HP's L1730

HP has strong brand recognition with consumers and businesses alike; people tend to notice the world's #2 PC maker. However, HP sells more than just PCs. They also offer a full range of LCD monitors to match just about every budget.

We actually have two HP LCDs to look at today. First, let's cover the 17" L1730.

HP isn't exactly known for wild aesthetics or funky designs, so it's no surprise the L1730 looks a little dull. Maybe it's the coloring or the chunky exterior, but this monitor doesn't exude the same sexiness as some of the thinner LCDs we'll be looking at. Oh well, at least it's not beige.

The L1730's specs are pretty respectable considering its relatively low price. With a 450:1 contrast ratio and 300 cd/m² brightness rating, the L1730 should be pretty well balanced. The screen's 25 ms pixel response time shouldn't have any problem keeping up with the rest of the field, either.

The L1730 is one of only a few screens in our roundup that can fold completely flat. The screen's mounting arm also affords a plenty of control over pitch and height, and a swiveling base makes turning the screen to the left or right a snap.

The L1730 can also rotate 90 degrees between landscape and portrait orientations. Unlike Eizo's L795, the L1730's portrait mode depends on third-party software or a graphics driver to rotate the desktop's orientation to match.

HP has endowed the L1730 with both VGA and DVI input ports. HP also includes a standard audio jack that hooks into the screen's speakers. The integrated speakers are adequate for the odd Windows sound here and there, but otherwise sound marginal when compared with even a low-end pair of standalone speakers. Of course, there's no rule saying you have to use the screen's speakers.

The L1730 has only four front panel buttons, which limits what a user can do with the panel without diving into the on-screen display.

Fortunately, the OSD is simple and easy to use. Heck, it even looks spiffy when OSD translucency is turned up. Apart from the nifty translucency effect, the L1730 serves up brightness, contrast, color temperature, and RGB levels for DVI connections. The screen also offers position, phase, and clock control when using the VGA input.

Moving to warranties, the L1730 is covered for three years, which is pretty standard among the screens we're looking at today. The L1730 conforms to ISO's 13406-2 pixel defect thresholds for class II screens, which covers three dead pixels and seven sub-pixel defects for displays with a native resolution of 1280x1024. The ISO standard also covers screens with three or more sub-pixel defects in a 5x5 pixel block.