Monoprice has been a stalwart in the computer scene for ages. Originally a spot to buy inexpensive, but good quality cables and basic supplies, they are now offering far more options in more categories than ever before. I have purchased my fair share of cables from the place, but I have not limited myself to that. One product that comes to mind is one of their USB powered condenser microphones that has been in constant use for the past decade plus (and can be regularly seen on the PCPer Podcast). The company has a good reputation for a reason.
The basic premise of the company is to offer good quality products at very competitive prices. Sometimes their offerings are a little bare bones, without a great amount of aesthetics, or sorely lacking in RGB. This shouldn’t matter too much, because function certainly trumps form for the price points they are achieving. Monoprice is also not shy about addressing new markets when opportunities present themselves. Speakers and monitors are certainly two major product spaces where the product managers at Monoprice thought that they could provide a quality, no frills product that wouldn’t break the bank
Today we are looking at a new area that Monoprice is trying to address, and it is an interesting one that is somewhat far from the usual range of products they offer. Since covid hit and people relegated themselves to a life indoors for an uncertain amount of time, several genres of games started to come to the fore that were not as heavily exposed to the general populace. Sim racing was one of these. When we saw NASCAR sponsor virtual races with real drivers and extensive sim rigs, it soon brought on far higher prices and lower availability for all sim gear. Wheels and bases that had been on sale months before were now commanding prices well above MSRP.
To address this market Monoprice is introducing their wheel stand, the Dark Matter GT Foldable Racing Wheel Stand. This little number will set the consumer back around $153 US. While to those of us not entirely familiar with wheel stands or cockpits, this represents a very competitive and affordable price for a product that matches the specifications of much higher priced units from well-known brands.
