HP W22 LCD Monitor review: HP W22 LCD Monitor

With prices continually dropping on 22-inch wide-screen monitors, they've hit the sweet spot where consumers are able to jump up to the bigger size without spending too much more. The HP w22 fits the trend, and while its $400 price tag isn't the cheapest we've seen, it's still very reasonable. There aren't many extras, like USB ports or additional connectivity, but it does have a pair of two-watt integrated speakers. Like many of the budget 22-inch monitors we look at, there isn't much to differentiate the w22 from the competition, but it did perform slightly better than others in our tests. In all, the w22's limited feature set is attractive given its price, with our main worry being its shorter-than-average warranty period.

Design
The w22 sports a thin and lightweight design, although it definitely feels sturdier and more solid than the Acer AL2216W. The frame features a brushed silver look, which looks a little gaudy in online photos but more muted in real life. We personally preferred the look of the ViewSonic VX2235wm overall, but in reality most budget LCDs look similarly average. In terms of adjustability, we found the w22 a little lacking, as there's no ability to swivel, only a small amount of forward and backward tilt, and you can't adjust the height. We also found the onscreen display controls to be a pain to get at--they're mounted below the speaker bar, which we found inconvenient to access, although the volume control was easy enough to use. The menu itself is pretty standard, with options to set the color temperature (9,300K or 6,500K), RGB levels, power saver options, and a sleep timer.

Manufacturer's specs

• Resolution: 1680x1050
• Dot pitch: .282mm
• Pixel-response rate: 5ms
• Contrast ratio: 700:1
• Viewing angle: 170 degrees horizontal, 160 degrees vertical
• Connectivity: DVI, VGA
• HDCP compliant
• Included VGA cable (no DVI)
• Integrated two-watt speakers

Features
There's not much in the way of extra features, with the big exception being the speakers. As far as speakers attached to a monitor go, they're perfectly fine, but anyone expecting good quality is bound to be disappointed. They sounded pretty thin and trebly to us, and while we could make out dialogue on DVDs, we felt like we had to turn the volume up a lot to hear everything. We were happy to see that the w22 is HDCP compliant, but the lack of a DVI cable was annoying. Sure, you can pick one up for less than $10, but it's included on most 22-inch monitors we've looked at.

Performance
While the w22 isn't packed with bells and whistles, we did like the way it performed. Overall, it scored a 73 on CNET Labs' benchmark test, which puts it ahead of both the Acer AL2216W and ViewSonic VX2235wm. Performance wasn't perfect--we saw some slight ghosting on games--but overall colors were bright and vibrant, with surprisingly nice DVD playback. Times New Roman text was legible at 7.5 font size, and became hard to see at about 6.8. The important thing to note that is that overall the w22 performed just a slight bit better than similarly sized competitors that we've tested.

HP backs the w22 with a limited one-year warranty, which includes the backlight. This is a step down from the industry standard three-year warranty that we see most displays come with. Tech support is available 24-7 in English and Spanish. In addition to calling, you can e-mail questions to HP's tech support or chat online with an HP support technician. Drivers, manuals, and access to HP's Business Support Center are also available on the HP Web site.

With its reasonable list price, solid performance, and minimalist feature set, the w22 looks to be a good buy for anyone looking for a 22-inch display with integrated speakers. If you don't have a need for the speakers, you can save yourself some money by going for the cheaper Acer AL2216W, which offers a similar feature set minus the speakers. On the other hand, if the one-year warranty scares you off but you want the integrated speakers, the ViewSonic VX2235wm offers less performance, but has a three-year warranty.