[DEAD] great deal on a 32" LCD that works great for MAME

[RobotronNut]

[edited 1/30/2007] - price is now back up to $650 shipped.

newegg.com has the viewsonic N3251W 32" LCD TV on sale for $500 shipped, after rebate. i've been using this model with my mame system for a few wks now, and it has been working very well.

for TV and movies, it can't compete with higher-end units that cost twice the price, but you might find it acceptable, depending your expectations. for retro games, it's superb.

its native resolution is 1366x768. unlike many lower-end units, its scaling of low-res signals, like 640x480 and 800x600, is very good. it also has a 1:1 mode, so if you drive it from a DVI port thru a DVI-to-HDMI cable (i'm using monoprice item #2284), you will be directly addressing individual pixels.

this model has been around for a while; this is probably a model close-out sale. office depot had these at the same price a few days ago, and they sold out quickly. if you're interested in this one, you might want to jump on it quickly.

for more info, try searching for N3251W at www.avsforum.com in the LCD Flat Panel Displays area. (you need to register for free in order to be able to search.)

[Kremmit]

Wow, the reviews on Newegg's site really stink.

[fjl]

$600 bucks?

[RobotronNut]

Wow, the reviews on Newegg's site really stink.

read them all. the average rating out of 50 reviews is 4 stars out of 5. there are defintely some bad reports, but the research i've done indicates that this is typical in this price range. if you pick a higher-end brand, you'll have fewer horror stories, but you'll also pay quite a bit more.

my "other panel," for watching video, is a panasonic plasma, which i unreservedly recommend. i got this viewsonic as an inexpensive dedicated panel for mame. in that role, it's been doing very well so far...

caveat emptor.

$600 bucks?

that's before rebate. after rebate is $450 + $50 shipping = $500. this places it among the lowest-priced 32" LCDs.

[MiKman]

I would love to find a 27"-32" LCD TV that is NOT widescreen.  I think it would be slick to stick it in the cabinet and throw away the old CRT TV.

[fixedpigs]

and fill up the landfills with perfectly good televisions...!

hooray...!

[MiKman]

Well, not literally, I would swap it out with the 19" in the bedroom.  Then throw that one away 

Edit:
On a side note I saw Wal-Mart (In Canada) was selling 27" Sanyo TV's with component and svideo connections perfect for a cabinet with speakers on the bottom for $189.00 .  Anyhow seemed like a pretty decent deal to me for anyone looking to go that route.

[RobotronNut]

I would love to find a 27"-32" LCD TV that is NOT widescreen.  I think it would be slick to stick it in the cabinet and throw away the old CRT TV.

yeah, i looked quite a bit for a 4:3 aspect ratio plasma or LCD. you won't find one above 21".

[ChadTower]

Anything bigger than about 25" is way too big for a standup cab anyway.  You're too close to it.  It will not only make it weird to have to look back and forth but it will degrade video quality to expand it that much.

[RobotronNut]

Anything bigger than about 25" is way too big for a standup cab anyway.  You're too close to it.  It will not only make it weird to have to look back and forth but it will degrade video quality to expand it that much.

i'm not using a standup cab; i use a pedestal-mounted control panel, so i can adjust the distance from user to screen.

i just did some calculations:

  the 4:3 area in the middle of a 42" widescreen is equal to a 34.32" standard screen
  the 4:3 area in the middle of a 37" widescreen is equal to a 30.23" standard screen
  the 4:3 area in the middle of a 32" widescreen is equal to a 26.15" standard screen

so a 32" widescreen is just over your 25" size limit.

[ChadTower]

If kept at a pure 4:3.  At that point you're losing the advantage of the widescreen.  I know you won't find 4:3 LCDs in that size but maybe that's for the best in this case.