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HP DreamColor LP2480zx - 24in Professional LCD Monitor Review

Author	Andy Vandervell
Published	1st Apr 2009
Manufacturer	HP
Supplier	More Computers
Price	£1,733.98 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£1,994.08 (Inc VAT)
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Design
Features
Image Quality
Value
Overall

HP DreamColor LP2480zx - 24in Professional LCD Monitor

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Finished largely in a discreet charcoal black, save for a touch of silver on the base, the LP2480zw is every bit the industrial piece of design you might expect. Its stand and base are large and reassuringly secure, while there's a pleasing lack of clutter, with just an HP logo at the top, model number in the bottom left and OSD controls being the only permanent elements adorning the relatively slim bezel.

Being a professional display also ensures no lack of adjustability, something that's overlooked by far too many people - take a look at our Are You Sitting Comfortably? feature to find out why you should care. Built into the base is a swivel range of 45 degrees either side of centre, with other adjustments including tilt from minus five to 35 degrees, height adjustment with a ten centimetre range as well as a full 90 degree pivot.

This is basically all one could ask for and by and large it's an easy display to adjust. At the back there's a handle, which makes it easy to adjust the height as well move the unit from desk-to-desk. There's also a pleasing lack of irritating (and easy to lose) fastening pins, since there's a button operated lock mechanism should you need to lock the display and move it.

Putting the unit together is relatively straightforward, too. Out of the box all you need do is slide the display onto the stand mounting and away you go: no screws, no fuss. This also makes it easy to disassemble: just quickly slide across the locking wheel, hold down the base, and lift the display up by its handle. You can, of course, wall mount (or arm mount) the display using the standard VESA mounting as well.

All this flexibility is very welcome (not least demanded), but due to its conventional design the LP2480zx isn't as stable as, for example, the Eizo FlexScan HD2441HD we reviewed back in July 2007. That monitor's unusual sliding mechanism ensured it didn't wobble excessively whenever a desk was jolted. This might seem a trivial matter and the HP is much better than most in this regard, but anyone who has worked in a compact modern working environment will appreciate how easily the movement of other people can disturb your concentration. We'd add, too, that though the display is largely faultless in its ease of use, we did find the swivel mechanism a tad on the stiff side - an issue partly eased by the excellent wide viewing angles.

It's telling, though, that the nature of our complaints is so small, because in almost every respect the LP2480zx is beautifully put together. It might lack the superfluous style of Apple's LED monitors, but its combination of high quality plastics and intuitive design make it great to work with on a day-to-day basis - further enhancing its professional credentials.

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GherkinG said on 1st April 2009

Great review. If my design career takes off I might pick one up.

A little off topic, but: It really bugs me when I see the 'percent of NTSC colour gamut' s... more

Dianoda said on 1st April 2009

@ Klaus

The ATI HD4800 series supports 30-bit depth over DVI and DisplayPort...not sure about NVIDIA cards, but the very common HD4850 is quite affordable at US$135 ... more

FreQ said on 2nd April 2009

Sounds really nice...but this is professional level, which I think is out of most readers budget, including mine. It's nice to read about the cream of the crop, but I think th... more

Xiphias said on 5th April 2009

Klaus: Are most sRGB images not designed with 8-bit in mind? If that is the case then to display any wider gamut as well you'll need a higher bit-depth so you don't lose ... more

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