New HP w2558hc Monitor (user review)

Here is my new monitor, first review (sort of ) on the net.

Video Card: EVGA GTX 280 with 180.43 drivers

Factory Specs:
Model Brand HP Model W2558HC
Black Display Screen Size 25.5" Widescreen
1920 x 1200 Viewing Angle 160°(H) / 160°(V) Pixel Pitch 0.27mm
Contrast Ratio DC 3000:1(1000:1)
Response Time 3ms (GTG)
Horizontal Refresh Rate 24-94 KHz Vertical Refresh Rate 48-85 Hz
Panel Active Matrix, TFT LCD
Connectivity Input Video Compatibility Digital Connectors DVI-D, HDMI DVI 1 HDMI 2 USB 2.0 2
Power Complies with EPA Energy Star
Power Supply 100 - 240 VAC, 50/60Hz Power Consumption 130 watts maximum power consumption, <2 watts in sleep mode
Speakers 3 watts per speaker Built in
Webcam Built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam designed for low-light conditions 30 frames/second in VGA (640x480 resolution) mode Blue LED indicator notifies the user when the camera is on
Yes HDCP Support Yes
Features Standard VESA 4-hole 100 mm x 100 mm
Built-in desk/keyboard light
15-in-1 digital media card reader to easily view photos and videos
Includes all the needed cables HDMI DVI VGA USB Sound.
Digital Picture frame with remote control
BriteView technology

Dimensions (W×H×D) 20.2" x 24.4" x 11.3" Weight 22 lbs.


Packaging

Packaging was very good. Includes HDMI cable, DVI to VGA cable, USB Cable, Speaker Cable.

Setup

It was sort of painful because of cable compatibility. Included DVI cable was hybrid junk -- it is a VGA to DVI and would not work period even with my EVGA VGA to DVI adapter. The EVGA adapter HDMI did not work either with the included HDMI cable. So I had had to borrow a DVI to DVI cable from another computer and that worked great. Then I installed the monitor drivers and boom – awesome picture switched to 1920 X 1200 and was speechless.

Conclusion

Nice upgrade from my Sony 19 inch LCD and seems much faster than my old 19 inch. The feature set included is great


HP w2558hc front panel controls



HP w2558hc has a built-in keyboard light; this is really cool and has 3 different brightness levels accessed from the first switch in the controls. HP has really put some nice engineering into this monitor. Love the look and effect at night.



Built-in card readers and USB ports. Card readers also provide memory for the digital picture frame when it is in that mode. Card reader works great, I never had one I always used the USB cable to my cameras.


Remote control holder/slot. This blew me away when I first saw this, I had no clue it was there as it was not documented on the website.



Here is the remote control for the full feature digital picture frame. The HP w2558hc plays photos, MP3s, and videos in standalone mode. ( computer not running) This feature is cool but was not why I purchase the monitor in fact I did not even know it had a remote control until I opened the box.





Web cam, mic and camera on LED located top dead center. HP includes Cyberlink You Cam software and first tests appear to do the job.



Light sensor - seems to be very responsive to ambient light changes.



Back panel hook ups – DVI, 2 HDMI, 2 USD. Just a note about USB jacks there are 4. There are two on the back and two on the side.









Back views



Desktop

Great review man of that monitor. I have the HP W2207H and I like it alot. How's the backlight bleed on that 25.5 incher? Try take a photo of it with a dark screen. Use the Screen Test program. Don't worry, this aint no virus I'm sending hehe. It makes your screen all black. If you want to get out of it, hit esc key.

Now for the million dollar question: Does it whine or buzzes? Any noise at all coming from the back?

Great coverage, well done. (Next time wipe the parts down before you shoot pictures. No one wants to see greasy fingerprints.)

HarwareGuru, I give it a try and post a picture.

Raudulfr, zero noise.

Kyle, thanks. Check your email about my email problem.

Oh yah, try take a photo of the monitor from a farther distance like 2-3 feet away or something. Also, show some pics of the menu settings and what options it has. That would be really nice.

HarwareGuru,
backlight bleed photos using screen test:





The camera picks up backlight bleed but viewing the in the dark room with my eyes I see very little backlight bleed.

Here are a few pictures of the menus:

Wow, awesome man!. Your backlight bleed is pretty good. My first HP W2207H model was horrible. Alot of backlight bleeding on the top and bottom. I have seen some very bad ones and yours is no where near it. Practically every monitor will suffer some backlight bleeding. It's just that some models are worse than others.

Any idea who makes the panel for this model?

gaming screenshots look awful. the first shot of FEAR shows lots of banding on the wall to the left. those dark game screenshots look like 16 bit color.

Anyone else have this new monitor?

Anyone else pick up this monitor? I like this alot but I haven't seen many review for it. I had the T260, but there was no height ajustability on it. so it ended being higher on my desk than I wanted.


Nate

I recently bought this monitor and I'm pretty happy with it.

Colors:
I don't place much emphasis on color accuracy. Suffice it to say the colors look very nice in my games, and the blacks look very black.

Response time:
The response time is good, haven't seen any ghosting. Done some Left 4 Dead and TF2. All good here.

Backlight:
The backlight is the best I've seen. Very very hard to notice even in the worst conditions like a completely dark room watching a dvd. I recently went through two acer monitors trying to get one without bleed, and gave up. Backlight bleed is a big issue for me when buying a monitor.

The only real complaint I have is that in the top left corner of the screen the pixels seem to shimmer a little when I move my eyes. It's most evident using this: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/clock_phase.php. I don't know if it's a problem with this monitor in general, or just the one I got. I realize that test is for analog connections, and I am using DVI, but the test image shows the problem very well.

I'm considering exchanging the monitor to see if the new one has the same shimmer in the same place.

Pictures are way too large...even for my 24".

Wjat was the sony 19 inch model?

I just replaced my old sony glossy 19 lcd with this model and now use it as a 2nd monitor

I liked my 19 inch sony a lot the blacks was extremely black,very close to my sony CRT HDTV and it had rich color all I wanted was a big version of that monitor but sony don't seem to make them anymore.

it makes me more sad tahn when sony stopped making CRT monitors.


so far the blacks and color dont seem as ritch but maybe i just need to adjust it more.

I was going to get a dell ultra 24inch monitor but the imput lag scared me off of those types .......the apple LED display in 24 inch only works on macs .... and that blows I would have bought one nice job apple..

then i thought of the gateway 24 or 30 inch, but i could not find any of these monitors in any store these days to go look with my own eyes. the retail space for monitors seems to be dying or all they carry is low end models on the show floor.

I could not find this HP anywhere until i found it with a hp PC and they would not sell it to me seprate it was the best looking to me and the only other simlar model was the samsung t260hd and that one looked a bit dull to me. I also did not like that it seemed to be more of a HDTV than a hardcore PC monitor.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi0BrDjNiKw


If it dont work out i got a few weeks to send it back though.

also never use the cables in the box with this one they suck go buy a real DVI cable