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

[Jedi Mike]

After ten years using a 15" monitor to upgrade to a 24" is amazing. This monitor has been fine since I purchased it yesterday.

 

[ecove]

Saw this deal here on the forums and took the plunge - glad I did. Although I've only been using it for a few hours, it looks great: no dead pixels as far as I can see, no buzzing (yet), image is stellar. Really fast shipping, too.

 

[cytoSiN]

Jedi, ecove, notice any of the sparkling issues others have seen? What video cards you guys using? Thanks.

 

[tvarad]

The sparklies problem is really a video card/driver compatibility issue (as evidenced by the fact that BOTH of Lanyap's monitors exhibit the same behavior). Don't be scared out of buying this monitor if you really want it. The display is just sweet. It's probably the best bang-for-the-buck monitor deal going on right now.

 

[tvarad]

BTW Lanyap, does your video card have enough memory to run a monitor at 1920x1200 resolution?

 

[Jedi Mike]

Since I'm getting back around to updating my computer with parts - hence from 15" to 24", I will probably get a new video card soon, but I'm running a Geforce FX 5200 128mb card right now. So far no problems running video's and just basic use. This weekend I have free time to try and do more with it.

 

[ecove]

No sparkling, cytoSiN, the monitor appears perfect. Using an X1950XT.

 

[cytoSiN]

Thanks guys. Local OM has 8 of these things, so I'm going to stop by tomorrow and check them out in-store and hopefully pick the best one...

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: tvarad
BTW Lanyap, does your video card have enough memory to run a monitor at 1920x1200 resolution?

i been out of the loop in terms of hardware for a while. how much memory should a video card have to run 1920x1200? i recall back in the day that video card memory mattered when running games at higher res, but never really gave much thought about video card memory and windows res.

my soyo is connected to my powerbook, which has either 64mb or 128mb of video memory. the video chipset is ati 9700 (pro?).

 

[crimson117]

I run WoW at 1600x1200 with 256mb of ram on a 6800GT.

256mb should be your minimum, but don't get fooled by a really crappy card that has a ton of ram but no real power (GeForce 7300 512mb, for example).

More video ram means more memory for textures etc when playing games. But it's meaningless when the GPU can't push that many pixels in the first place.

 

[Lanyap]

Originally posted by: xtknight
Are you sure that's due to the monitor? Have you tried another monitor? That really looks like a video codec problem to me since I had something that looked exactly the same just a week ago. Reinstalling NVIDIA drivers fixed it for me.

Mine (due to codec issues) were also variable. They seemed to only occur on certain frames. Just FYI.

Yes, I tried another monitor. I have been using a Dell 2001FP running at 1600x1200/32/60 for a long time on this PC with no problems. I installed the latest nvidia drivers. Thanks.

Originally posted by: tvarad
The sparklies problem is really a video card/driver compatibility issue (as evidenced by the fact that BOTH of Lanyap's monitors exhibit the same behavior). Don't be scared out of buying this monitor if you really want it. The display is just sweet. It's probably the best bang-for-the-buck monitor deal going on right now.

Originally posted by: tvarad
BTW Lanyap, does your video card have enough memory to run a monitor at 1920x1200 resolution?

My first and second SOYO monitors exhibited different behaviors. If you look at the pics you can see the difference. I did notice that the box on the first one was crushed a little bit on the top corner so it might have fallen and caused my first problem.
First: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/L...p/Monitor_Pics_026.jpg (showed up everywhere most of the time)
Second: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/L...Monitor_Pics_2_002.jpg (showed up only in DVD movies)
As stated above, I have been running a Dell 2001FP LCD on this PC for several years and have not experienced these issues. I have a BFG 7800GT OC PCI-E with 256MB. Thanks.


I returned my second monitor yesterday for a refund. It appears that just a few of us are having this problem based on this thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2092540&enterthread=y

I would urge everyone to give their monitor a good workout and test as many scenarios as possible (e.g. text, DVD movies, games, etc.) I may try this monitor again if it comes back on sale. I should have a new PC built by then. It really is nice when you don't have problems. The regular desktop/text resolution quality is better than my 2001FP considering they are both 8-bit panels.

 

[cytoSiN]

Just picked one up today.

No dead/stuck pixels so far. F.E.A.R. looks great, will test other games this week.

DVDs and DIVX play well, no sparkling (although the comments about non-HD content on an HD panel are correct...they just don't look as good as they might/should). Using 8800GTS superclock at 1920x1200.

Glad I made this purchase...this thing looks way better than the 22" TN panels I've used.

I highly recommend it...:thumbsup:

 

[tvarad]

Lanyap,
I didn't mean to diss you, but have you tried swapping out your video card instead of the monitor to see if that made a difference? I have run movies (including 1080P hi-def content which is a real cpu/video resource hog), games etc. on my Everex XT5000t with a GeForce Go 7600 256MB with no problems whatsoever. Could it be that your card or driver is having trouble with this brand of monitor?

 

[jaarjaar]

I tried two different reps - they will not take a coupon with the 299 price..

 

[kmmatney]

Had this monitor for over 2 weeks, and have tested it in all sorts of different scenarios, and have been very happy with it. As other have said, this really looks a lot nicer than the previous 22" TN panel I owned.

 

[TmBlackFlag]

Here is my personal experience....

1st monitor - powered it on, black horizontal line about 6 inches from the top
2nd monitor - powered it on, nothing wrong, then horizontal black lines develops along the bottom 2 days later
3rd and final monitor - no problems, though if there is another I'm taking it back.

