"Budget" Monoprice 27" IPS Display

D.T. · Jan 11, 2013

Saw this originally on The Loop, as a link to TheWireCutter who was reviewing some of the CES offerings this year. Apparently these generic Korean IPS displays when you can find them (in the US) are pretty good, just a question of features, and potentially dead pixels.

Well, Monoprice is offering the same, but with better quality control, and for those who haven't dealt with Monoprice (the ONLY place to buy cables, especially HDMI), they have really outstanding customer support.

Here's this comment on this new product:

For months, people who know whats up have been buying Cheap Korean 27-inch monitors because theyre made from the same panels as high end monitors. But for a third of the cost. Monoprice is selling 2560×1440 IPS monitors for $390, in that same spirit. They use the same LG panels as the 27-inch iMac (except Apple only takes the best; these are the rest), but Monoprice is offering a 1 year warranty and they check every panel for dead pixelsmost Korean monitors, which are imported or sold on ebay, dont do that by default.

They'll have a higher priced version with video scaling and more inputs (this is DVI only) in a few months, but I've never run a monitor at non native res, so I wouldn't worry about it.

While I don't doubt the flexibility, features (and beautiful design) is superior on an Apple 27" display (or even the Dell U27xx series), for people who are interested in just having a high resolution, no frills, 27" display, this seems like a pretty killer deal. Here's the product at Monoprice:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...cs_id=1130703&p_id=9579&seq=1&format=2&ref=cj

PatriotInvasion · Jan 11, 2013

Ehh, I suppose. But DVI only is weak and I'm of the mind that you get what you pay for.

$999 for a display you know you'll love or $390 for one that will kind of be an eyesore at your desk, and may clunk out causing you to have to replace it in a year and a half. Not to mention the resale value of the Apple display is WAY better.

In my experience going on-the-cheap just ends up costing you more in the long run. Life's too short. Toss the $999 on a credit card and be happy

----------

FYI

Apple Thunderbolt Display
Cost: $999
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $500
Actual cost: $499

Cheap Monoprice Display
Cost: $390
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $100 tops
Actual cost: $290

Factoring in resale value, the price gap isn't as large. In this example, is $200 worth not having the display you really want for the next 3 years? Up to you.

utekineir · Jan 11, 2013

PatriotInvasion said:
Ehh, I suppose. But DVI only is weak and I'm of the mind that you get what you pay for.

$999 for a display you know you'll love or $390 for one that will kind of be an eyesore at your desk, and may clunk out causing you to have to replace it in a year and a half. Not to mention the resale value of the Apple display is WAY better.

In my experience going on-the-cheap just ends up costing you more in the long run. Life's too short. Toss the $999 on a credit card and be happy

----------

FYI

Apple Thunderbolt Display
Cost: $999
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $500
Actual cost: $499

Cheap Monoprice Display
Cost: $390
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $100 tops
Actual cost: $290

Factoring in resale value, the price gap isn't as large. In this example, is $200 worth not having the display you really want for the next 3 years? Up to you.

Forgot to factor in credit card interest.

Murica'

JoeG4 · Jan 11, 2013

The flexibility isn't a plus on neither this nor the Apple display. That particular monitor (and a lot of the korean ones, actually) only has dual link DVI input. Apple's monitors either have thunderbolt or mini displayport, but not dual link DVI, HDMI, displayport, or any other interface.

Dell and Asus make similar quality LCDs that have all of those interfaces.. and probably better build quality. I know lol, not as pretty, but I've had a lot of defective apple displays.

PatriotInvasion · Jan 11, 2013

utekineir said:
Forgot to factor in credit card interest.

Murica'

Assuming he has to use a credit card.

utekineir · Jan 11, 2013

PatriotInvasion said:
Toss the $999 on a credit card and be happy

PatriotInvasion said:
Assuming he has to use a credit card.

iamsen47 · Jan 11, 2013

In Japan, credit card payments cleared within 2 months incur 0 interest.

In Singapore, many banks offer 0% interest for up to a year on large electronic purchases. The TBD is one of them.

Surely the great financial crackpot that is the US has similar deals.

LaazyEye · Jan 11, 2013

iamsen47 said:
In Japan, credit card payments cleared within 2 months incur 0 interest.

In Singapore, many banks offer 0% interest for up to a year on large electronic purchases. The TBD is one of them.

Surely the great financial crackpot that is the US has similar deals.

This is an unnecessary purchase, the best thing to do would be to save up (similar to a credit card but without the interest) or flat out buy (if you've got the income) and not even use a credit card to begin with.

PatriotInvasion · Jan 11, 2013

When I made the statement about the credit card, I wasn't suggesting using it and paying loads of interest over many months. If you can't pay off $999 over 1-3 months, then you shouldn't be buying a $999 computer monitor.

