Product Listing

HP 2310e Monitor - LED in Style

By Wong Casandra - 3 Aug 2010
Launch SRP: S$449

Design & Features

Modern and Decorative

 

Design

The HP 2310E, like most monitors, has been given a shimmering coat of glossy black on the front but sports a grey back and stand. The design of the monitor is charming to say the least, replacing the usual pointed edges and overtly rectangular frame with a rounded, friendlier and less intimidating set. The set is impressively thin especially when viewed from the side, aided by a slightly curved and smooth back - gone is the usual extra bulk that's found behind monitors, thanks to its slim LED backlights. The only drawback here is that the glossy front is a magnet for unsightly thumbprints. Besides the glossy finish of the bezel, the entire screen is also given a glossy treatment, so beware if you're one who is strictly looking for matte screens.

The rounded edges give the monitor a modern and decorative look.

We weren't exaggerating when we said that the monitor is thin. Very thin to be exact.

Nonetheless, the assembling process is simple but yet non-revolutionary: simply fasten the spine unto the base, twist the lock, and slide the spine into the assigned slot found at the bottom of the screen.

Remember to lock and latch the base after fastening the spine.

Next up, slide the spine along with the attached base gently into the back of the monitor.

On a side note, if you want to dismantle the spine from the monitor, simply press the button in the middle tightly to release it.

On the other hand, the setup is still simply wobbly, but it is nothing too disruptive. We were pleased that the monitor can be made to tilt back about 20 degrees, but we would have added bonus points for additional features like swivelling and height adjustments, which are increasingly getting commonplace in monitors.

With regards to navigation, the HP 2310E has done away with physical buttons, and instead incorporated a series of touch buttons on the bottom right. These buttons, save for the power button, are not visible and light up when touched. This definitely adds on to the simplistic, yet modern feel that HP opted in its design. Navigating through the interface is a smooth experience, with the controls responding adequately, without being annoyingly sensitive or slow. The controls are extremely easy to toggle, with symbols that are pretty much giveaway signs for their individual assigned purposes. A particular touch that we found useful was that you can simply swipe to decrease or increase your volume or to cycle through the options.

On lightly tapping the bottom right stretch, the 'inactive' control buttons will light up. Simply swipe to and fro the lines to adjust the volume or to cycle through settings. Otherwise, you can navigate with the increase/decrease buttons.

Connectivity wise, ports are lined up neatly behind, just above the spine of the standee. The usual suspects include: the AC power, HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort. For the uninitiated, the DisplayPort is a better option than DVI and VGA since it features higher resolution capabilities in addition to even carrying data signals. In the case of this monitor, there is however no tangible gains using a DisplayPort connection other than another input choice. Moreover, there's no headphone jack available on the monitor, so don't expect it to be able to mix-and-match signals on the DisplayPort interface to cater to your auditory needs directly from the monitor.

Below the HP logo, the ports are tucked compact and neat above the spine. Noticeably amiss is the extra bulk that houses CCFL backlights on traditional LCD monitors.

 

Features

The HP 2310E's GUI is extremely straightforward and simple, with three main control menus to choose from. From the left, the Source Control panel allows you to both manually choose which source you want the monitor to scan, and alternatively, allows you to assign a default source or auto-switch when a change is detected. Under its Quick View panel, the usual presets precede, including the Movie, Photo, Gaming, Text and Custom settings. The choice is up to you to decide which better complements your experience, but based on what we saw, both Movie and Gaming settings gave the brightest and most contrasted playback experience.

Lastly, the Main Menu bears the most 'meat' in terms of customization, and this is where you possibly might spend the most time in. Aside from the usual settings like Brightness, Contrast, Color, Sharpness, Dynamic Contrast Ratio and Image Control (9300K, 6500K, SRGB, Custom), there are tabs like the OSD Control that allow you to further customize even down to how you want your GUI to look like such as transparancy levels and position. To add on, the Management settings even allow you to toggle the monitor's power button LED and the rear HP logo on/off to either conserve as much power as possible or to give the monitor a more unpretentious look.

A simple and easy-to-use GUI awaits you on the HP 2310e. You can also choose to have your menu darker and to the right...

... or more transparent and in the middle - it's completely up to you.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
9.0
  • Design 9
  • Features 8.5
  • Performance 9
  • Value 8
The Good
Tasteful-looking design and simple navigational menu
Responsive touch controls
Good video playback performance and color reproduction
The Bad
Dynamic Contrast does not work smoothly
No swivel and height adjustment capabilities
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.