L1910 19IN LCD MON US SBY
|  | Original Price: $208.56
Mail-In Rebate: -$30.00
After Mail-In Rebate: $178.56 Availability: 7096 In Stock
Condition: New SKU: GS918A8#ABA
UPC: 883585360185
Ships in 1-2 business days |
| Customer ReviewsReviewed on 2008-07-12 
Excellent Monitor - Best For The Money
After checking through all of the specifications for various 19" monitors, I settled on this one. One of the primary concerns was was contrast - most offer 700:1, this unit offers 1000:1. Now, the ViewSonic offers an ENHANCED 2000:1 contrast, but its NATIVE contrast is still 700:1. I didn't want artificial enhancement that will likely cause color changes. That was a primary selling point for me as I'm used to using CRT monitors. Additionally, I found that the resolution is pretty much the same - 1440x900 on most of the 19" monitors - some are less resolution, though. There wasn't that much difference in price between this one and the lowest priced monitors with less contrast and, when you figure out the price difference over the life of the monitor, it amounts to nothing.
I do a lot of image processing and have tended to stay with CRT monitors for their color. After I received and plugged this HP in, I'm finished with CRT! I use dual monitors to expand the desktop across two monitors. At the outset this meant one CRT and this LCD. If anything, the HP LCD is better than the CRT - unless you get to an EXTREME viewing angle. In fact, I liked this one so well, I'm ordering another matching one to replace the other CRT and will use two LCDs instead of the two former CRTs.
The best part was the wide screen and resolution. This gives so much more space than the CRT! I use my CRT set at 1024 x 768 resolution - which does make things small and sometimes a little tough to see for an older guy like me. The HP LCD set at 1440 x 900 resolution gives more screen space and has the added benefit of having things just a bit larger than on the CRTs - making life easier to view if your eyes aren't quite what they used to be.
Note for screen space comparisons: CRTs were 15" diagonal - 9" high x 12" wide; this LCD is 19" diagonal - 10" high and 16" wide. Setting a window at full width on the CRT at 1024x768 resolution then moving it to the LCD at 1440x900 resolution occupies about 2/3 of the LCD screen and even though the resolution is finer, the viewing size of everything is slightly larger. My CRT monitors were Dell and ViewSonic.
This is a very nice looking monitor with an adjustable base, super-light-weight - especially as compared with CRT! This HP monitor works extremely well at all lower resolutions, but the 1440x900 is best for me.
Oh, the LCD monitor uses only a fraction of the electricity of the CRT, even though BOTH are Energy Star certified.
PROBLEMS: The only problem I had was when first attempting to set the monitor to 1440x900 resolution. The display went crazy! An email to HP Tech Support (they don't seem to provide phone tech support - or I couldn't find it) got a reply in less than 24 hours and they suggested an updated driver for my video card. I am using a Dell XPS Gen 2 with a 128 MB ATI Radeon 9800 card (3.5 years old). The driver updates made everything work perfectly.
I checked prices everywhere and, considering taxes, shipping, etc. - couldn't beat Amazon's deal so I ordered the second one from Amazon, as well. This monitor has the HP 3 year warranty. I have seen a couple that were just a bit cheaper with a 1 year warranty - though they were not identified as such, that must be for a refurbished model... for the extra $15. I'll take a new one with a 3 year warranty every time! Walmart sells the same monitor under a different model number - checking the HP website shows the standard HP Model Number along with the WalMart/HP Model Number. WalMart is only $210 - but then add sales taxes and you've over the Amazon price - plus you have to drive to the store to get it - AFTER they ship site-to-store (not available in stores) and you wait a week or more for that! Either way, this is an excellent monitor. |  |
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