IT'S BACK 24" Soyo LCD for $299. @ Office Max is back

[nageov3t]

god damn you, ATHD... I bought this thing just now

I've been in the market for a new monitor for a couple months and was right about to buy a 22" for $230 when I saw this thread.

 

[Modular]

I'm torn...the deal on this thing is amazing, but it would be used for an HDTV. It just feels like it would be too small for that from 7-8 feet away.

 

[intogamer]

Let us know about your experience.

I shoved $420 for a Dell 2407wfp though, or else I would have bought this!

Black friday should be interesting as technology is pretty cheap right now. Maybe $200~ for 24" ?

 

[imported_Burkeman]

Bought one today - replacement for a great Samsung 215TW that I've had for a year or so. No bleed, no bad pixels - great for what I needed it for (Xbox 360 on VGA and computer on DVI)!

Great deal!

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: intogamer
Let us know about your experience.

will do.

my current monitor is a 19" lcd that I paid $700 for waaay back when (was my graduation present to myself when I graduated college) I'm expecting this 24" will be a significant upgrade.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Modular
I'm torn...the deal on this thing is amazing, but it would be used for an HDTV. It just feels like it would be too small for that from 7-8 feet away.

It is and I would get something with HDMI.

If you're looking for primarily an HDTV I would hold out for a 32" LCD but that's around $599 including HD tuner and HDMI.

 

[NFS4]

whoops, wrong thread

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: widefault
Already have two, if I had another coupon I'd really consider one more. Could be good for a bedroom HTPC setup.

That's exactly what I got one for, and it's marvelous. So far I've just been giving it SD programming from my MythTV computer, but my HDHomerun should arrive tomorrow.

DVD's already look amazing. I also ordered one of these so I can surf while reclining on the bed.

 

[iseestars]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: iseestars
I was wondering if anyone on here could comment about color ACCURACY on these things. I don't care if colors are "more vibrant" if they aren't true to color. I had a Samsung 40" 1080p lcd very briefly last year and the color were very vibrant but they were also very innacurate, especially on darks and skin tones. Call me a skeptic, but usually when one person says a cheap display (or even fancy displays sometimes) is "vibrant" it really means that the colors are oversaturated and will look good for cartoons and thing where color doesn't matter but terrible for darker parts of movies or for accurate colors. So can anybody who has this and really knows anything about color accuracy beyond "this looks cool my old display was smaller" comment? I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but most of the glowing comments on the various forums seem to just be from people who aren't sticklers for color and/or don't have experience or knowledge to compare it to other displays for color accuracy. I would be interested for anyone who does graphics to comment on this verse say a nice S-IPS panel like the 20" Dell 2007FPW. TIA, and not the Blood Diamond kind... lol

I think this is where "color calibration" comes in

Calibration is a wonderful thing, but it can only go so far. It can't turn a TN into a S-IPS, it can't turn a portable pocket projector into an infocus, and it can't turn a junk panel into a good one. Which is the reason I'm asking for someone who knows something about graphics/video who has this monitor to comment.

My first LCD was a junky 15" Envision LCD on sale and at that time I was amazed how bright it was and how much better it looked than a CRT. I soon grew out of it, partially because it was way to small and partially because the colors were awful and it was faded like hell. I feel from reading a lot of the comments on the different forums that a lot of people gawk at it cuz it's a 24" for under $300 and they haven't seen anything better than junky TN panels or the oldies where the image inverted if you looked at it remotely off-angle. I know these are supposed to be nice-looking monitors, but that doesn't mean the colors are accurate. And if they aren't, you can't just assume that you'll be able to calibrate it to fix it. Sometimes they just cut corners and don't calibrate and sometimes the panels aren't as good. You can't calibrate away a panel that has backlight bleed or a panel with artifacts/distortion, and in my experience you usually can't calibrate away all ills. Different quality panels display different percentages of the color gamut and different shades etc... white-black difference can be different.

So being a stickler for color accuracy, I would love to get this for such a cheap price, but not if the color is only stunning if you don't exactly care about color quality and accuracy. I don't mind calibrating things, but I like to know beforehand if it'll pay off before I waste the time doing it.

 

[mikecron]

Well put, iseestars. My wife and I do graphic and web design work (the former for her, the latter for me), and I just went to OfficeMax last night to buy five of these (all that they had). I've been looking to replace some of the aging displays in our office for a little while now.

They could only find one of them (no idea how 4 24" displays can get "lost"), so I took the one home and ordered the other 4. I've set it up on the wife's desk and calibrated it with our gretagMacbeth iOne device. I'm considering this a working "eval", but my initial impression is a decent one. It's not an S-IPS panel, for sure. Looking at it off-angle (horizontally or vertically) definitely shows some desaturation in the image, but it's nowhere near the outright inversion that a cheapie TN would create.

