Thank you, Linus Tech Tips Community

[moidave]

I am writing this message to thank the Linus Tech Tip community, give some feedback and not to ask questions, as I usually do. 

 

Long story short: thank you to all the community members who took the time to read my long posts with indecisive deliberations about a new monitor (this one is going to be quite long too). Many things you told me proved to be right on point. 

 

A few months back I received a 1080ti as a gift and decided it was time to upgrade my 9 year old 1200p acer monitor. I asked and read many things about resolution, IPS or TN, frequency, and adaptive sync technologies. Living in Japan made things slightly complicated as some brands are very hard or impossible to find (ViewSonic or AOC for instance) and the prices tend to be 20% or so higher than in the US. 

 

After much hesitation, I had set my mind on the acer xb281hk: 4k, 28inch, TN, gsync new for about 620$. Deep inside, I really wanted the X34 but it literally was double that price. I was still going to wait for November to purchase the monitor.

 

Last week, as I was browsing Yahoo Auction, the Japanese équivalent of eBay, which by the way does not exist in Japan. I found a used Asus PG27AQ: 27’, 4k, 60hz, IPS, gsync. It was said to be in great condition and the starting bid was 420$, less than half the retail price (about 1000$). I register, and bid, just to give it a shot. To my surprise, no one else did and I ended up winning the monitor at the original bidding price. 

 

I received it a few days ago, and the condition was indeed impeccable. All cables included, and protective film on the screen. 

 

I tried it on ME: andromeda side by side with my 1200p Non gsync TN, and while I had been skeptical of people praising IPS over TN, I found that IPS was indeed so much more beautiful. 

 

Everything was more vibrant, blacks were much darker, colors brighter. While I always thought my TN monitor had beautiful a picture, it was like i had been playing with an opaque film on the screen. 

 

Panning on Andromeda was also eye-opening. GSync did not make the game faster but without the constant stuttering, it was much smoother and pleasant, even with fps in the mid 40s. 

 

4K on the other hand is nice but I was expecting a bigger wow factor. I feel the community was right when they said that at 27 inch, 4k is mostly a gimmick. Yes, some details appear much clearer and everything feels sharper but I was a bit disappointed. However, these are my very first impressions on a monitor I will probably use many years. I am sure I will get to grow fond of it. 

 

Other pleasant surprise, turning down the in-game resolution to 1440p, I find it slightly less sharp but certainly not as atrocious as I had heard. As It is my backup solution for when my 1080ti will not be able to deal with 4k in a few years, it was a relief. 

 

Overall, I think it is great deal for the price, even if I wish it were a 1440p 144hz rather than 4k 60hz, another thing the community was right about. 

 

Thanks again! 

 

David 

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

That's great to hear!

[Evolution.]

you're welcome, you are now obligated to bow down to me

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, VenomZ_ said:

you're welcome, you are now obligated to bow down to me

And in turn you are now obligated to bow down to me

[moidave]

2 hours ago, Abyss Gaming said:

And in turn you are now obligated to bow down to me

 

2 hours ago, VenomZ_ said:

you're welcome, you are now obligated to bow down to me

I respectfully and digitally bow to you.