Soyo Topaz S 24" LCD $279 at Office Max

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: masterosok
Buddy of mine got one for his g/f and I ordered one today.. He got a mva panel from store.. I ordered mine over the phone due to a $40 coupon I received so what panel I get will the the luck of the draw.. hopefully I get the MVA...

If you get a TN, I'd suggest going to a local store and try to exchange for a P-MVA.
Difference is huge. I'm even bothered by the TN panel of my trusty 17" sometimes.

 

[petmilk]

OK....
I have found a MT-NI-DYLM24D6
SOYO Topaz S 24 LCD
6ms on box
$289.00

Are you giving this the 'good buy' sign or should I still hold out for the GW-PRLM24D4?

This will be my first LCD purchase and I want to do Photoshop quite a bit with it.

Thank you,
Petmilk

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: petmilk
OK....
I have found a MT-NI-DYLM24D6
SOYO Topaz S 24 LCD
6ms on box
$289.00

Are you giving this the 'good buy' sign or should I still hold out for the GW-PRLM24D4?

This will be my first LCD purchase and I want to do Photoshop quite a bit with it.

Thank you,
Petmilk

Definitely good buy if it's 6ms since it's the p-mva that's used in many 24" lcds, including the GW-PRLM24D4. The picture quality is great, though some that use photoshop and other imaging software prefer the expensive ips and uber-expensive asv panels.
IPS - expect to pay $600
ASV - umm... let me see other than Sharp (who doesn't make a 24"), I don't know if there's another one out there.
So other than monitors with a better Samsung or NEC panel, this is about the best you can do, picture-wise.

 

[jiffer]

Originally posted by: Moffat Cafe
RKS, There is another thing you could do. Buy it and off/on cover at home. If it is not what you want, return it.

You had better check their return policy before you do that. Their website states the following policy for online orders:

"Computers, PDA's, digital cameras, monitors, projectors or software can be returned for a complete refund if the item is in the original, unopened package. Defective items can be exchanged for an identical item only."

I don't have an OfficeMax receipt in front of me, but I think their return policy for items bought in their stores is even more strict. As I understand it, if you buy a monitor, you can exchange it if it's defective, but basically, once you buy a monitor [and open the box], you can't get your money back.

And by the way, I would not appreciate getting a monitor that someone had "looked at" if I were the next customer, so I don't think it would be fair for you to open the box and then re-seal it and claim that it had "never been opened".

 

[imported_tex]

Further research reveals 'most' of the Soyo 24" monitors are P-MVA panels (AUoptronics), with a 'small' number of TN (prob Samsung) and S-PVA (Samsung) panels.

How can I tell without Xray vision?
Again, assuming the boxes are correct:
6ms response time is an 8-bit P-MVA, or possibly a S-PVA panel

Anything else is a 6-bit TN panel.
5ms is most likely the same Samsung panel found in the Samsung 245 series.

If someone can do a survey of the numbers of 6ms vs. 5ms, 2ms boxes at OM we might have a fair sample of what 'most' means.

 

[Chunkee]

are the pva 6ms panels decent gamers as well?

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: Chunkee
are the pva 6ms panels decent gamers as well?

Any response time in the single digits is good for games. I'm not sure if there are many lcds today that aren't. Also, an item of interest is the 26" for $400.
link
The viewing angles are that of a VA panel, however a 2ms response time screams TN. It's too new that there's no way to determine just what panel it uses until someone buys one.

 

[Chunkee]

so..is this a poor deal if you get the TN panel?

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: Chunkee
so..is this a poor deal if you get the TN panel?

I didn't bite cause there was a chance of getting TN.

I want matching LCD's.

I'll just wait it out.. LCD Prices are always dropping.

 

[Fieryphoenix]

Originally posted by: Chunkee
are the pva 6ms panels decent gamers as well?

I have one with M-PVA... it is excellent for gaming.

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: Fieryphoenix

Originally posted by: Chunkee
are the pva 6ms panels decent gamers as well?

I have one with M-PVA... it is excellent for gaming.

You mean P-MVA. There's S-PVA, which is a slight improvement over P-MVA.

 

[KIAman]

I got one of these when officemax first started the whole Soyo 24" deal.

Great viewing angles, color and saturation (it comes overbright so you have to adjust a little).

Confirmed P-MVA and excellent for gaming.

 

[ThePhantom]

Just picked one up from my local OfficeMax today. Seems better for gaming than my other 22" TN panel.

