As promised we are now rolling out our new and highly demanded ‘top 3 recommended monitors’ feature. Given the range of PC Monitors available in the monitor shop we can understand how confusing it is – especially if you get conflicting advice from elsewhere about a particular panel. You need to decide on a screen size, a manufacturer, a particular aesthetic than appeals to you, connectivity, stand adjustability, panel type, price and many other factors and it can be a pretty overwhelming task. That’s why, in response to our recent poll, we are now rolling out the new recommended monitors feature for each manufacturer. If you can’t decide on a manufacturer you may want to take a look at the Top 10 Monitors section – but we certainly recommend you keep up to date with our personal screen recommendations. These are not just best sellers – they are monitors that we know offer you the best value for money and/or image quality. We will of course update the ‘top 3′ for each manufacturer just as we will update the ‘top 10′, periodically. Here is the list so far with more recommended monitors to follow from other manufacturers in the very near future:

Top 3 recommended Acer monitors:

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Current top 10 best selling PC monitors – highly recommended by professional and user reviews.

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#1: ViewSonic VX2250WM

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#2: HP 2010i

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#3: Samsung P2250

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#4: ASUS VW266H

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#5: Samsung P2450H

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#6: ASUS MS238H

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#7: ASUS VH198T

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#8: HP 2509m

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#9: ASUS VH236H

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#10: Samsung PX2370

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More…

We spend an awful lot of our time researching, reading about and testing various computer monitors from all different manufacturers. There is so much information to take in that we feel our heads spinning at times – so we can only imagine how confused some of our loyal PC Monitors readers must feel when presented with all this information. That’s why we’ve decided to start our new ‘monitor of the month’ campaign. Basically we pick a recently launched monitor (not necessarily launched this month, but in the past few months) that offers something exceptional – that little bit extra.

The August monitor of the month accolade goes to the Dell U2311H. The Dell UltraSharp U2311H has all of the usual features you’d expect from a modern monitor, including a ‘full HD’ (1920×1080) resolution and high brightness. Where it goes above and beyond, however, is the inclusion of IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology inside the panel. This provides superior colour accuracy and consistancy compared to the usual ‘TN (Twisted Nematic)’ panel technology. It also offers better viewing angles and often better contrast – the overall result is a better image on the screen. As well as delivering an exceptional image, the Dell U2311H is also highly adjustable offering height, pivot, swivel and tilt adjustment. When we first heard about the Dell U2311H (and its smaller but every bit as brilliant cousin, the Dell U2211H) and first saw their price range ($250-$300), we knew they would be winners. So far the indications are that the U2211H and U2311H are responsive enough to satisfy the needs of most gamers – this is often something that concerns people considering IPS computer monitors. We intend to review the Dell U2211H in the near future and find out for ourselves.

Dell U2311H - monitor of the month

And by this, we don’t mean it needs to correct its vision with a giant pair of spectacles. Dell are continuing to expand their already expansive range of UltraSharp IPS panels, this time with the more expensive (and potentially superior) H-IPS panel variety. The U3011 boasts a 30 inch LG-manufactured 10-bit H-IPS screen with a 2560×1600 resolution (yes – that’s 16:10, or 8:5 for the more mathematically sound), 370 cd/m2 brightness and 12-bit internal colour processing and each monitor comes individually factory calibrated. The response time is 7ms grey to grey, which may not sound like much – but the monitor probably includes Dell’s usual sound compensation algorithms so things should look pretty smooth. We don’t yet have a price (or picture) of this beast, but don’t expect it to come cheap. We will update you as soon as a picture and price becomes available. The Dell U3011 is currently slated for October release (subject to change).

Update: We have had significant feedback about the changes. There are many people who prefer the sidebar-style ‘search’ facility which is a little more compact and gives a rating if you hover over a product. It gives suggestions as you type, which is useful if you can only remember part of a monitor model or need further inspiration. Our recent changes have meant the removal of this facility on the monitor shop main page and manufacturer pages. Given this, we have placed the previous ‘search’ facility back on the monitor shop pages in lieu of the v2.1 facility. Features such as the ‘drop-down’ on all manufacturer pages and the monitor shop archive have received a positive response so they will most likely stay.

We have decided to take our monitor shop upgrades one step further from the recently announced v2.0. Although we refer to this update as v2.1, implying a minor change, the whole shop is now a lot more user friendly – allowing you to find the best computer monitors for your needs more easily. Some highlights of the new update includes:

- New search interface including an overall search on the main monitor shop page and various manufacturer-specific searches. The search is intelligent enough to allow keywords such as ‘LED’ and ’3D’ to be inputted to narrow the selection.  

- The monitor shop (main page) was becoming overcrowded with updates, so a seperate archive of older updates was created.

- Manufacturer ‘quick select’ drop-down feature has been added to all manufacturer-specific pages, allowing easier navigation between PC monitor manufacturers. 

- All manufacturer pages now include the ability to browse through all available monitors specific to that manufacturer, in addition to the recommendations which are categorised by screen size.

- Some manufactuers (such as Samsung) had a significant number of recommended 23 inch+ monitors (with more coming shortly, no doubt). We have split these into two seperate size categories of 23 inches and 24 inches+.

- Monitor Shop USA has undergone a complete overhaul with a new user interface and specific manufacturer sections.

We hope you like the changes and appreciate the enhanced user-friendly interface. If you have any concerns or questions, do not hesitate to contact PC Monitors and we will get back to you as soon as possible.