When building a new PC we all want the same thing; the largest monitor we can get. The monitor is one of the most essential components of any computer, as it’s what we watch videos on, play PC games on, and it’s how we interact with our PCs.
Not to be confused with the HP Pavilion laptop, today I will be reviewing the HP Pavilion 27xi monitor, which was generously provided by HP. Throughout the review I will be discussing the following topics: Unboxing, Picture Quality and Features, Design, the monitor Specifications and finally my final thoughts about the monitor.
Figure 1 – Front face of the monitor
Unboxing the monitor
The monitor is shipped in a standard HP shipping box with two hard Styrofoam place holders that protect the monitor during shipping. After you have stopped gazing over the magnificent size of the monitor, you’ll find the monitor’s power cable, a DVI and VGA display cable, and the plastic monitor stand. Also included is the standard documentation that comes with any product.
I would like to have seen HP include an HDMI cable with the monitor and leave out the VGA; more than likely a person spending $300 ( www.hp.com) on a monitor will not be using a graphics card with a VGA port on it.
One small disappointment is the monitor’s power brick/cable. The cable is very short, therefore forcing users to place the somewhat large power brick on the same stand as the monitor itself. HP should definitely reconsider the length of the cable.
Figure 2 – Monitor Design
Picture Quality and Features
I think it is safe to say that we all want the biggest monitor size we can get; we also want the best picture quality we can get. With its 27inch, IPS (In Plane Switching) LCD Panel, and 1920 x 1080 resolution, the picture quality doesn’t get much better than this.
Throughout my testing I used an HDMI cable, and the picture quality on both an HP DV7 laptop and Acer Chromebook looked flawless. Even the Chromebook’s HDMI output had zero display issues when using the monitor.
The monitor’s IPS panel offers some of the best viewing angles imaginable. With viewing angles reaching 178 degrees in both horizontal and vertical, viewing from the side of the monitor still allows you to capture what is being displayed on the monitor. An IPS panel is the finest type of panel a monitor can currently support, and truly improves this monitors representations.
For example, when watching YouTube videos at Full HD the colors are crisp, and black levels are pleasing. One thing to note is that the farther away you are, the better the picture; sitting close to the monitor might allow your eyes to see the pixels on the display making some movies difficult to watch. Since this will most likely be used as a monitor and not TV, this could become an issue for some desks.
In regards to gaming on the 27xi, colors look great and vibrant. Gamers may find that there is a slow response time at 7ms. However, slow pace games such as World of Tanks allows the monitor to handle them with ease.
Finally, there is HP’s onscreen display which provides six presets to help customers get a better picture quality on a certain task, whether that is watching movies, gaming or web browsing. With the option to choose Enhance+, Movie, Gaming, Text, Photo, and custom, I found that most of the time I stayed on the default, Enhance+. There are also options for changing the RGB settings.
Design
With the Pavilion’s edge-to-edge display the total bezel measurements are 0.5 inches while the entire chassis only measures 24.5 inches. Along with its .5 inch thickness, the monitor looks stunning on top of any surface.
With the attractive, albeit plastic, stand the monitor sits firm and stable. However, for $300 I would have preferred a metal or aluminum stand to ensure that the monitor is protected.
Another design that I absolutely love is that menu buttons are capacitive with an LED backlight, and completely disappear when not in use, removing any annoying lights or unappealing menu stickers from the monitor completely.
Figure 3 – Monitor I/O
Specifications
The 27xi’s eco-friendly monitor uses an average of 20 watts of power while in use, making this monitor one of the most eco-friendly on the market.
Here is a full list of the monitor’s specifications:
Full HP Data Sheet here.
Diagonal Screen Size: 27 inches
Landscape/Portrait Pivot: No
Native Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Supported Video Formats: 1080p
Widescreen: Yes
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Video Inputs: DVI, HDMI
PC Interfaces: Analog VGA, Digital (DVI-D), HDMI
Built-in TV Tuner: None
Pixel Response Time (Gray to Gray): 7 milliseconds
Rated Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Built-In Speakers: No
Pixel Refresh Rate Speed: 60Hz
Webcam: No
Stand Supplied: Yes
Stand: Tilt: Yes
Stand: Swivel: No
Stand: Height: No
Microphone: No
Height: 17.9 inches
Width: 24.9 inches
Depth: 7.5 inches
Weight: 11.6 lb.
Warranty Parts: 12 months
Warranty Labor: 12 months
Energy Star Compliance: Yes
Figure 4 – LED Menu Settings
Final Thoughts
My time with the HP Pavilion 27xi monitor has been an absolutely wonderful experience; so much so that I would even consider purchasing a unit myself. It should be noted that HP does have other sizes available for this monitor: 20”, 23”, 25”, and 27”. With the 20” starting at $209, the Pavilion monitor line will most definitely appeal to all PC builders. With its $300 price point I feel as if this monitor hits the sweet spot as the quality and picture blows the competition out of the water.
Buy it now:
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