 

[killster1]

so just curious and sure its posted 100 million times..but only draw back to TN is the viewing angle?

this isnt a problem with me but i can see if there is a group of people viewing the screen where it might be a issue.. the 22" TN's i have seem great and dont mind the color changing if im viewing it from 1' above the lcd

 

[ThePhantom]

Color reproduction is supposedly worse as well.

 

[Chunkee]

seems to have disappeared from the site...figures...crap o la

maybe i will get the 26 inch....nah

jC

 

[caddlad]

Picked up two today at OM. $25 coupon off the first one and $15 coupon off the second.

One is 3ms and the other 6ms. Both look fine and are def a lot of screen real estate for the money. They'll be used for autocad.

I picked up one when the first hit OM (was that Nov or Dec?) and have been loving it. Good gamer IMHO. I did upgrade the DVI cable to a Monster snagged off eBay.

Rick

 

[IamNotAPinata]

Originally posted by: caddlad
Picked up two today at OM. $25 coupon off the first one and $15 coupon off the second.

One is 3ms and the other 6ms. Both look fine and are def a lot of screen real estate for the money. They'll be used for autocad.

I picked up one when the first hit OM (was that Nov or Dec?) and have been loving it. Good gamer IMHO. I did upgrade the DVI cable to a Monster snagged off eBay.

Rick

Since you have both versions of this monitor, can you comment on their image quality? Do they look the same or does one look better than the other, any black lines, dead/stuck pixels etc.?

 

[caddlad]

No dead pixels or lines on either. I have an Ansel Adams scan as my wallpaper and my partner, still buzzed from the relentless push for the extended warranty by the OM manager, have an ahhhaa moment as the desktop loads. Turns out his dead pixels were flotsam and jetsam on the scanned print, autocad proved all pixels functioned. The margin must be thin on these, I've never seen such a push for the warranty plan. I about told her to STFU.

I 'm no connoisseur. We are upgrading from broken crt's, so if they don't cut out, or glitch, we're ecstatic.

I barely finished setting them up before deciding the weekend should start. I'll give the a closer eyeball on the side by side when I'm back in the office on Monday.

Rick

 

[Steve]

I bought the 6ms Topaz a couple of months ago and had it on for one day. Then a couple of weeks ago I delivered it to a friend who was interested in buying it. We set it up and played around with it for a bit, and noted some difficulty finding color/contrast/brightness settings that would work well for both computing (PhotoShop) and movies. But we left well enough alone.

The next day he called me to report that it had three lines of dead pixels going all the way across. Not just dead, but in fact shimmering. He boxed it up and brought it back to me, and I exchanged it at my local OM the next day (the effort in getting an exchange is a whole other story!).

I exchanged it for another 6ms box and have heard no reports of problems since then, but I'll ask him today or tomorrow if anything has gone wrong.

In the meantime, I did spring the extra $50 for the 2-year warranty, so I'm wondering if OM will start carrying the Prive series. If they do, should I try to seek an exchange for it?

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: Steve
In the meantime, I did spring the extra $50 for the 2-year warranty, so I'm wondering if OM will start carrying the Prive series. If they do, should I try to seek an exchange for it?

Yes? No? Anyone home?

 

[kabuki]

Just ordered 24" Soyo MT-GW-PRLM24D4 at computergeeks.com for $289.00 plus $15.00 shipping. I will repost when it arrives and tell you what I have found. It is >6ms, so I am counting on the 8mb screen.

Another thing I read about determining if the screen is 8mb is by the color rating. If it says 16.7 million you are safe, but if it says 16.5 or 16 million, or nothing at all then it is a TN screen.

 

[imported_tex]

Kabuki,

The 6ms response time panels are M-PVA (possibly S-PVA) and they are 8bit. The faster TN panels are 6bit -- I understand the new dithering allows for better colors. I can say the color quality of my unit (Soyo MT-GW-PRLM24D4) is significantly better than the Samsung 710N I have (TN).

 

[rushhound1]

Placed an order with Geeks this morning before they ran out again. The info in the site still states 6ms so hopefully I get the P-MVA panel.

 

[rushhound1]

Got mine from Geeks today. It did say 6ms on the box. Shows up as the M24E14. Not going to tear it open to find out if it is S-PVA or P-MVA. It was manufactured in 08-2007.

Very pleased so far! No dead pixels or buzzing noises.