Long Review of Catleap + Video
review by
darkwizzie
The monitor can be bought from Ebay for $300. At that price, a 27 inch IPS display at 2560 x 1440 resolution is unheard of until now. The Shimian variety has a higher chance of failure and the Crossovers have a better stand but cost more. (For those that want height adjustable stand, Crossover is the way to go because it is only $35 more expensive and nets better build quality.)
At any rate, while there is a higher chance of failure (~87.7% of monitors received are good) versus the best brands, the slightly bumped up chance doesn't warrant buying another monitor. I highly recommend it. Shimians are at about ~81-82%, and Crossovers are ~88-89%. The top selling monitor on Newegg has ~89-90% of reviews at 4-5 eggs, in comparison. Not a very big jump in risk to go with Catleaps or Crossovers at all.
You will need a DVID cable (included) and a graphics card that supports DVID and the native resolution. Laptops won't work for this. To assemble the power brick, plug in a normal 3 prong power cable into the brick. Done deal.
Color is very good. This is a glossy display. There is no scalar so playing PS3 on this will be bad. No real OSD; any color adjustments may be done on the software level. Download calibration profile from the Catleap Club here on Overclock.net.
My monitor OC'ed to 65hz, although the super rare and limited edition 2b Catleaps went to 120hz, which gave much smoother motion and a slight advantage during games.
The warranty on these... you get a 1 year Squaretrade warranty, but shipping the monitor to them and back will cost half of the monitor. If it's DOA or horrible upon first use, you can demand a refund or a replacement from the seller provided the seller is a good seller. Bigclothcraft, Greensum, and Red-Cap are highly recommended. A 3 year warranty is available for about 45 dollars.
The Catleap is a true 8bit display, and it does not display 1.07 billion colors, so it is not suitable for professional image editing. But boy, the image is GREAT. It is very, very vibrant.
Those that want a matte display have to buy a Davi brand monitor instead.
Compared to other monitors out there:The monitor completely destroys the competition. See all those people loving their 23 inch TN panels at 1080p? They don't know what they are missing with this 1440p 27 inch IPS beast. The Dell offering costs more, and the anti-glare is infamous for being horrible. The input lag on the larger models is bad as well. The real sweat spot for quality 27 inch gaming/movie-watching is really in the Korean variety.
Buying tip: Buy from a top rated seller with a good dead pixel warranty, that includes a power brick that draws less power. Bricks that use too much power won't help anything and gives off way more heat. Also, 'pixel perfect' models I do not recommend. They are checked by software, and backlight bleed/stuck/nonbright dead pixels are not checked for at all.
Extra note: Those that want the multi version with the HDMI/etc need to buy the multi version at a higher price, and get a bit higher input lag. Either way, gaming is fine from reports of other owners.
Tempered glass is a cosmetic piece of glass added to the entire front of the monitor. I like the look.
SE version of the Catleap has no speakers, which I recommend instead of one with.
2703 version is newer than Q270 series. Only real improvement and difference in the stand is a bit better.
Don't forget to join the Catleap Club upon purchase at http://www.overclock.net/t/1225919/yamakasi-catleap-monitor-club
And to tally the result, whether you got a good or bad monitor at http://www.overclock.net/t/1215866/reviewed-400-2560x1440-ips-no-ag-90hz-achieva-shimian-qh270-and-catleap-q270
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Here is a video of me talking about the monitor.
ZIONFRANCO OWES ME A BEER! (And I say so towards the end because it is my duty to notify the world of this!)
Original pictures:
Zero dead pixels. Minimal lower right quadrant light bleeding. IPS glow not significant. No color problems.
Picture of bleed was taken in low-light conditions but bad camera made room look brighter. In fact, the lighting in the room was the same for picture 1 and 2.
Greensum sent non-tempered glass version instead of tempered version which I ordered.
Happy with purchase.
I recommend this monitor to other people if they want an awesome $300 monitor.
EDIT:
Nowadays Newegg is selling these monitors. Check if they have a better return policy! Also, Crossover's $330 monitor does not have height adjustibility, but their $400 does. You can get the cheaper one and install an aftermarket stand from Monoprice or somewhere. Qnix now has matte monitors.
Pros | Cons |
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VERY Cheap, Quality is very good | Marginally higher chance of failure |
Ratings