w - LCD display - TFT - 22"
Device Type LCD display / TFT active matrix
Colour Carbonite
Dimensions (WxDxH) 51.5 cm x 19.2 cm x 41.4 cm
Weight 5.4 kg
Localisation English / United Kingdom
Diagonal Size 22" - widescreen
Viewable Size 22"
Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch 0.282 mm
Max Resolution 1680 x 1050 / 60 Hz
Display Positions ... more

I needed a new display screen out of sheer necessity. I moved to a new country and needed something in a hurry so that I could get some work done. I took one look at the HP L2208w and thought "it will do"

Upon arriving at home wtih it I noticed how well protected it was. Its unlikely that the screen will come to you damaged in any way unless someone deliberately ignores that fragile logo....There was very little assembly required and its base just folded out from under the screen without any addional fuss or worry. Truly a pleasure. However I began to get very worried as i noticed something...

My computer graphics card doesnt have a D-sub VGA connector (its a rather old school connection now) and this screen only supports that connection. Which is surprising because no 22' panel in this day and age should come without a DVI connection which I believe is now the standard. And they should have bundled a D-sub to DVI connector. they arent expensive and will make this monitor more appealing. and at the very least eliminate the nasty shock one gets when you see it wont work with without that adapter Nonetheless after a few frantic moments i found a D-sub to DVI adapter in my techinical odds and ends box and things started to fall into place...lets take a look at it in more detail

*specifications*

Product Description HP L2208w - LCD display - TFT - 22"
Device Type LCD display / TFT active matrix
Colour Carbonite
Dimensions (WxDxH) 51.5 cm x 19.2 cm x 41.4 cm
Weight 5.4 kg
Localisation English / United Kingdom
Diagonal Size 22" - widescreen
Viewable Size 22"
Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch 0.282 mm
Max Resolution 1680 x 1050 / 60 Hz
Display Positions Adjustments Tilt
Response Time 5 ms
Image Brightness 300 cd/m2
Image Contrast Ratio 1000:1
Signal Input VGA
Vista Certification Works with Windows Vista
Compliant Standards Plug and Play, TCO '03, CE, MPR II, CSA, TUV, VCCI, GS, ISO 13406-2, MIC, FCC, RoHS, WEEE, ACA, CISPR
Power AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Power Consumption Operational 50 Watt
Environmental Standards EPA Energy Star , EPEAT Silver
Manufacturer Warranty 3 years warranty

*Look and feel*

the L2208w is an affordable screen aimed at people who need good perfomance but are on a budget. The overall look of the screen though not unpleasant is just a dull matte black plastic with no gloss whatsoever. Not the nicest thing to look at. So it looks better to keep it on your office desk than the pride of your gaming or cinema computer at home... Also I found that the base keeps the screen very well planted but this doesnt stop the screen from flexing side to side when the screen or the table are bumped. Its unlikely that the screen will ever fall over but this characteristic is disconcerting to see. A stronger mounting point between the base and screen would cure this problem and stop any nervous moments. Overall because of its budget nature the screen does look a little tacky.

*performance*

The most surprising thing about this monitor for me was its image quality. Despite it only having a 1000:1 contrast ratio I found that the monitor had very good colour reproduction and blacks were black. not dark grey. This screen outperforms some more expensive competition in this regard. Its 5ms response time means that its perfectly adequate for movie watching though it might be a little slow for very fast moving games. But if you want a gaming screen you want 2ms response time. But considering its budget nature the screen perfomed admirably in all the games I sent its way and in movie watching. its 300cd/m2 brightness meant that it was capable of producing a vivid picture which always impressed. That being said i do think there is room for improvement in this regard as its a little dim for text viewing and document editing. Its Maximum resolution of 1680x1050 means that you will need to have a high performance graphics card capable of gaming at this resolution otherwise the screen scales the lower resolution image to fit this native resolution and the result is that image quality takes a massive hit and things dont look so rosy at all. But if you arent gaming and just use it for text or watching movies its more than adequate for that task and any graphics card will do. The screen has good adjustability controls on the front and it generally auto adjusts itself very well meaning its far easier to use than most other screens of this type. Because of the slightly tacky nature of its housing the buttons arent very sensitive though and may need repeated presses to get right. but the monitor is very smart and usually figures out what setting you want and applies it. Overall a very plucky performance that surprised in many ways.

*conclusion*

The HP L2208w is a screen that has a budget orientation but punches above its weight and delivers image quality that impresses. Its housing may be on the cheap and not so cheerful side but its hides a quality product that i would more than recommend to anyone wanting a screen and has to watch the budget. Heck. I'd even recommend it to someone who isnt on a budget and just wants a good display. It does have its flaws namely stability and that awful omission of a DVI connector and connection. But other than that its a screen that deserves a look. And a good look at that. 

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