Review on HP 25 Inch Wide Screen Monitor - 2509M (Model: NT195AA#ABA) by Tyler Kern

I can't believe this monitor doesn't have extremely negative reviews. I think I'll be the first. So, foreword: I've only been using IPS monitors for the last 5 years. Maybe it distorted my view of TFT monitors, I don't know, but I'll say maybe I'm just spoiled. Let's start by saying that the monitor itself looks very nice. The bezel is cute, the stand looks nice, and even the buttons add a bit of aesthetics. The stand is a little wobbly as people have said, but that doesn't mean it's easy to fall off when you're sitting on your desk. I don't have a major issue with it other than not being able to adjust the height but I knew that before I bought it so really shouldn't be a complaint. The monitor gets very bright, has nice color reproduction and lots of settings to tweak. Aside from being a nice size, that's all I can say positive about this monitor. Settings are too bright out of the box, but that's pretty typical. I had a Windows Explorer window open when I first turned it on and I think I went blind for a few minutes. You'll have to adjust the settings or it's obvious: the viewing angles on this monitor are terrible. Unless you're looking directly at the dead center of this monitor, colors will begin to wash out on both sides. If I literally move my head 2 inches to the left, the right side of the screen turns yellow (against a white background, like on this Revain page I'm writing right now). Forget trying to look at a 30 degree angle from anywhere. The whole screen has a yellowing effect and will (or should) drive you crazy. I tried turning on the movie and watching it from the bed - I had to get up, rotate the monitor, and then point it down so it was looking straight at my eyes. nuts to it. I spent about 45 minutes adjusting the brightness, contrast, color temperature, and even tried the monitor's calibration wheel. It's been improved a bit, but I think it's just a design flaw. It's almost blue now, so the image looks white when I move. Unfortunately. I also have a lot of flashlight (light leaks on a dark picture). Viewing the aforementioned film (in a letterbox) from all four edges, I saw the backlight flow across the entire panel. Changing the previously mentioned settings didn't seem to have any effect, even reducing the brightness and contrast to almost the bare minimum. I certainly don't notice it just launching apps or browsing, so it's not the worst, but I do watch some movies on my computer before I go to bed. If one of them ends up in the mailbox, I'll probably never sleep again. I sent the monitor back for replacement just to see if mine was defective and in fact the replacement behaved exactly the same. I'm amazed no one has commented on this before. After all, it's glass. glass reflected. You know it. If you have a window or lamp behind you, you will notice this. I don't consider this a minus because you need to know before you buy. I only mention this because one reviewer said this monitor was "surprisingly anti-glare". I think this guy was using the monitor in the basement with the lights off. It's not anti-glare at all. Point. It had promises and it does have its perks, but for me at least, I can't put up with those downsides.