The iOne software indicated that there was a tiny bit of divergence in the color at high brightness (blue was a bit under, red a bit higher, if I recall), but we'll see if that affects our color workflow with respect to proofs and all that.

I really wish I had grabbed more than just 1 of those Acer AL2051W's back in August! I'll let you know what happens with our $1500 trial by fire.

It's also not a glossy panel, which I would have preferred for the light transmission (we don't have bright windows in the office, so glare isn't as much of a concern).

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: iseestars

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: iseestars
I was wondering if anyone on here could comment about color ACCURACY on these things. I don't care if colors are "more vibrant" if they aren't true to color. I had a Samsung 40" 1080p lcd very briefly last year and the color were very vibrant but they were also very innacurate, especially on darks and skin tones. Call me a skeptic, but usually when one person says a cheap display (or even fancy displays sometimes) is "vibrant" it really means that the colors are oversaturated and will look good for cartoons and thing where color doesn't matter but terrible for darker parts of movies or for accurate colors. So can anybody who has this and really knows anything about color accuracy beyond "this looks cool my old display was smaller" comment? I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but most of the glowing comments on the various forums seem to just be from people who aren't sticklers for color and/or don't have experience or knowledge to compare it to other displays for color accuracy. I would be interested for anyone who does graphics to comment on this verse say a nice S-IPS panel like the 20" Dell 2007FPW. TIA, and not the Blood Diamond kind... lol

I think this is where "color calibration" comes in

Calibration is a wonderful thing, but it can only go so far. It can't turn a TN into a S-IPS, it can't turn a portable pocket projector into an infocus, and it can't turn a junk panel into a good one. Which is the reason I'm asking for someone who knows something about graphics/video who has this monitor to comment.

My first LCD was a junky 15" Envision LCD on sale and at that time I was amazed how bright it was and how much better it looked than a CRT. I soon grew out of it, partially because it was way to small and partially because the colors were awful and it was faded like hell. I feel from reading a lot of the comments on the different forums that a lot of people gawk at it cuz it's a 24" for under $300 and they haven't seen anything better than junky TN panels or the oldies where the image inverted if you looked at it remotely off-angle. I know these are supposed to be nice-looking monitors, but that doesn't mean the colors are accurate. And if they aren't, you can't just assume that you'll be able to calibrate it to fix it. Sometimes they just cut corners and don't calibrate and sometimes the panels aren't as good. You can't calibrate away a panel that has backlight bleed or a panel with artifacts/distortion, and in my experience you usually can't calibrate away all ills. Different quality panels display different percentages of the color gamut and different shades etc... white-black difference can be different.

So being a stickler for color accuracy, I would love to get this for such a cheap price, but not if the color is only stunning if you don't exactly care about color quality and accuracy. I don't mind calibrating things, but I like to know beforehand if it'll pay off before I waste the time doing it.

You have two options. Go to office max and see for yourself. or find other user reviews. Have you tried google? Hardforum has a thread with it and a few pics. But honestly, I think you are looking for a perfect monitor which will not be found. Since anyone saying it has "good colors" means very little to you, then you will have to decide that for yourself. buy one, don't like it, return it. Good luck in your search.

 

[Garfield3d]

Does anyone have some advice on how to calibrate a monitor? Are there some easy-to-use test images out there, or any software that streamlines the process in color/brightness/contrast calibration?

After returning two monitors, I could almost swear that the third monitor looks a little different.

And another thing... how black is everyone's black? Rather, when the monitor is displaying black (such as the POST screen on boot up), is that hue and contrast as dark as when the screen is off? It feels like my third monitor isn't as dark, but I've toned down the settings to my original brightness already.

--Garfield3d

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: Garfield3d
Does anyone have some advice on how to calibrate a monitor? Are there some easy-to-use test images out there, or any software that streamlines the process in color/brightness/contrast calibration?

Get one of these:

http://www.colorvision.com/product-mc-s2e.php

After returning two monitors, I could almost swear that the third monitor looks a little different.

And another thing... how black is everyone's black? Rather, when the monitor is displaying black (such as the POST screen on boot up), is that hue and contrast as dark as when the screen is off? It feels like my third monitor isn't as dark, but I've toned down the settings to my original brightness already.

I'm comfortable with my SOYO's blacks, but just a quick test against the background from http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.com seems to show that it isn't quite as dark as when the screen is off. It's damn close, though, IMO.

