HP 2711x

HP 2711x

Whether you're working with multi-page documents and spreadsheets or fragging your way to glory in the latest first person shooter, it's almost always better on a big screen. Enter the HP 2711x ($399.99 direct), a slender, 27-inch monitor that delivers good color and motion performance and is eco-friendly as well. However, you don't get many extras with this model, and it has grayscale and viewing angle issues. The 2711x's full HD (1920 x 1080) TN+ panel is enclosed in a one inch matte black cabinet with rounded corners and is framed by one inch glossy black bezels on the top and sides and a slightly wider (1.6 inch) bezel on the bottom. Thanks to the use of space saving LED backlighting, the 2711x is around 1.5-inches thinner than the comparably priced Sceptre X270 ($399 list, 3 stars), a CCFL backlit 27-inch monitor. The HP's lower bezel sports a small silver company logo and crisp white labeling for the four buttons located beneath its right side. There's also a blue backlit power indicator on the far right, just above the on/off switch. The 12 pound cabinet is ably supported by a matching rectangular base that provides 30-degrees of tilt adjustability but doesn't swivel or allow for height positioning. At the rear of the display are VGA, HDMI, and DVI video inputs, a selection that covers the most widely used video connection types.