All Desktops

The Bottom Line: By virtue of its price, its desktop processor, and its Blu-ray drive, the Sony Vaio JS190J makes a case for itself as the new king of the all-in-ones. Its screen might be a bit smaller than some, but no other all-in-one, including Apple's iMac, can do as much, as fast, for the same price.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0 GHz), 4 GB DDR II SDRAM, 500 GB Standard, 20.1 in, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Core 2 Duo, 1 year warranty, Max 2 x 2 GB module

The Bottom Line: The Acer Aspire X1200-U1520A is a speedy, compact, low-end desktop that's powerful enough to serve as a light-duty home theater PC. Expansion is limited by an especially cramped interior (even for a small PC), but the total package is worthwhile for PC shoppers on a budget.

Specs: AMD Athlon X2 5000+ (2.6 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Desktop slimline, Athlon X2, 1 year warranty, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: At its heart, the HP Pavilion Elite m9300t is a fast, competitive midtower desktop with lots of flexibility in its configuration. You just have to wade through some clunky design and a few components you might not want in order to find it.

Specs: Intel Q6600 (2.4 GHz), 2 GB DDR II SDRAM, 500 GB Standard, Microsoft Windows Vista, 800 MHz, 512 MB

The Bottom Line: The eMachines W3653 is a budget desktop computer that also includes an LCD. Because of the bundled display, this system ends up with an inflated price tag. We'd highly recommend you shop for a standalone low-end system instead.

Specs: Intel Celeron Dual Core E1200 (1.6 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, 17 in, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Tower, 667 MHz, Celeron Dual Core, 1 year warranty, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Apple's smaller-scale iMac remains our favorite all-in-one. And while its looks, its ease of use, and its performance are all selling points, Windows PCs are starting to catch up (at least with the latter). A few components could also stand an update, but in general you'll find the 20-inch iMac a remarkable computer for its price.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250 GB Standard, 20 in, EPA Energy Star, Apple MacOS X 10.5, All-in-one, 800 MHz, Core 2 Duo, 1 year warranty, Personal computer, 128 MB

The Bottom Line: We can forgive Gateway for cramming the DX4200 with more memory than it needs simply because its specs and overall performance are the best in its price class. Of the various do-it-all lower midrange PCs out there, this one gets our nod.

Specs: AMD Phenom X4 9550 (2.2 GHz), 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Tower, 667 MHz, Phenom X4, 1 year warranty, Personal computer, 256 MB

The Bottom Line: The Gateway GT5692 is a reliable PC that will easily get you around all the standard tasks of a budget desktop. This triple-core system also includes 64-bit Windows and enough RAM to make it a very strong photo-editing desktop for its price.

Specs: AMD Phenom X3 8450 (2.1 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB Standard, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Tower, 667 MHz, Phenom X3, 1 year warranty, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Despite a few useful features, the Asus Eee Box is a novelty at best. It can't come close to the same performance and robustness of even the most basic standard budget PC, and a low-end laptop can do everything it can do and more. The appeal of Asus' Eee PC does not carry over to the Eee Box.

The Bottom Line: Despite a few useful features, the Asus Eee Box is a novelty at best. It can't come close to the same performance and robustness of even the most basic standard budget PC, and a low-end laptop can do everything it can do and more. The appeal of Asus' Eee PC does not carry over to the Eee Box.

The Bottom Line: Dell's Inspiron 518 is the latest in a long line of utilitarian, midrange Windows PCs. We wish Dell offered a bit more flexibility with its configuration, as well as a 64-bit Windows option, but for a straightforward PC, this is one of the more powerful systems for the dollar.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4 GHz), 2 GB DDR II SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, Vista Home Premium, 667 MHz, Core 2 Quad, 256 MB