HP w22 March 8th, 2007 | by Ian Bell
Full Review
Features and Design
Straight out of the box, the w22 looks pleasing to the eye. With its silver finish and round edges, the w22 wants’ to scream modern design and it almost passes the part until you use it. The monitor bezel “snaps” into the base and feels very flimsy when moving or adjusting the monitor. Adjustability on the w22 is very limited, you can tilt the screen, but adjusting the height and swivel angle is out of the question as it just cannot be done. The monitor does have built-in speakers which is a nice touch, but it’s odd that you have to use the same buttons you would use for adjusting the screen settings, as the volume controls. Oddly, despite having built-in speakers, there is no built-in microphone. The w22 is also missing any USB ports which are pretty standard features by now. When reviewing their commercial monitors we were told they did not include USB ports as a security precaution for businesses. We sort of bought that, but for USB ports to be missing from a consumer monitor of this size are pretty silly.
The w22 features a 5ms response rate and 1680x1050 resolution which is great, but HP neglects to mention the 700:1 contract ratio anywhere in their manual, you have to download the specifications in PDF form from their website to get actual numbers. HP recommends that you use this monitor at the 1680x1050 resolution at 60hz, which is a very low refresh rate using the analog cable. You would have to lower the resolution even lower, at 1440x900 to get a faster 75Hz refresh rate.
Included with the w22 monitor is the warranty manual, audio cable and an analog VGA cable. A DVI cable is not included and will run you $20-$50 dollars (depending on quality and length) adding to your overall investment. HP backs the w22 with a 1-year warranty that includes a 15-day replacement plan if they find your monitor to be defective; the warranty they provide is better than most companies, but not as good as the 3-year warranty provided on HP’s commercial monitors. 
Image Courtesy of HP
by JB on November 8, 2009:
“Monitor took a crap after a year and a half. All HP's except this one have a 3 year warranty. How convenient. The sounbar built in was nice, but not all that great. I knew I should have bought an Apple.” More...