Full Review - More Features
USB 2.0 Hub Base and Rotation One of the cool things about the w2408's base is the ease at which it can be rotated on a desk or table. The very bottom of the base has a half-dollar sized rotator. If you ever need to rotate the monitor a little to show a colleague something on the screen, the base rotates with almost no effort at all. The base also articulates up and down to fit your height preferences. Adding to the cool-factor is the fact that the 24" LCD screen can pivot 90 degrees to become a vertically-oriented LCD screen. This is awesome for photographers photoshopping vertical images, for spreadsheets, long documents, lengthy websites, etc. With the included software for the w2408, Windows users will be able to rotate the screen and have the image orientation automatically adjust, similar to the auto-rotation of the new iPod touch and iPhone. Built-in Speakers Ambient Light Sensor Backlight Hours
The w2408 also has a 4-port USB 2.0 hub built into it. The USB 2.0 input is located under the left-hand side of the bezel. In the same location are two outbound USB 2.0 ports. The other two USB 2.0 ports are conveniently located about 3-inches up from the lower left corner of the screen, just on the back side of the bezel, so the potentially unsightly ports are out of sight.
The w2408 clearly has a large LCD screen. Due to this fact, the base has to be large enough to keep the screen from toppling over if ever bumped. The base itself has a nice rounded shape, but the overall footprint (max width by max depth) is roughly 12" by 12", or one square foot. For smaller desks, this can look and feel like a lot of space. Luckily, the w2408 can be wall mounted - whether directly on a wall, or on an articulating mount. Such a setup would eliminate the w2408's footprint altogether.
The w2408 has two rear-facing 2W speakers, giving a total of 4watts of audio power. While no LCD has truly enjoyable built-in speakers, the w2408 doesn't sound too bad. It's fine for watching videos on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc., or even for blowing time on YouTube. Don't expect to rock out to your CDs or MP3 library. Find yourself a quality external speaker set for shakin' your booty.
The techies at HP have given the w2408 a special little feature that may appeal to some, will be overlooked by others and will blow the socks off the rest. It's an ambient light sensor built into the front bezel of the screen. Up toward the top left of the bezel, there's a tiny little dot that looks like a built-in mic or camera. It's a light sensor. When your work environment darkens - late at night, for example - the w2408 will automatically adjust the its brightness level to be easier on your tired eyes. When the ambient light in the room returns to normal levels, the brightness will also return to normal. One can easily demonstrate this feature by holding a finger over the sensor. In about 2 seconds, the w2408 gradiently drops the brightness by 10-15%. Lifting one's finger off the sensor shows how the w2408 gradually brightens up again.
The Ambient Light Sensor may be disabled for times you'll be in Photoshop or any other application where display consistency is absolutely critical.
The w2408 has an on-screen menu item that allows you to keep track of how many hours the LCD screen has been used. This is primarily a tech-support feature, but it's interesting to track usage stats every once in a while.
The HP w2408 produces some pretty vibrant colors
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by Jay on May 31, 2008:
“I use this as a primary home monitor in conjunction with a HP laptop and docking port. Great quality screen, and portrait mode works very well for reading long web pages. My only complaints are the weak speakers and some occasional electrical interference...” More...