$299 for a 24" non-TN LCD monitor, no rebates

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:23 pm

That's right, $299 brand new. OfficeMax has brought back their amazingly hot instant savings deal.

The official link to Officemax can be found -here-, and jut search for Soyo if it doesn't come up immediately.

What's the catch? Why is this priced at or under the costs of many 22" TN's? Well, here you go -

1) It's made by Soyo, a company that rightly earned a bad name for itself back in the day by making low-quality motherboards and providing terrible customer service (if it provided any at all). It should be noted that their monitors have always been considered solid.

2) It's a "barebones" monitor. No extras, whatsoever. That means no HDMI, component, S-Video, memory card readers, USB hubs, etc.. Just DVI-D and VGA. Still, if someone is balking at paying around $600 for a non-TN 24" LCD and doesn't need those extras, this is an absolute steal.

3) Scan the net for discussions about it (this deal was also around a couple of weeks ago) and check out the review links listed below. Contained within them, you should find some comments about any technical issues that users may have run into. You may also find where it took someone with a screwdriver and Google skills to determine what type of panel it actually was (a P-MVA, although I wasn't the person who did it so I can't speak with 100% assuredness on this issue).

As an aside, many are considering this deal as a harbinger of price drops for 24" models. There seems to be an almost industry-wide refresh slated for November (think "holiday season"), and my best guess is you'll see considerable drops around then. It would make sense that Soyo is trynig to make a splash and recapture a little market share before that time comes around.

OfficeMax's specs (which shouldn't be taken as gospel, but they appear to be correct):

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

Here's a link to the monitor on Soyo's USA site.

Here's a link to an intro by 3DGameMan and his VIDEO REVIEW on YouTube.

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:46 am

I just thought I'd add on that if you buy the monitor at a brick & mortar OfficeMax, they offer a one year replacement for -any- damage (dead or stuck pixels, dropping it, pouring a drink into it, etc.) for $29.99

That might ease people's minds about buying an "off-brand" monitor like this.

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 7:33 am

Just bumping with a "going once, going twice ..." alert.

From all I can tell, it's a great monior as long as you don't need it for an XBox 360 or PS3.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:32 am

You bought this right? What do you think of it?

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:28 pm

I've got a follow-up promised on my system build AAR that I'll put up tonight, however as a preview I can safely say that it was a very well spent $300

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:51 am

Austin wrote:You bought this right? What do you think of it?

I bought it, and it's fantastic. Many thanks to Dan for giving me the heads up.

SlyFrog · Post by **SlyFrog** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:07 am

Looks like it is gone now, huh? I see the price is $399.

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:28 am

Glad to be of service, Fretmute! I love this monitor, as well

(although, I hate the stand).

SlyFrog - As for the deal, I'd suggest keeping my eyes on the advertisements when we draw closer to Thanksgiving. My guess is you'll see it drop down again around that time. That said, even at $399 I'd say it's more than a worthwhile investment unless you need to get an XBox 360 or PS3 hooked up to your monitor.

EDIT - just to let you know, their extended warranty pricing jumps up a bit once the sticker price hits $300 (which is another reason why the $299 price was such a great deal).

Papageno · Post by **Papageno** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:01 pm

So what does "non-TN" mean with regard to LCD monitors?

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:56 pm

Good question. The low-down on the key differences are as follows:

TN (Twisted Neumatic)
pros - cheap, fast response time, low input lag
cons - poor color reproduction and scaling, poor viewing angles, generally less brightness, unable to show the entire spectrum available to graphics cards (6-bit color, not the 8-bit)

MVA (the second generation versions are P- and A-)
pros - excellent colors, fast response time (original MVA screens were a hair slow), better viewing angles
cons - expensive, slightly higher input lag (a slight delay that hurts in FPS online games)

PVA (developed independently by Samsung, used on some of their larger monitors - these are similar to the 2nd gen MVA screens in what they offer but use a different technology to acheive it)
pros - excellent colors, fast response time, very high dynamic contrast (something of dubious measurement)
cons - expensive, slightly higher input lag (a slight delay that hurts in FPS online games)

IPS
pros - awesome color reproduction, excellent viewing angles
cons - 1st gen IPS had slow response times but second gen was just a hair under the average _VA screen, all generations are very expensive, input lag is moderate, slightly more eye strain

TN is most often used by "hardcore" gamers due to the advantages found in FPS gaming (they'll see movements about 5-10ms earlier than others might) and the low cost, but they fall well behind for practically all other uses including games which are more environmentally intensive like Oblivion, as well as DVD viewing.

Second generation VA monitors are almost as fast as TN's when it comes to response time (thereby avoiding ghosting) and just about else eolse better, but they still have the input lag issue which can occasionally bother a bunny-hopper in BF2142 and they usually (and rightly) cost considerably more.

S-IPS and AS-IPS models (the second and second+ generations for IPS) are absolutely fantastic monitors, but the costs are atrocious and are normally used by graphical artists and photographers.

Unless you're a big FPS gamer, I'd steer clear of TN's. If you're an all-around gamer, go for one of the second generation VA monitors. If you're as rich as Bill Gates, get an AS-IPS.

Papageno · Post by **Papageno** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:38 am

Do most vendors specify this stuff? All I ever see is "TFT" and LCD of course.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:14 am

Papageno wrote:Do most vendors specify this stuff? All I ever see is "TFT" and LCD of course.

Yeah. All those acronyms are new to me. I have no idea which of those categories my two LCDs fall into (one is a Samsung 26" TV/monitor that retailed two years ago for $1500, and the other is a $200 eMachines 19" LCD). My Samsung seems much more bright and vivid, but I have no idea why.

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:48 am

Unfortunately, not many vendors advertise panel type. Mostly, that's because they don't want people to readily know what's cheap and what's worthwhile - as long as it's vague, the pricing is to their advantage.

There are several locations online which will give you solid info on any given monitor (for example, the Anadtech forums have an LCD thread that I heartily recommend). You can usually pick apart the different models by viewing angles, but sometimes Newegg and in-store listings aren't the most accurate. I'd check legitimate documenting websites like Anandtech and others for more accurate info, and the manufacturer's website as well (they will sometimes post it, themselves).

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:52 am

I just thought I'd mention to people that it's back, again! (and still a great deal)