Has anyone had experience buying a budget Korean LED monitor on ebay this year? I'm in the market for a pair and I'm not sure which to get.

Achieva: ShiMian
QH270-LITE
QH270-IPSB
QH270-IPSBS
QH270-IPSMS
QH270-IPSTDP
QH270-IPSMDP
Yamakasi: Catleap
Q270 SE
Q270 Multi
Crossover
27Q LED
27Q-P LED
27M LED
PCBank
3View PB2700
Davi
D279SV-VGQ2

Reference:
http://techreport.com/review/23291/those-27-inch-ips-displays-from-korea-are-for-real

http://www.swiftworld.net/2012/04/14/budget-korean-27-ips-monitor-information-and-comparison-of-the-different-brands-and-models/

9/21/2012 2:24:33 PM

9/21/2012 2:55:10 PM

I bought one this year and it's pretty fucking awesome. I got one with antiglare too.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1225919/yamakasi-catleap-monitor-club/3700

most of them aren't led though

9/21/2012 3:24:19 PM

I wouldn't get an LED backlit one anyway.

The one I settled on (but ended up being handed a 30", so didn't order it) was a Davi branded monitor with a traditional CCFL backlight and dvi dual link inputs.

All these LED backlit ones are edge-lit arrays with horrific contrast ratios, light bleeding and halo effects. Also the prices on all of these monitors have crept up a LOT from the last time I looked. There were in the 230-380 dollar range, now they appear to 350-550 bucks (I guess since the early adopters took the risk and now people are looking for deals).

Regardless of which you buy, if any, ALWAYS get a perfect pixel one. Its generally a 20-30 dollar price premium, and you will regret not doing it.

Honestly I wouldn't buy any of these for more than $350 if you're doing anything other than gaming on them. The 27" Dell Ultrasharps are ~700 now, and I would expect them to fall to 600-650 this year. And if that happens, a 600 dollar U2711 is worth every cent over a 500 dollar Catleap.

9/21/2012 7:42:38 PM

i paid $373 shipped with a 3 year square trade warranty

9/21/2012 8:12:44 PM

I bought a QH270-LITE. It has no OSD or adjustable settings but it came perfectly calibrated and I'm thinking about picking up 2 more. The gloss finish is kind of annoying, but it's not horrible. I paid like $310 including the 3 year square trade warranty.

9/21/2012 9:06:25 PM

^ and ^ yeah the prices appear to have risen pretty dramatically for these panels since then. I was looking at 270-330 price range for pretty much all of the models back in the spring.

9/21/2012 10:20:52 PM

if you just want a cheap and simple display, then I wouldn't hesitate in getting one of these monitors, but if you need color accuracy, then I'd stick with manufacturers that pick from A+ panels and have more features; but that's paying a premium for a niche market.

The thing I hate about these monitors is all of the bitching and trolling in every LCD monitor thread on deal websites. Good value, yes. Don't need the people who bought the catnip monitors to be just as fanatical as apple douche bags for a "commodity" monitor.

9/22/2012 12:56:30 AM

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280928105274?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Only $5 more than I paid for mine. That one is the most stripped out version but I haven't missed anything except maybe the matte finish.

9/22/2012 11:30:25 AM

Just to note.

Some of the cheap models aren't HDCP compliant. If you plan on playing bluray content, it won't work right out of the box, so you'll need to make sure whatever catnip/sheman monitors have this if you want this feature; but its rare to not have HDCP compliant.

Even then, there's some 3rd party work around HDCP to get bluray content to play on non-HDCP monitors but its more trouble than its worth.

9/22/2012 4:36:17 PM

^^ That is very, tempting..

9/22/2012 11:21:27 PM

^^All of these monitors that have HDMI inputs are HDCP compliant. But very few do, most are just dual link DVI

9/25/2012 1:41:22 PM

Just bought this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236288

ASUS VS239H-P Black 23" 5ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1, IPS Panel for $169.99.

ASUS has a $10 rebate, and for today, newegg.com is offering a free $20 gift card with the purchase.

I can't justify spending $350+++ on a monitor right now. Perhaps soon in the future. There's already a few US based companies utilizing the same LG S-IPS panels, and they are pricing them in the same range as the Korean market. So you get domestic shipping and a 1 year warranty with the two companies I saw (one was Nixeus, the other I don't recall but they were cheaper starting at $329 for a base mode + $39 shipping). If you have any problems, it should be much easier to deal with a US based company than someone in Korea.


[Edited on October 10, 2012 at 9:04 PM. Reason : .]

10/10/2012 8:55:38 PM

don't matter if you have squaretrade warranty added. You deal with them if shit hits the fan on the cheap monitors.

10/11/2012 2:26:23 AM

^ That is true... $35 for 3 years is pretty good too.

[Edited on October 11, 2012 at 8:03 AM. Reason : .]

10/11/2012 8:02:55 AM

Damn I love my display.

I saw a 30" Dell unit that blew my mind the other day. $700 of what looked like never ending realestate. Just mind blowing.



[Edited on October 16, 2012 at 12:41 AM. Reason : .]

10/16/2012 12:40:22 AM