Cheap 24" 1920x1200 monitor for the masses? ITS BACK!

[NoStateofMind]

I only hope it goes on sale again in a couple weeks.

 

[yungtah]

I tried to connect my Dishnetwork HD box to this monitor via a HDMI-to-DVI cable but it wouldn't display anything.
How can I get the monitor to display 720p or 1080i? Can anyone help please?

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: yungtah
I tried to connect my Dishnetwork HD box to this monitor via a HDMI-to-DVI cable but it wouldn't display anything.
How can I get the monitor to display 720p or 1080i? Can anyone help please?

Does your Dish network have an RGB connector you can try? Does the DVI work fine hooked up to a computer?

 

[Insomniator]

Ok well the first one i got online had a line of dead pix across the screen, but the picture was perfect color/contrast wise.

Exchanged it at the store and this screen is perfect, no dead pix at all, but something isnt right about the color.. it looks kinda
bright and washed out. I've been messing around with the settings for a while but cant seem to get it like the old one was.

This same thing happened with 2 Samsung 712n monitors.. both perfect screens but the second one we bought for another computer
just didn't have the same color quality.

Is this a panel issue or am I just not setting something correctly? I could definitely live with the way it is.. but its just not as crisp as the
one i returned..

 

[Zauber]

The first one I received had a horizontal line of dead pixels about 4 inches from the top completely across the screen. It was perfect otherwise. I returned it, and the replacement has been flawless.

 

[osage]

It is back again.

** Update 10-6-2007 **

Oct 7th thru Oct 13th
OfficeMax will once again have the Soyo 24" widescreen LCD for $299.00 OTD
check the usual places for any coupons that you can use to drop the price .

 

[Insomniator]

For 299, this is a great deal... I don't know if $500+ models have a much better looking picture, but coming from a run of the mill
samsung 17.. this is amazing.

For the first time HD content really looks like its worth the trouble to me.. ive seen 768 televisions and the few trailers i've downloaded
in 1080p are by far better. Its really opened my eyes.

Ok you dont get great features, but you get 24 inches of perfect (to my eyes) 1900x1200 resolution for 300 bucks!

 

[bigsnyder]

The westy 24" L2410NM is also on sale this week at Best Buy for $399. A good alternative to the Soyo if you need
the extra analog inputs.

 

[manimal]

I was about to get this monitor, but Office max's return policies are atrocious. I also called ahead and asked about the coupon thing but they refused to apply a coupon since its a a sale item. When retailers piss me off I usually dont buy the item out of spite, I know it only bothers and affects me but its the only recorse I have as a consumer.

 

[Toadster]

back online again

This deal has been around about every other week for the last 2 or 3 months. It is a p-mva panel which is 8 bit and considered better for colors and viewing angles then the more typical cheap tn panels.

Pros:
pmva 8 bit panel
very cheap
the images are amazing and are on the caliber of the much higher end screens
comes with vga and dvi cable (though some say dvi cable is low quality)

Cons:
a bit bulky bezel (who cares at this price)
lack of inputs other then vga and dvi
crappy speakers (just don't use them)
no HDCP support

reported quality issues:
some report defects associated with -
horizonal black line appearing
buzzing hum developing
green sparkling using dvd and playing movies
(be on the lookout for these)


It is recommended buyers get the squaretrade extended warranty or the Maxassurance warranty or atleast buy with a CC that extends the paltry 1 year Soyo warranty.



Specs:
* 24" Widescreen SXGA TFT LCD Display
* 1920 x 1200 Native Screen Resolution
* 1000:1 Contrast Ratio
* 6ms Response Time
* 500 nits Brightness
* 2 x 2 Watt Stereo Speakers
* 170 degrees Horizontal, 160 degrees Vertical Viewing Angle
* 40,000 Hour backlight lifespan (typical)
* 15-pin mini D-sub VGA and DVI-D connections
* AC 100-240 Volts, 60 / 50 Hz Voltage, 100 Watts (max) Power Consumption
* 1-Year Limited warranty on LCD, parts and labor. SOYO S.A.F.E. Program

 

[bigsnyder]

I should have asked this earlier: input variety aside, has anyone done a direct performance comparison to the L2410NM?

 

[Vandolf]

I got in on this deal a couple weeks ago. Using an old DVI cable I had lying around here the monitor looked fantastic...super bright, super sharp and no dead pixels or other anomalies at all. But after 1 day I started to see the random green and yellow sprinkles/sparkles on my desktop backround picture and while viewing DVD movies. If I played with the resolutions or turned it off for a while they would sometimes go away. But after coming out of a game or just randomly they would reappear.

So I swapped out the DVI cable and used the cheap DVI cable that came with the monitor. It's been a couple days now but so far so good. No sparkle sprinkle problems and everything looks great. I'm hoping the problem was indeed with the DVI cable but only time will tell.

