My Experience with QNIX 2710 27" 2560X1440
Purchased on Ebay from green-sum on December 15, and got it 3 days later (Canada) on December 18. I was really impressed by that - 1 day sooner then the earliest expected date (Dec 19-31 was the "range" given). I decided to purchase the QNIX QX2710 LED EvolutionⅡ 27" 2560x1440 monitor after much research (well, mainly decided to purchase one of the monitors from Korea in general - then narrowed it down to that). For just over $300 including shipping and a wave of great reviews there was no choice between spending over 2x to almost 3x for a major brand for this high resolution monitor.
I chose the matte screen (I was not even aware of tempered glass screens until I researched the Korean monitors) and my "version" of this monitor in general is bare bones (just a dual link DVI-D connection at the back & power & audio). It arrived in several layers of bubble wrap neatly taped over the main cardboard box which fits all the contents. After taking the bubble wrap sheets off, there was no signs of any marks or damage on the box itself - it was well protected.
Skipping to the unpacking, everything was as it should be... had all the contents (and a very handy adapter for converting the A/C male prongs to the North American standard. That saved the nuisance for having to source one out... but you can plug in your own standard power cable into the small transformer anyway. The screen itself was well protected with a heavy gauge plastic sheet covering it, and the bezels covered with easy peel-off wrapping. I was very impressed with the professional packaging - even slightly superior to the major brands in stores. The entire monitor was also additionally inside a clear plastic bag which was made to fit. I should also mention the screen rested snugly in styrofoam grips inside the box - I suppose that is expected however.
Everything was set up without a hitch and I was treated with a gorgeous 27" 2560x1440 display for the first time... it was just as good as I imagined it to be. I had it placed beside my 24" Samsung monitor I purchased the year before - there was hardly any difference in the display. I did slightly increase the brightness & gamma setting in my graphics card to match the Samsung exactly... whether it was "better" or "worse" is hard to say objectively... but I did it anyway for no particular practical reason. It was neat just to see that I could match it as I never have adjusted any part of my graphics/monitors before.
No dead pixels, No backlight bleed (well nothing that I could honestly point out anyway...) On the subject of dead pixels, due to increased DPI I would say that even if there were a few dead pixels it would have hardly mattered at all. It would be nearly undetectable even with solid colours (and I did have to go up quite close when I did my visual inspection to really check for any dead pixels). I would not have even cared if there were a few - under normal usage it would be invisible) I admit, I was very happy that were were none as a matter of principle.
The overall finish was great (the stand/monitor as a whole) and the quality is top grade. Yes, the stand support is *slightly* more flimsy then some major brands but not enough to matter at the least. It doesn't flex like a spring as one Phillips monitor stand did in a store. Compared to my 24" Samsung, the monitor is "thicker" by about 2.5x. That is not because it is thick by any means, but just because the Samsung is extremely thin... again this doesn't matter in the least - it actually looks really good from the side and back to be honest - a bit better then the pictures online portrayed it to be. AND it is still slim for screen standards (about 1").
I was considerably more impressed then expected (I was expected to be content)... to top if off the labels for the backlight brightness / volume / and power buttons were actually in English! (Which looking now you can just tell looking at the online pictures enlarged) This was good because they are visible from the front and I won't lie - labeling from an unknown language is annoying if visible. That was a really nice touch for me.
The way I see it, I saved myself around $500 to have a 2560x1440 monitor without an HDMI connection. (NOTE: you actually can get a version with extended inputs such as HDMI for a premium) I would not have gotten a monitor with this high resolution due to the exorbitantly high price. When I stumbled on the Korean market for these near the end of my research it provided a faint hope I might actually have one in reach - at least anytime soon. That truly did come to be and again (forgive the sentiments) I am almost blown away how well everything turned out. Excellent shipping (it was DHL which does seem to have overall negative reviews), excellent quality, no hassle, and beautiful price.
2560x1440 is a blessing for certain things where you need/benefit from a lot of real estate, heck I was not aware of anything past 1920x1080p until recent months. The text and everything is a bit smaller because of the increased DPI, but I don't see this as a disability - its all still very legible. I am off to give a 5 star rating to the seller on Ebay now and I thank everyone (in other forums as well) for giving great insight to the Korean market for monitors.
On a final note, there is one problem with this monitor... I almost want to get another one! (Have to try and suppress the thought... 1920x1080 is plenty for the use on my 2nd computer) We'll see in a few months. Then again that is the computer I play games on (although infrequent)... might not know what I'm missing.
I'll add in this last thing... at 27" (sitting from typical distances of computer screens) that is about as close to the largest size screen without needing to move your head around to look at all sides of the screen... and at 2560x1440 that is just about the limit of reasonable viewing size... quite the perfect/ultimate combination.
OVERALL RATING OF THIS MONITOR: 9/10
OVERALL RATING FACTORING IN RELATIVE PRICE: 10/10