Acer Aspire X1700
It doesn't have Blu-ray, but this little Acer box has just about everything else you'd want in a PC for the living room. The HDMI video output lets you connect it directly to an HD TV, and it small size will let you put it pretty much anywhere. For less than $500, the price is right, too.
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
Price range:
$419
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THE BOTTOM LINE: The Acer X1700-U3700A is slightly slower than the competition, but it gives you almost every component you need in either a basic desktop or a light-duty home theater PC. If you prefer functionality to performance, we recommend this model out of the three systems in the current lineup.