I'm using a GeForce 6800GS with the latest drivers(09/17/07-- 6.14.11.6371) running 1920 by 1200 resolution and full hardware acceleration. I'll post back if any problems arise.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Well I finally got in on this deal.

Went to Office Max and looked at it there. The one on display was in a lower resolution and had two of the infamous black lines running across it. I knew when I got home it wouldn't look like that. So I bought it with the 1yr protection plan and came to about $350 after taxes.

Got home and set it up. In default settings this monitor rocks, I can only image how good it would look if I had it calibrated. Tested a 1080P sample and it looks much better htan my past LG 22". With the LG, you can see the "dithering" in action and it looked horrid. The Soyo did a much better job reproducing the colors but you can still see a slight "mud" to it. Not enough for me to warrant a return. So I decided to see what gaming would be like. Loaded up DOD:S and began playing. At native resolution 1920x1200 it looks sweet. I did notice a little bit of tearing and a bit of "jitter" , but again, not enough to warrant a return.After about 15 minutes of happy gaming, something bad happens. The infamous black line across the screen suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Thinking I may just need to power cycle it, I did, to no avail. So sadly this will have to go back. I don't think I want to play this type of panel lottery or any other for that matter, including time or gas so I guess I'm going to return this for a refund and get a westinghouse 24". For those who have only enough for this panel, I'm sure it will blow you away. It did me. I just don't have the time or patience to deal with it. Good luck and thanks for the heads up guys!

 

[WT]

Deal is alive once again starting tomorrow, 11/4. I'll be at the store as early as I can to snag one. Buying it with the OM CC deal which slices 10% off of the price, which I'll use towards the 2 year extended warranty.

 

[konakona]

I will be honest and reveal the problem I have been having, just occasionally.
Yeah, I got a taste of that green spot syndrome. Since I use my computer for viewing avi/mkv more than anything else, I tend to get this a tad more often than I would have imagined. Doesnt bother me much though, since all it takes is a swift power recycle. There was no guarantee that I was going to get a better one with a replacement hassle, so I just left it at that. Hope it doesnt get exacerbated any worse from now on.

 

[imported_Filbert]

My "sparkles" problem got worse and worse when I was frequently switching resolutions to play games. I switched my two SLI cards and haven't had as bad a "sparkles" problem now but then again I haven't been playing games as much recently.

 

[NoStateofMind]

The "sparkles" problem have been atributed to bad DVI cable. Many have bought a better quality one and experience no more problems.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
The "sparkles" problem have been atributed to bad DVI cable. Many have bought a better quality one and experience no more problems.

thats reassuring for sure. but I still wont buy it unless things get real bad
It only happens so often, I can deal with it. Thanks for heads up though.

One more thing... the initial charm of 1920x1200 has long since waned off; not only that it merely looks nothing more than the norm, I keep going back to the idea I had once when they had that 37'' westinghouse for $599 + shipping. When I first got the Soyo, one guy with a 55'' TV told me, you just cant have it big enough when it comes to displays, then I disagreed. Now I am starting to see that I was wrong. To think I was originally going for the 20'' NEC

 

[imported_Filbert]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
The "sparkles" problem have been atributed to bad DVI cable. Many have bought a better quality one and experience no more problems.

Really? Because I hooked my monitor with the same DVI cable to my dad's PC for a weekend and he told me he never experienced the anomalous pixels. Of course he isn't as heavy a user and doesn't often change resolutions.

 

[PowerRanger]

I've noticed I experience the "sparkles" issue if I use "the display's built in scaling", instead of "NVidia scaling". Also, Konakona, I agree. When I first got this panel I thought it was HUGE, and I thought that maybe I made a mistake, that I'll never get used to it. Well, now I'm used to it lol...and I think I'm craving for something bigger as well. Oh well...

 

[WT]

What do you guys use to calibrate yours ? I've using the following settings for manual until I find otherwise:

Brightness-22
Contrast-46
R-38
G-38
B-38
6500K color

 

[techgamer]

I cant decide on spending money on this soyo, the 24" westy for a little more, or a top quality 22" like the Samsung 226BW?

I have an 8800gt and i will be using it as a gaming lcd. thanks

 

[pm]

Yeah, I have the same problem, Techgamer. I'm on a 22" CRT and I've decided it's time to join the 21st century. But I am a gamer and I don't want ghosting, I want to be able to change the resolution down without it looking awful. I keep going back and forth between the 226BW and this Soyo. I'm not sure what to buy.

 

[Throckmorton]

8 bit color ftw!

 

[rstrohkirch]

Originally posted by: pm
Yeah, I have the same problem, Techgamer. I'm on a 22" CRT and I've decided it's time to join the 21st century. But I am a gamer and I don't want ghosting, I want to be able to change the resolution down without it looking awful. I keep going back and forth between the 226BW and this Soyo. I'm not sure what to buy.

I went from a pair of 19" Sony Trinitrons to the Soyo and I'm quite happy
The Soyo still looks rather good at 1680, anything below that is eh