I didn't factor in interest in the cost breakdown because I figured it would be negligible.

utekineir · Jan 11, 2013

this forum is clearly serious business so i'll be serious.

use cc for extra warranty and cb, pay off monthly, don't buy what you cant pay off monthly, these things are obvious and shouldn't need stating to anyone that can afford a 1k monitor.

or support our economy, rack up debt over your head and enjoy the american way.

jedolley · Jan 11, 2013

PatriotInvasion said:
Ehh, I suppose. But DVI only is weak and I'm of the mind that you get what you pay for.

$999 for a display you know you'll love or $390 for one that will kind of be an eyesore at your desk, and may clunk out causing you to have to replace it in a year and a half. Not to mention the resale value of the Apple display is WAY better.

In my experience going on-the-cheap just ends up costing you more in the long run. Life's too short. Toss the $999 on a credit card and be happy

----------

FYI

Apple Thunderbolt Display
Cost: $999
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $500
Actual cost: $499

Cheap Monoprice Display
Cost: $390
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $100 tops
Actual cost: $290

Factoring in resale value, the price gap isn't as large. In this example, is $200 worth not having the display you really want for the next 3 years? Up to you.

You are assuming too much with the resale value. If we are talking about a TB display right now, then yes I can see easily getting $700+ on resale, but 3 years from now? That would also depend on what has changed... Would anyone be surprised if Apple released a thinner TB display with USB3 by the end of this year? How about a Retina TB display in the next couple years? Those changes alone would drive down the resale value of the current TB display dramatically.

Don't get me wrong, I love the TB display, but it has it's disadvantages and the Monoprice display is a decent offering at a great price (Heck you can have them dual screened for the price of one TBD).

CCT · Jan 11, 2013

jedolley said:
You are assuming too much with the resale value. If we are talking about a TB display right now, then yes I can see easily getting $700+ on resale, but 3 years from now? That would also depend on what has changed... Would anyone be surprised if Apple released a thinner TB display with USB3 by the end of this year? How about a Retina TB display in the next couple years? Those changes alone would drive down the resale value of the current TB display dramatically.

Don't get me wrong, I love the TB display, but it has it's disadvantages and the Monoprice display is a decent offering at a great price (Heck you can have them dual screened for the price of one TBD).

For a good comparison you can look at what the older displays are selling for on ebay. The 30" still sells for around 700 plus or minus for condition. Even some of the smaller older Apple Displays sell for a good amount of money.

fiddlestyx · Jan 11, 2013

PatriotInvasion said:
Ehh, I suppose. But DVI only is weak and I'm of the mind that you get what you pay for.

$999 for a display you know you'll love or $390 for one that will kind of be an eyesore at your desk, and may clunk out causing you to have to replace it in a year and a half. Not to mention the resale value of the Apple display is WAY better.

In my experience going on-the-cheap just ends up costing you more in the long run. Life's too short. Toss the $999 on a credit card and be happy

----------

FYI

Apple Thunderbolt Display
Cost: $999
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $500
Actual cost: $499

Cheap Monoprice Display
Cost: $390
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $100 tops
Actual cost: $290

Factoring in resale value, the price gap isn't as large. In this example, is $200 worth not having the display you really want for the next 3 years? Up to you.

But for a person not planning to sell their display in 3 years, what's the point of the resale value? If someone's looking for an IPS display on the cheap that's decent quality (assuming this based on most monoprice items) and aren't doing a lot of demanding work, it makes sense to purchase this monitor.

I'll be keeping tabs on it for the sake of curiosity.

jedolley · Jan 11, 2013

CCT said:
For a good comparison you can look at what the older displays are selling for on ebay. The 30" still sells for around 700 plus or minus for condition. Even some of the smaller older Apple Displays sell for a good amount of money.

You are referring to models that are out of production, so that is NOT a good comparison...

Let's assume that there is a new TBD this year that's thin and has USB 3.0 upgrade. That display would take over the $999 price point, shortly after that the refurbished versions would sell for around $899-$949. Any left over USB 2.0 TBD models would probably sell for around $799-$849 on Apple.com. This is the affect from one change is less than a year and we haven't even discussed possible "resale" for a USED model.

Staying with this assumption, we also know Apple is moving their displays towards Retina, and it's not too far out of the realm of thought that this could happen to the TBD in 3 years time. So, say they release a Retina TBD to replace the USB3 version in a couple years. The same price structure happens, but even more so IMO. I think Apple would still use similar pricing, but people would be less willing to pay $799-$849 for the USB3 version if they could get the Retina for $999. These changes could EASILY drive the "resale" value on a USED TBD (Current USB 2.0) well below $500.

Again, this is all speculation and the moral of this story is something like a display would be purchased in the now, and not the "what if" three years from now.

ybz90 · Jan 11, 2013

PatriotInvasion said:
Ehh, I suppose. But DVI only is weak and I'm of the mind that you get what you pay for.

$999 for a display you know you'll love or $390 for one that will kind of be an eyesore at your desk, and may clunk out causing you to have to replace it in a year and a half. Not to mention the resale value of the Apple display is WAY better.

