News HP announces 30-incher

[WilHarris]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/09...ces_30-incher/

[Cthippo]

I'd like to be in the market for a 30" monitor, and if I were then I would prefer an HP over a Dell, but sadly I think a 24" is all my budget will allow.

[LoneArchon]

the extra dvi input could be worth $200. As a good DVI KVM cost around 200 and i haven't seen one that support greater than 1920x1200. As long as the input is switchable. I waiting till i get some real gaming horsepower before diving in to a 30". My 24" work just fine but i will aways want the biggest monitior

[jezmck]

Soon we'll be better off with mini projectors, or perhaps (3D) video glasses.

The LED which switches off after 15 seconds - pointless gimmick. If you get distracted by something like that you're never going to be able to watch anything. (Video players (etc) which have pointless moving graphics, they're worth getting rid of.)

[JADS]

More inputs please!

I'd like a couple of HDCP enabled DVI sockets, three HDMI sockets, component input, S-Video input and composite input (for those really ancient video recorders!).

Oh and 3840x2400 resolution as well wouldn't go amiss

[Paradigm Shifter]

If the specs are accurate, the extra DVI ports will be a big plus.

Still, I'm happy with my 2405 for the time being...

[Lazarus Dark]

Would you pay $200 for a couple more DVI inputs?

no, but i might consider it for hdcp, the only thing really lacking from the Dell. hdcp sucks, yea, but i think its too late to stop it and i don't want to get sued for breaking the hdcp on movies that i frickin OWN, so i'll try to stay legit.

[Tyinsar]

Would you pay $200 for a couple more DVI inputs?

No but then I won't be paying $2000 for a monitor anytime soon either. However, If I did, then it's only 10% more.

[Kipman725]

Can't afford it but the power button turning off is a cool feature as in the dark any eye level light annoys me greatly.

[Marquee]

Is there really a market for 30" screens for homes. Most 30" screen are for some sort of graphic work. If they can get the 30" screen to about $1500 then I will even get one.

[EQC]

Originally Posted by jazzle

The LED which switches off after 15 seconds - pointless gimmick...

Gonna have to disagree on that point.

My question is, why the heck does EVERYTHING have a constantly illuminated power LED? It practically seems like a fashion trend among electronics manufacturers to add this 'feature' that I doubt any consumer ever asked for. I don't think any older electronics (think TV's with a dial...or even many TV's from 10-15 years ago) had power indicators. So why does everything new have to have a little glowing light on it?

As for me, I've got my computer hooked up with a TV tuner and positioned at the foot of my bed. I like to watch as I go to sleep. It's not truly "distracting" but rather annoying that my monitor, my speakers, my printer if I don't turn it off, and even my mouse (a Microsoft Intellimouse with a permanently illuminated red 'tail light') have LEDs glowing at me that are brighter than the monitor itself, especiallyl during any sort of dark scene. Special emphasis on the "brighter than the monitor" part of that. Its even more annoying if I wake up in the middle of the night when the monitor is in standby mode -- my eyes are now used to total dark, and the orange standby LED on the monitor, the LED on the speakers, and the stupid mouse tail light now seem blinding.

Is there somebody in this world constantly confused about whether or not his speakers or monitor are turned on? "Hmm...I'm hearing sound and seeing video, but is it really on?" Not likely a problem for anybody. Maybe there could be some issue where you're not sure if your monitor is turned off or simply displaying a black screen...but in that rare case, it wouldn't cost the manufacturers anything to, say, put the power LED on the back or under a little plastic flap so that during the 99.999999% of the time when there is no confusion, the LED is not a glaring pointlessly at my face.

Anybody have any justification for having a power LED constantly illuminated and in plain sight?

[JaredC01]

My 3007WFP is already on its way, so it's a bit hard for me to switch over to an HP. Even if I had the option though, I wouldn't go with HP, simply due to their name. HP has gone to crap after joining up with Compaq IMO.

