Digital Trends

HP L2335

June 22nd, 2004 | by Ian Bell

Setup and Use

Setting up the L2335 is relatively easy and does not require anything more than the typical monitor setup steps. The integrated power supply is a nice touch to the system and while it not only looks clean, it will not overcrowd the space on your power strip. This is a departure from other LCD monitors on the market that are powered by an external brick.

Once the monitor is positioned on your desk, you will need to install the Pivot Pro software and the monitor drivers. Because the L2335 is a much larger LCD than we typically use, and supports a much higher native resolution, it took a while to get used to. Coming from a 19-inch LCD at 1280x1024, the native 1920x1200 (UXGA) resolution of the L2335 was quite a difference. The overall size of the display made the icons appear to be very close in size to what they were on our previous monitor. But keep in mind, LCD displays work best at their native resolution, and anyone coming from a 17-inch or 19-inch CRT display might be in for a bit of a shock.

At first we thought it was kind of odd that the neck of this monitor was so narrow and tall, but we soon found out this is for a good reason. The LCD display has the ability to ‘pivot' or rotate 90-degrees from a landscape viewing angle to a portrait position. Graphic designers and illustrators often prefer the portrait position while working on creative material such as advertisements, newsletters or flyers. There are two ways to set up the L2335 to switch between portrait and landscape modes: you can either setup the monitor to automatically switch modes once the display is rotated 90-degree or you can manually tell the software to do this by right-clicking on the desktop of your operating system and using the menu provided by the included Pivot Pro software. If you will be rotating the display frequently, you will want to make sure that the neck is extended all of the way to allow for enough clearance. Since you are rotating a 16:9 rectangular display instead of a traditional square, it will need more room as it pivots. The pivot software worked as designed and we did not have any problems during the installation or testing period. The L2335 is also capable of moving horizontally, vertically and has a 170-degree viewing angle, perfect for watching movies with a few onlookers. If you decide that you do not need the pivot function, or that you do not even like the look of the base, you can detach the display from it and mount it on the wall.

Because the L2335 has so many inputs and connections built-in, you can plug in to this monitor whatever devices you choose. Simply press the “input” button located on the front of the disiplay and you can switch between video sources. One thing that surprised us in our testing was that the video source coming in from the analog VGA input was just as good looking as the source coming in from the DVI input. But how can this be you say? Simple; because the analog VGA source was running at such a high resolution (1920x1200), the text and graphics look just as sharp as the DVI video source. Of course if you were to lower the resolution, you would notice a big difference, with the DVI source looking much cleaner and brighter. The television inputs are hidden behind a door located on the back left hand side of the monitor. You need to remove the door to get access to these inputs.