I've owned two LCD monitors from HP now and three from Samsung and the thing that most empresses me about the HP monitors is that the color and contrast are nearly perfect straight out of the box. Also there were no dead or stuck pixls. Two things to consider when tooking at this monitor. 1) It has no anti glare coating. The benefit being that images are clearer. The downside being that you may see light behind you reflecting off of the screen when the screen is dark. 2) Doesn't have a DVI connector. Tried both the svga and the hdmi connections and both gave a very clear picture though. Purchased the Tripp Lite P130-000 HDMI to DVI Gold Adapter - HDMI-F to DVI M at the same time.

Got this monitor yesterday, and love it! 22" is just the right size, the 24" would have been too much. I have the room, but to mouse navigate and head turning side to side on a 24" would be a little much.

The 1680 x 1050 resolution on this screen is not quite as detailed as my old Dell Ultrasharp 17" with 1280 x 1024 pixels, but it's hardly noticable. I just push the screen back a little farther and it looks awesome. Asthetically, it is a gorgeous monitor, gloss black rim with a hint of silver border top and bottom. The stand base is a little large and clunky looking, but it does house the keyboard nicely out of the way if you need the desk space.

I love the different screen settings with the touch of a button... Text, Gaming, Photo, Movie, and Custom. It really does make a difference, and is quick to navigate. This screen is big enough to run two Word programs side by side, or two photo programs.... I can see this monitor is going to come in real handy. It's fun to look at certain photos in the Movie setting... it pumps up the dynamic contrast, and some landscape shots look breathtaking. Some reviewers complain that if you move your head up or down, the contrast changes quite a bit. It is true, but I'm not a bobble head, and I don't see the problem.

Like all other reviews on this silly monitor, if you have a nice graphics card with a DVI digital output, you'll need to purchase a new cable, as this monitor only has HDMI and VGA input. (forget the crappy VGA analog input) Just buy a HDMI/DVI cable. I found one localy for $20... there are cheapo cables on Amazon, but be careful, some people have had trouble with them... why spend $300 on such a beautiful monitor, and link it with a [...] cable? Also, don't bother using your existing DVI cable with a DVI to HDMI adapter. The adapter is fairly long, and will cause the cable to hang down below the bottom of the monitor for a messy look... just get the DVI/HDMI cable. If your wondering, yes the digital hookup does give a slightly better picture than the analog VGA. The crispness is noticable. On another note, My two year old Dell XPS 410 was easily able to handle the 1680 x 1050 resolution... just pluged it in, drivers were detected, went into monitor properties and changed the resolution up a notch, no problems. Make sure your computer graphics card can handle the higher resolution, otherwise just stick with a smaller resolution monitor, you wouldn't like the picture otherwise.

As for fingerprints on the gloss bezel.... come on folks, no big deal, just wipe them off. One thing to consider, HP monitors only come with a one year warranty. A lot of other brands come with a 3 year. I just figured, my other LCD monitors never gave me any trouble. Hopefully I never need any HP phone support... some have really trashed it in these reviews. I'm just crossing my fingers.

One more thing. I picked this monitor because it has the High Gloss screen. If you do some research, you'll learn there are two types of screens, Anti-relective, and Anti-glare. Matt screens are anti-glare. There is a matt finish to the screen that diffuses reflected light, thereby eliminating glare, BUT, this "rough" screen coating so to speak, also diffuses the light coming out to your eyes through the monitor, giving it a barely noticable "hazy" look. On the other hand, a Gloss, or Anti-relective screen, is smooth like glass, and has an anti-reflective "tint" added to help tone down reflected light. For a laptop being used outdoors, this may not be ideal, but in my case, I have no windows behind me, so this gloss screen reflects nothing, and I have to tell you, once you see colors through a gloss screen, there's no going back to a "hazy" matt screen monitor.

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That about raps it up. This is a VERY impressive monitor. Just buy it. Thanks again Amazon! Best price, no shipping charges!

I've read some reviews of this and similar monitors that questioned the utility of the rotation feature. As a composer, that is exactly why I bought this and not another model (such as the cheaper Acer). With the monitor rotated to portrait orientation, I can view an entire page of an orchestral score legibly, and doing layout and formatting is a breeze when I don't have to scroll around a laptop screen to view different areas of the same page. When working in other music programs (sequencing, audio editing, Max/MSP, etc), the sheer amount of screen real estate in either orientation is immensely useful for organizing ideas. If you do similar work, this monitor is a fantastic option.

I don't find the rotation to be overly difficult as some others have, and I particularly appreciate how the cables are not stretched or twisted during rotation, and remain out of sight in both orientations. As other reviewers have noted, the speakers are really bad--worse than my laptop speakers, which aren't great. Then again, I've yet to meet the monitor with integrated speakers that were good. The only other drawback I find is the lack of a DVI connection, but for my purposes (connecting a Macbook) I purchased a Mini-DVI to HDMI adapter here on Amazon for a reasonable price, which does the job just fine.

I purchased one of these for my wife this spring for her birthday. She had a bit of trouble with it, but HP replaced it at once. She has had no more trouble with it. I purchased one for my new computer and boy do I like it. I have had no problem with it all, but if I do I know that HP will replace it ASAP.

I really like these monitors. Sleek, fast response time and the software makes managing it pretty easy. It also has the ability to flip sideways for a portrait; I don't know anyone who uses it, but who cares, it's there if you want it. Like most reviewers have commented, the sound is not that great, but I don't know a single monitor that has decent sound; it's one of those things people keep b*n about, but no one ever does anything about. At any rate, these monitors are so good I bought two. If you don't have a dual-monitor setup, check it out, you'll use the extra real estate and you won't ever go back to using just one. If you really want to streamline everything, maybe for business or pleasure, purchase UltraMon (a multi-monitor utility) for an extra $40, and really make the whole setup convenient; although xp/vista handles multiple monitors pretty well on there own, I'm just lazy when it comes to technology. Now, if I can only get it to listen to my wife when she gets home........

joking ladies, no hate mail.