24" Soyo monitor

[unit416]

I realize this belongs in the monitor area but that forum doesn't get a lot of people viewing it. Office Max is offering a Soyo 24" widescreen LCD monitor for $299. I'm building my first MAME cab and am considering using this as the monitor. I don't want to spend the kind of money a real monitor would cost and while I want to have cabinet that has all the classic games I don't really care if the LCD doesn't have the classic look to it.  I would appreciate any input!

Here's the specs on it...

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

[rackoon]

I have played MAME on both LCD and regular monitors and a regular monitor is way better. It has more glow to the screen. If ya want to save some money use a TV. My 2 cents

[Hoopz]

* HooPZ pulls up some beer and snacks and waits for the fireworks

[polaris]

from what i understand you dont want a widescreen, youll just have a large area unused in horizontal games and a huge area unused in vertical games. as i understand it also, this limits you pretty much to a 21" screen as theyre not commonly bigger

[Dropkick_Wally]

There is a good reason Soyo monitors are so darn cheap.  I'm ashamed to say that I worked at a Best Buy for a few months and, in my experience, would never buy one of these monitors.  The two I took out of boxes were broken right away, and I've heard about others having them break shortly thereafter.  I've also heard that if you have to deal with the manufacturer to get them fixed it could be a while before you get it back.  The Soyo is a great deal if you don't have a problem with it working.  The price is fantastic, but it's a bit of a gamble.

My only thought is that if you're building the monitor into a cabinet, it would be pretty crappy to have to take it out because it's broken, or replace it with another monitor that has slightly different dimensions.  I've never built a cab, so maybe someone else can help out.  I would recommend to consider the size you'll be losing since it's widescreen as well.

I am by no means the authority on monitors, so do some research on the company and try and figure out if the reliability is a problem for you.  Also, maybe someone who has owned a soyo can chime in and give their experience.

[u_rebelscum]

170 degrees Horizontal, 160 degrees Vertical Viewing Angle

This can be bad.  You pretty much have to be straight on for good view.  For example, people of different heights might get better or worse view.

Only way to find out how bad/good is to test it yourself.  Remember in a cab, people at different heights will view the screen at different angles.


Also, the viewing angles hint that this type LCD (there's 4-6 different techs depending on where you draw the line) is the one that a bad pixel is bright red or green or blue.


But again, test it out.  Stat numbers are not good enough to know how good/bad a monitor really is.

[Anubis_au]

* HooPZ pulls up some beer and snacks and waits for the fireworks

HooPZ, our friend has not taken the bait... at least, not yet.

[Hoopz]

* HooPZ pulls up some beer and snacks and waits for the fireworks

HooPZ, our friend has not taken the bait... at least, not yet.

He's looking up the difference between "uniformed" and "uninformed".  Or, perhaps, taking a spelling class.   

[knave]

If I remember correctly a 24" widescreen monitor isn't going to get you a bigger viewing area than a 20" 4:3 monitor...Right?

[csa3d]

If I remember correctly a 24" widescreen monitor isn't going to get you a bigger viewing area than a 20" 4:3 monitor...Right?

Yes.. we just had this discussion [ulr=http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72495.msg748347#msg748347]over here[/url]
-csa

[unclet]

I would recommend looking in your local newspaper ads to find a nice 27" TV with SVideo out for about $40 to $70 only.  Keep the extra money or simply buy more arcade controls with the savings ...... trackball, spinner, Star Wars yoke, etc...   

Good luck

[SirPeale]

I realize this belongs in the monitor area but that forum doesn't get a lot of people viewing it.

I beg to differ.  But deals belong here.

[GAtekwriter]

Unit416,

I found myself in your situation just recently - debating over LCD versus monitor.  The issue at hand was that I wanted 4:3 screen ratio because a widescreen LCD was "wasted space" for a lot of games.  I tried Pac-Man and other vertical games on a 24" LCD and it just didn't look right.  I did manage to find a 21" LCD with 4:3 but it was over $350US.

I managed to find a 25" commercial-grade monitor for $25 on craigslist.com - the seller set it up and showed me the picture quality and the video inputs.  The thing is heavy, but after connecting my laptop to it and playing Pac-Man and some other vertical games on it, I was sold.

I know it sometimes can come down to a money issue, but I'm really glad I went monitor versus LCD now.

Jim