With OfficeMax's return policy you only get 14 days. I pray this one stays okay because the monitor looks great.

 

[Garfield3d]

I was able to buy this and apply the -$30 coupon with the help of a sympathetic Office Max manager. After tax, the price came out to roughly $292. It seems to be hit-and-miss with the managers. Some people have gotten it through okay, and others have not been so fortunate.

I have only been using this monitor for maybe a day now, and I have one awfully odd anomaly; it's most noticeable against a dark background (I noticed it while viewing http://www.hardforum.com and http://www.descentbb.net , two forums with grey/black backgrounds). Periodically, a pixel turns white for a split second before reverting back to a normal image. I thought I was being paranoid at first, but I literally stared at the screen doing absolutely nothing for a minute and on more than one occasion, I definitely saw a tiny pixel change to white for a very quick moment. Every time it happens, it seems to be only one pixel, and it doesn't happen at regular intervals (I would say anything from 5-25 seconds). Now I'm concerned as to whether or not I should return the monitor. After hearing about how some people are having wonky pixel problems in certain situations, I'm not so sure I can rest so easily at night. So far I've heard of: 1.) Crazy green pixels in dark areas of movies, 2.) Black horizontal lines crossing the screen, and 3.) Flickering Pixels. I suppose I'll have to play around with this for a week or two, and if things deteriorate, then I'll exchange it for another unit at Office Max.

I will say, though, that the panel is impressing my eyes. My eyes are not as discerning as a graphic designer or some of the more discriminating members of these forums, so my opinion comes mainly as a layman. The blacks look black. The colors seem to look nice. I certainly enjoy the extra space that comes with 24". The viewing angles are also much better than the 17" TN panel that I used in the past. There is some tinting when viewing from the side but the colors never really invert. Instead, they seem to turn slightly yellow and the colors lose some definition. In short, if the monitor can hold itself together, I like it.

--Garfield3d

 

[konakona]

GeForce 7300 512mb, for example

do they even make such wicked beasts?

in all seriousness, I joined the team soyo and in the middle of choosing the right video card to feed it with. I am getting convinced nothing short of 1950 pro would get you going for a while, though that is YMMV.

 

[isekii]

I just got done setting mine up.
Going from a 2005FPW to this 24" beast I don't notice much difference from it beside it being ginormous.

So far the colors have been fine after playing around with the settings and playing with the Nvidia settings.
I haven't tested a DVD yet, but i'll get to that later,

BeyondTV, Divx and such look all good tho. No Backlight bleeding. ( Not sure on the dead pixels ).
But so far so good.

I have to admit, this thing is really bright.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

I picked one of these up last week. So far, it's performed just fine -- with the exception that it has shown some brief artifacting after waking from sleep. Each time a quick cycling of the power has gotten rid of the artifacts. Moreover, the artifacting only happened when I had it connected to my Ubuntu box, and at that time I was having some issues with Compiz Fusion which prompted me to rebuild my system this weekend. I haven't seen the artifacts since then, leading me to believe that the artifacting wasn't necessarily an issue with the monitor.

It is indeed very bright. Certainly brighter than my Samsung Syncmaster 997DF CRT monitor on my WinXP box. DVDs look great on it. I've even installed my old TV tuner PCI card into the Ubuntu box with this monitor, so I can watch TV on this when I want to. Eventually, I want to get an HD tuner card and build a MythTV setup around it for my bedroom.

 

[dreddfunk]

Just as a heads-up for folks, I have had three of these and two of them demonstrated artifacts when 'waking up' from a low power mode and/or switching resolutions in a game (neverwinter nights 2).

As Garth points out, I've had success either power-cycling the monitor or simply switching resolution/color depth.

Thusfar, I've never experienced these artifacts when actually playing a game, movie, etc.

It's a strange beast that hasn't really impacted my enjoyment of the monitor thusfar.

I will say, however, that I don't think that this monitor may be suitable for hard-core gamers. I can see appreciable tearing in every game I play (Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2, Neverwinter Nights, Microsoft Flight Simulator). Even when FPS are above 60 and Vsync is enabled.

I'm not too bothered by it, but some may be.

Cheers.

 

[Shados]

I purchased this monitor 4 days ago. The panel itself is flawless, no dead/stuck pixels. I was using a Sharp 19 MVA, bought a 22 TN and took it back a day later, TN tears my eyes up being used to MVA.

The only thing that has me worried is that it gets very hot, along the top in the back where the vents are especially. I have it sitting in the open so airflow is not an issue. Does this monitor run hot by design? Those of you that have this monitor, do you notice it running hot? I will go by OM to see if their display model gets as hot as mine does.

Shados

 

[isekii]

my lcd doesn't suffer from artifacting at all.

it goes off every 15min of inactivity, and everytime it comes back on it's perfect.



this is on a EVGA 7900GS KO

 

[gigahertz20]

I've had mine for about 2 weeks now, runs fine, no artifacting or tearing or any problems.


The review somebody posted gave it a good rating as well...



http://benchmarkreviews.com/in...1&limit=1&limitstart=4

 

[ScottAIS]

I'm going back for my 2nd replacement today.. and then off to something else if this one doesn't work out.

Great panel but the first one suffered from the black line across the top of the screen about 4" down. Replaced it and now the second one is showing increased artifacts daily. I thought it might be heat related so I put a small fan about 3' away to blow through the back end.. no luck.

I'm running a 256mb 6800GT and it has no problem pushing it otherwise. Hope I get lucky on the next one.