 

[nageov3t]

ups won't deliver it unless I sign for it in person :|

 

[iseestars]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
You have two options. Go to office max and see for yourself. or find other user reviews. Have you tried google? Hardforum has a thread with it and a few pics. But honestly, I think you are looking for a perfect monitor which will not be found. Since anyone saying it has "good colors" means very little to you, then you will have to decide that for yourself. buy one, don't like it, return it. Good luck in your search.

Yes, I saw all that, but didn't see anyone give any technical analysis of it. And there didn't seem to be any great reviews for it talking about that kind of thing. Considering some people on other forums had 50% fail rate, I would think that it's a valid question to ask people who know a little something about their monitors whether or not the colors etc... were right to start out with and whether or not they REMAINED correct over time. The first I can do on my own by looking in a store, but I can't do the second without a significant time investment on it (which may not be worth it if it decides to start distorting colors on day 15 or 31 or whatever it is when you can no longer return it. Seems like most people commenting on this have only had it a couple months at most, which is why I'm trying to get some input from people who've had it for a bit longer.

 

[imported_skelly]

I bought the Soyo 24", had the sparkling dots, like flying over a big city at dusk and looking down at the lites! I called Soyo tech support,he recommended changing resolution settings then suggested returning it for exchange.Before doing that I tried a different DVI cable the
static dots were gone! Very happy with the monitor now.

 

[isekii]

I think a lot of the people with complaints are running A. running a card that can barely drive that resolution B. possible cable issues like the guy above mentions C. Driver issues.

 

[rugby]

I just got mine and hooked it up to my macbook pro. This is replacing a Dell 2005FPW and it is definitely not as bright and contrasted as the Dell. I calibrated it for about 15 minutes and it gets an official "not bad" from me. I can definitely use this on a daily basis and the extra real estate is wonderful. Unfortunately it doesn't have a USB hub in it so I need to go pick one up.

 

[gigahertz20]

The one I have exhibits some weird signs sometimes,


If I leave my computer on for a long time, the monitor will eventually go into screen saver mode and then shut off. When I come back and move the mouse to turn it back on, there are sparkling dots all over the monitor. I think they are mostly red and green but I can't remember. I just turn the monitor off and then turn it back on and the sparkling dots are gone. Only takes a few seconds to fix the problem, and it doesn't occur all the time but it's weird.


It's probably my fault though, I have it plugged into a DVI port on my Radeon 9700 Pro at 1920X1200 resolution, using the standard DVI cable that came with the monitor, and my video card drivers are one version behind the newest.


Once I get my new computer setup I'll see what happens....hopefully it doesn't still have these problems.

 

[nageov3t]

got mine today.

only fiddled with it for like 20 minutes before leaving for work, but I haven't noticed any problems so far.

it blows the 19" lcd that I paid $700 for a few years back out of the water.

my only real major annoyance is the fact that the "on" led is bright blue... maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine, but I really hate blue led's in any piece of electronics designed for home use, especially something like a monitor that will frequently be used in the dark. I'll probably end up putting a coat of black nail polish or two over the led just to dull the brightness.

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: loki8481
my only real major annoyance is the fact that the "on" led is bright blue... maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine, but I really hate blue led's in any piece of electronics designed for home use, especially something like a monitor that will frequently be used in the dark. I'll probably end up putting a coat of black nail polish or two over the led just to dull the brightness.

I don't mind the blue color but I do mind the LED's excessive brightness.

 

[brianmanahan]

Yeah, it can be bright. Try it at 10-15 bright, 45-55 contrast, with 36/36/36 RGB.

 

[Mac]

I am very interested in this deal but not sure if it works with my ATI All-in-Wonder 8500 AGP 128MB card. I can't find any information on whether my card will drive this monitor at the native 1900 X 1200 resolution. I posted over on the video card/graphics board but no responses. Will this monitor work or do I also need to factor in the cost of a new video card? I'm not into gaming anymore so what would be a good choice?

 

[rugby]

I decided to take mine back. Doing a side-by side comparison with my 2005FPW it looks like crap. I'd rather have a smaller monitor with a MUCH better PQ than a larger monitor.

 

[gedman]

I bought mine a month ago. The first one I got had the sparklies (sparkling dots) that other people have described above. I exchanged the monitor, and the second one has it too. The sparkling dots don't bother me much, and I can get rid of them by shutting off the monitor for a moment and then turning it back on. However, if anyone figures out how to get rid of the sparklies, please post here.

My video card is an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (AGP 8x / 256MB) running the latest drivers. I tried to tweak lots of settings using ATI's Catalyst Control Center, but nothing worked to stop the sparklies.

Gedman