[EQC]

On another note...does anybody know why none of the 30" monitors have anything but DVI inputs?

I know VGA can't quite reach the full resolution of a 30" LCD...but smaller LCD monitors do just fine scaling up a low-res input (granted, it's a little blurry...but why limit choices for the consumer?). And why leave off the component/s-video/composite inputs? Maybe it saves a few dollars, but on a $2000 monitor, I'd kindof want the same number of features as the cheaper 20" and 24" monitors. Kindof strange when you think about it -- at least with Dell, when you move from 19" to 20", you get the S-video and Composite inputs. Move up to a 24" and you add the Card Reader and Component inputs. Move up from there to 30", and you lose all of those features (keep the card reader) as well as the VGA input that even the cheapest 15" monitor has. Just seems a bit strange to me to only be able to plug a relatively new computer into such an expensive monitor and not be able to dual-purpose it in any way.

[yahooadam]

on the dell 20" the VGA input can give flicker and such, i guess the problem just gets worse after that
Though a significant amount of gfx cards, and on-board gfx now use DVI - its been pretty standard for quite a few years now

[EQC]

yah...DVI is widely available and cheap, etc... and I don't really care about VGA anymore for that reason....but I do like the idea of using this 30" monitor to, say, watch some DVD's on a DVD player (if, say, the computer is busy doing something else). Or use it as the main video screen in my living room (for computer, tv (with an external tuner), vcr, dvd, whatever else).

A nice LCD monitor like this is big and has higher resolution (more future-proof?), and better specs (response time, contrast ratio, appearance, etc) than many HDTV's on the market -- why not allow it to be easily used for such purposes by giving it a few extra types of input?

Although I should admit: when I day "i'd like to use this for..." I really mean "if somebody gave it to me as a gift." My real hope is that after a few new 30" monitors come out, their prices will drop further, and keep pushing the price of the 24" monitors down to where I can justify purchasing one of those (say, in the $400 price range in a year or two) to use in my living room...hooked into the dvd player and as a secondary monitor for my tv-tuner equipped computer in the other room. Then I could get rid of the dusty old 19" CRT TV and dance around like a little elf.

[jezmck]

Originally Posted by EQC

Gonna have to disagree on that point...
...
...

..

I'm going to take it back, not because of your post, but because last night I was surprised by the exact problem you've mentioned - I was watching a video in a dark room and had tilted the monitor to where I was sitting and that little LED seemed to be focused directly on my retina.

Maybe it should just be frosted...

[Tyinsar]

Originally Posted by jazzle

I'm going to take it back, not because of your post, but because last night I was surprised by the exact problem you've mentioned - I was watching a video in a dark room and had tilted the monitor to where I was sitting and that little LED seemed to be focused directly on my retina.

Maybe it should just be frosted...

sorry that's just too funny. I dislike the fact that so many cases (especially HTPC cases) come with Super Bright blue lights. In some places it looks cool but in a bedroom or when watching a movie ... I applaud HP's decision to shut the light off after 15 seconds

[EQC]

Originally Posted by jazzle

I was watching a video in a dark room and had tilted the monitor to where I was sitting and that little LED seemed to be focused directly on my retina.

Maybe it should just be frosted...

Ha Ha...Glad I'm not the only one with electronics that happen to have such annoying design flaws. (I forgot to mention that the cheap-o keyboard I bought also has a Num-Lock LED that is so bright, if I'm in a dark room it lights up a 3' circle on the ceiling. Even with the lights on I can't put the thing on my lap or it blazes up right in my eye)

I could also do with a frosted look...or just a dimmer LED...or any other solution with some thought to it. Somebody needs to tell manufacturers that there's almost no benefit to these LED's but there's lots of potential problems that they aren't picking up on.

[jezmck]

bit of a revival, but...
simple solution to those bright LEDs (on the items we already have): put a tiny scrap of paper over it, just like you might put on a shaving cut, doesn't need glue, just a little bit of dampness (i.e. lick it).