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Budget 27" IPS Displays From Korea Are For Real

Posted by Soulskill on from the but-is-there-a-fruit-logo-on-the-back dept.

crookedvulture writes "Giant, high-resolution LCD monitors have been around for years, but they've always been prohibitively expensive. Good displays based on IPS panel technology command upwards of $700 for 27" models and closer to $1200 for 30-inchers. However, Korean vendors have started selling similar screens on eBay for roughly half the price. These off-brand models purportedly use the same panels as pricier alternatives, and in practice, they appear to be nearly as good. There are some caveats, of course. The number of inputs may small, HDCP support isn't guaranteed, and user controls can be limited. Those may be deal-breakers for some, but getting a 27", 2560x1440 IPS display for well under $400 will be a deal-maker for others."

3 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. sounds interesting by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Informative

    lack of hdcp support sounds GREAT to me. no license fee, no contribution to the bad ways via my purchase! no supporting a bad regime (hdcp) with my dollars.

    I watch using a pc and I never care about 'protected path' content. my dvd's are ripped and saved on a nas, drm-free. I could give a shit about hdcp!

    sign me up!

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  2. I bought one 4 months ago! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yep they are for real. Sold on Ebay mostly. You can read all about people's buying and ordering experiences at overclock.net:
    http://www.overclock.net/t/1232496/crossover-27q-led-led-p-27m-led-2720mdp-gold-led-monitor-club/1800

    My experience:
    1) Bought a Crossover 27" IPS with swivel stand from S. Korea over ebay - $420 (Canadian) shipping included
    2) Arrived in 3 days in Canada from Korea (If only Canada Post was that efficient)
    3) Seller filled out customs form saying it was worth $150, I paid next to nothing in duty fees.
    4) Monitor is freakin' awesome in display quality
    5) Had 1 red stuck pixel that shows up in black background, but that you won't even notice unless you go hunting for it.
    6) Monitor has no warranty, but at less than 50% of the cost, it's a risk you take. That said, seller did say he'd take it back if there was a serious defect/damage in shipping.
    7) The IPS panel is the same one they put into Apple's 27" Cinema display, but didn't make the cut for some reason. I can't see anything wrong with it.
    8) WARNING: There are practically no button controls on the monitor. Only brightness up/down and on/off. That's it!
    9) The build quality of the 27" Crossover casing is superior to that of even Dell (read the forums above if you don't believe me). It is solid metal (not cheap plastic), and looks very stylish. That said, a word of warning, the monitor gets almost too hot in the back during hot summer days if I don't open the office window.

    For $500-$700 discount, I accept no warranty, slight overheating on hot days, 1 stuck pixel, and only 2 control buttons.

  3. Re:LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I bought a Yamakasi Catleap 27" screen from bigclothcraft on Ebay, $330 Australian dollars delivered to my door by courier. Took only about 4 days from Korea.
    I could not get the screen to work with either of my two PCs. I tried different DVI cables, different PCs, different video cards, no joy. All video cards detected the new screen, just nothing actually showed up on the screen. I eventually complained to bigclothcraft and they offered to pay for the return of the screen using their courier service account, which I thought was decent of them, however they did say that if it worked on arrival back in Korea they would charge me for the return courier service.
    I then had one last go at getting the screen to work, this time using their supplied DVI cable rather than my own cables I had been using up to this point. Somehow this disabled the video drivers for my card (NVidia GTX560) but at least the screen illuminated and showed a low-res image. After reloading the drivers for my video card, the screen worked. Absolutely gorgeous picture, colours are great, haven't noticed any dead pixels.
    Another oddity is that it will NOT work as a dual display, as soon as I have another screen plugged into my video card the Yamakasi goes blank. Since I only want a single display this is not an issue for me, but still it's a bit odd.
    Last gripe is that the base seems a bit plasticky and flimsy, but I can live with that.
    For way less than half the price of a 27" 2560x1440 bought locally, I am very happy with it, but be advised there are a few non-critical weird issues. YMMV.
    Cheers,
    John