27" 2560x1440 IPS For Less than $400 shipped

[Patrick]

Not sure if everyone saw this but I ordered two Yamakasi Catleap Q270's off ebay. Less than $400 and allegedly the same LG 2560x1440 panel found in the 27" Apple/ Dell monitors. Received the monitors yesterday (took about four business days) but only opened one. That first one is flawless though with no dead pixels. Granted, warranty is not going to be great, and these are IPS and not either 3D or gaming panels, but for the price absolutely great. I think some have had issues so it is a gamble, but I hope to soon have both sitting on either side of my HP ZR30w.

Again: these come from international sellers in Korea and if you get a bad one, it will not be good, but for the price that gamble paid off for me (in the first of two tries.) Will post results from the second one next week.

 

[cactus]

Also a thread on OCN trying to get monitors similar to the 2B Q270s made again. The 2B version, current is 2C, of this monitor could hit 85Hz on AMD and 100Hz on Nvidia because of different controller board. The panels on all of these Korean screens are A/A- grade compared to A+ sold to Apple and Dell so higher chance of flaws. They all seem like a great deal though.

I personally am going to wait a little and see how the 2B remakes pan out, otherwise get the current Q270 or Crossover(slightly better stand for more money).

 

[unclerunkle]

Do keep us posted. I'm always interested in the international stuff as I'm a poor college student.

 

[Patrick]

My first one had one dead pixel. Is 2-3 pixels from the top and super tiny on this screen. Did not notice it for days since the top pixels are generally used for window borders and it is dark not stuck a certain color. I don't like dead pixels at all, but this was not bad. Still need to check the other.

 

[Patrick]

Looks like #2 is DOA... it gets detected, but a black screen. Even using the same cable as the first...

 

[unclerunkle]

That's too bad. Let us know please how the RMA process goes with the Ebay seller.

 

[unclerunkle]

Random thought...but give this a whirl to see if it resolves it. http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038525760&postcount=1151

 

[Patrick]

Good news and bad news... good news, the monitor now works. I had a quick look inside and something came loose. Took a screwdriver and about 7 minutes to fix. One dead pixel on the lower 25% of the monitor 6 or so pixels in (about the middle of the Google Chrome scroll bars at that resolution.) Really hard to spot these things with 3,686,400 pixels total.

Bad news, the Powercolor PCS+ HD6970 will not drive 2x 2560x1440 alongside a 2560x1600 monitor. I may go add an additional HD 5830 or something I have sitting around just to get more display room. Very annoying.

 

[cactus]

Sounds odd the 6970 disables the DL DVI when you are using the two DP. I had 4 monitors running off my 6950 but none were DL.

 

[Patrick]

Yea it seems like going several monitors beyond 1920x1080 creates problems. Wonder why no sites have mentioned this but there seem to be quite a few others that have experienced.

 

[Patrick]

Got it all working now! Pretty excited about this since my photoshop workflow just went from a single 24" 1920x1200 monitor (~2.3 million pixels) to 1x 30" 2560x1600 + 2x 27" 2560x1440 monitors for a total of about 11.5m pixels!

 

[wookienz]

I had 3x dell 2408 IPS panels until i tried to plug USB into hdmi and one went poof...alas down to 2! Havw you got arms for your monitors to get them off the desk?

 

[Jeggs101]

wookienz did you physically damage the socket? maybe try a different input?

 

[wookienz]

nah it is dead - doesnt turn on. Dell wont repair it, even if i pay them!

 

[PigLover]

Hey Patrick - I know this is an old thread, but are those Korean IPS monitors from fleabay still running happy? Was thinking of pickup up a pair of them and check to see how they last over 6 months or so.

Also, noticed Microcenter is carrying one for $399 that looks like yet another OEM of the same basic monitor: http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor. Might be worth it to have local service or replacement for DOA.

 

[mrkrad]

Hey Patrick - I know this is an old thread, but are those Korean IPS monitors from fleabay still running happy? Was thinking of pickup up a pair of them and check to see how they last over 6 months or so.

Also, noticed Microcenter is carrying one for $399 that looks like yet another OEM of the same basic monitor: http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor. Might be worth it to have local service or replacement for DOA.

or just ask a reseller buddy to get the huge discount on a real HP one (it's cheaper, and comes with 3/3/3 nbd on-site)

 

[Patrick]

Still running happy. I do use the 30" HP as my primary (center) workstation monitor though.

 

[odditory]

Also, noticed Microcenter is carrying one for $399 that looks like yet another OEM of the same basic monitor: http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor. Might be worth it to have local service or replacement for DOA.

Forget "local service", Microcenter won't care what happens to your monitor after the 30-day return window. And if one of the Korean shippers on ebay deliver a DOA monitor they do replace them based on the feedback I've read elsewhere.

I got the Yamakasi 2701 (roughly the same as a Catleap Q270) for around $300 about a month ago and couldn't be happier. Sold an old HP 30" monitor for $750 to pay for it. Extreme value for money.

green-sum and bigclothcraft are two trusted ebay sellers for these monitors.

And if you need a 120hz version for 120FPS gaming then there are options for that as well but get you into the $500 range.

 

[PigLover]

Thanks Odditory - exactly the kind of feedback I needed.

 

[wrigleyvillain]

Overlord Computer in California re-brands these and guarantees pixels plus provides a one-year warranty. Looks to be a little less than Microcenter plus more options. I believe they also have ones that can can "overclock" to 100Hz if not a little more.

More general info about these nice Korean displays at Overclock.net and TechPowerUp.