The Name's Packard, Hewlett Packard

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A bit of a surprise was the appearance of HP’s new projector range, with the flagship ep9012 causing quite a stir. HP is marketing the ep9012 as a complete home cinema solution, and it’s not far from it.

As well as being a DLP based projector, the ep9012 has integrated stereo speakers, complete with a 30W subwoofer. But it’s the integrated DVD player that makes this a true all-in-one solution – although to be fair, we saw a similar unit from Relisys in the shape of the RHTP200 a couple of weeks back.

Despite the integrated DVD player, there’s a full array of connectors – S-Video, Composite Video, Component Video, DVI-I, Coaxial Digital, Optical Digital, Stereo Audio In and a headphone socket.

I have to say that I thought that the ep9012 looked like something out of a 1950s science fiction movie, but it’s at least good to see that HP is making an effort to design something for use in the home rather than the board room.

The other display product on show was a new consumer 23in widescreen LCD monitor. This slim and sleek display can manage an impressive resolution of 1,920 x 1,200, which gives you a stunning amount of desktop real estate. Of course, since a single link DVI connection can only manage a maximum resolution of 1,600 x 1,200, I imagine that you’ll have to use an analogue D-SUB connection to get the full resolution. This problem can be circumvented by using a dual-link DVI connection, but no one from HP could confirm if the f2304 was dual-link compatible – I’ll find out for sure when I get one of the screens in for review.

The f2304 has integrated stereo speakers mounted at each side along with inputs for DVI, D-SUB, Component Video and S-Video. Although not confirmed by HP, I would imagine that we’ll see the f2304 bundled with the Media Center m1000 Photosmart, for the ultimate home entertainment package.

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