HP W2207

Pros: Great picture, height adjustment

Cons: Speakers are limited in sound quality

Summary: I have a 12" Apple powerbook G4 laptop and this monitor worked as soon as I plugged it in. No software or drivers to load. The picture is very clear and the screen is large enough for me to be on the web, compose an email and still watch a movie. I am very happy with it.

I love the fact that the monitor has sure a large height adjustment. I am 6-2 and I lower the monitor for normal work, like composing or reading, but like to raise the monitor if I am just watching a movie. The wide screen is a nice improvement over my 20" CRT.

Finding the right video cable required the most work. The monitor came with a VGA and USB cable, but my laptop has a mini-DVI connector, so I had to go to an Apple store to get either an adapter for the VGA or a DVI cable. Since a DVI cable is digital and will give you a better picture I went with the DVI adapter and then had to buy a DVI-D cable.

This monitor has a DVI-D connector. I didn't find a DVI cable at either Circuit city or Best buy and was surprised to find most clerks didn't know what a DVI cable was. Fry's electronic store is one place that has them.

I know some people would like to see a DVI cable included, but not every computer can support that connector. In fact, most of the older ones can't and just like the VGA cable I threw away. Why make us pay for something we may not be able to use?

I bought this monitor in part because of the built in speakers. The speakers are on the back and while watching a movie it was great to have the sound coming from what seemed like the screen, just like in the movie theater and not coming speakers on the side. The volume has loud enough when sitting this close to the monitor. But I noticed when I used the speakers with itunes and wanted to fill the room, the lack of a subwoofer was clear.