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

Honestly, this is a great monitor for web surfing, NetFlix or any other everyday use. With a property, working on the computer is much more fun. I can sit back and surf. The build quality seems to be very good. The shiny frame is sexy and the stand is modern and durable. Unless you're an imaging pro or as picky as I am, I think you can actually be happy with that. So why only three stars? I'll admit I'm a bit picky when it comes to image editing tools. My last monitor served me for about 10 years and still works, only it's 19 inches and I've dreamed of a widescreen for a long time. My main use of the computer is photo editing and some videos. For me it is important to have a uniform color. While my previous monitor used older Active Matrix technology, the color and lighting were fairly consistent across the panel - maybe the smaller size helped. There was some color shifting at higher angles, but very minimal. The screen was also matte, so reflections were minimal, but blacks weren't black enough. How is the HP 2509 different from my old monitor? Here: - Color: This may be due to the panel being so large, but the color shift at the corners is almost unbearable for image processing. You'll find that you really need to pay attention to where your eyes are in relation to the image, as even the slightest change in position will affect the color; - Contrast: The contrast is amazing though. the fluorescent lights that illuminate the screen from above and below shine through the screen from above and below. Not even worth considering unless you're dealing with a black background like me; - Screen finish: A glossy screen helps a lot with contrast compared to the light-diffusing effects of matte screens. Unless you're used to glossy screens or have trouble focusing your eyes, you may have trouble dealing with glare. I work in a fairly dark room with the side lights on so my eyes don't get wide and I recommend dark clothing and no windows behind you. I could probably live with a reflective screen; - Sharpness: I'm fine with the sharpness. Others have spoken negatively, but maybe I'm not as sensitive as they are; - Resolution: Excellent pixel resolution and since I don't need to get too close to the screen with a large monitor I don't think dot spacing is an issue. The beauty of a screen this big is that you don't have to hold your nose against the screen; - HDMI: I've never used HDMI for a computer monitor and just found out that my old graphics card [GT220] has an HDMI output. However, note that audio on my HDMI output seems choppy through the monitor. Not sure why. I have good speakers connected to my sound card, but with the external speakers disabled I could hear Skype startup sounds through the monitor. Strange right? I'll have to play around with it, but if you need more than system sounds, you probably plan on keeping a couple of good speakers connected anyway. for photo editing. If I kept this monitor, I'd probably put my old one alongside it for color work and only use HP for compositing. This might be a reasonable setup until I can afford one of those $1,000 or so Apple Cinema displays. Thank you for reading my comments; Hope they help you decide.