In my experience going on-the-cheap just ends up costing you more in the long run. Life's too short. Toss the $999 on a credit card and be happy

----------

FYI

Apple Thunderbolt Display
Cost: $999
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $500
Actual cost: $499

Cheap Monoprice Display
Cost: $390
Estimated length of ownership: 3 years
Resale value after 3 years: $100 tops
Actual cost: $290

Factoring in resale value, the price gap isn't as large. In this example, is $200 worth not having the display you really want for the next 3 years? Up to you.

I don't think most people sell their displays within 3 years, if ever. They are likely kept well past the expiry of the machines that drive them.

mmomega · Jan 11, 2013

If you want it just buy it (the monoprice monitor)

if it craps out you can buy another one and still come out cheaper.
Supposedly it's the same actual panel as the TBolt Display.

Also I'd suggest seeing if you can find reviews on a non-apple related site then comparing with those of the Apple display.

ybz90 · Jan 11, 2013

All of these displays use the same panel as Apple, it's just the Korean ones get B+ and A- stock so they may or may not come with imperfections. Monoprice supposedly only sources A-, and at around $100 more than the Korean eBay ones, what you're really paying for is the Monoprice warranty.

I can speak to this as I own both the Apple Thunderbolt Display and a Korean-sourced Shimian model with the tempered glass. Though I love my ATD, I would not have bought it had I known about the Shimians (and co) beforehand. The price is just absurdly good and I cannot tell any difference in image quality, nor does the Korean one have any dead pixels. The only knocks against it are that there seem to be a few flecks of dust beneath the glass, the wobbly stand, and the DVI-only input -- a small price to pay when you're saving $600-700.

yegon · Jan 12, 2013

I use a cc for online purchases, silly not too, but I zero balance it every month. Never use it beyond my means. Fell into that trap in my younger years, really quite liberating being debt free (mortgage excepted), I highly recommend it if you have the option.

/moralising over

Heard a lot of good things about these Korean jobbies though, if I was constrained by budget I'd get one. Just have to know what you're buying into. Personally, I buy monitors like tv's, rarely and in the mid-high end range, keeping them for minimum 5+ years.

utekineir · Jan 12, 2013

since getting a laptop again the big draw to me of the tb display has been the integrated thunderbolt hub and mag safe plug.

Plugged into a desktop the appeal really wouldn't be there.

Tb hubs are $300 ish alone.

An extra charger for the house would be nearly $100 though unnecessary.

If the tb display had usb 3 i'd be on a refurb model like stink on a monkey.

JoeG4 · Jan 12, 2013

I'd buy one of those monoprice screens with a warranty maybe, but it's not the screen that concerns me! If you follow the threads on overclock.net, the more common failures are the ones where what I think is a power board inside the display fails and burns out. That, or it overheats, or they have issues with the power supply, or all of the above.

Oh yes, and since they're A-/B+ panels they might have uneven backlighting or some other color issue. OTOH, that happens with the other american brands too xD

thekev · Jan 12, 2013

PatriotInvasion said:
Factoring in resale value, the price gap isn't as large. In this example, is $200 worth not having the display you really want for the next 3 years? Up to you.

I would never suggest anyone count on a specific resale target as a given. They still need to find a buyer either in their market or move it via something like ebay. Purchasers on this site are somewhat conservative on how much they'll pay, as they know exactly what they're buying. Use is also a factor. After 3 years it could have a lot of life left or it could be ready for retirement, depending on the hours of stress placed upon it, and to a lesser degree backlight settings. Apple is the only one that hasn't reduced their prices from their initial points with this generation of 27 inchers. They did debut the thunderbolt display around the first round of price reductions from other brands. That obviously cost something to implement. Desktop displays have been pretty static, but if we see some major improvements, it could further displace the value here. I wouldn't count on anything above $500. I wouldn't even count on that given the number of broken Apple displays I've seen. I should clarify I've seen other failed displays as well.

shabbasuraj · Jan 19, 2013

These displays will also require a $69 adaptor (powered via usb) from monoprice if you wish to use it via mini displayport. So you need to add that to the price.

In the year 2016 a excellent condition used ATD will be about $500.

This is a fact.

truelies · Mar 1, 2013

Is this one H-ips or E-ips?

lixuelai · Mar 1, 2013

Ah-ips. Same as the ACD/ATD.

Giuly · Mar 1, 2013

On completely unrelated news, the first customers started to cry about almost brown yellowing on their Monoprice 27" IPS displays.

Seriously, Apple only takes the best off the production, and as all of you cry over yellowing, I assume that they started not only take As, but also Bs.
These here would be Cs and Ds then, and the replacement panels you buy off eBay from (dumpsters in) Shenzhen are Fs.

"Budget" Monoprice 27" IPS Display

macrumors G4

macrumors 68000

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68030

macrumors 68000

macrumors 6502

macrumors regular

macrumors regular

macrumors 68000

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68000

macrumors newbie

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68000

macrumors 6502a

macrumors demi-god

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68040

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68030

macrumors 604

macrumors regular

macrumors regular

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68040

Our Staff