EPEAT Gold Desktops

The Bottom Line: Apple's new eight-core Mac Pro demonstrates marked improvements over the older model in high-intensity digital media and multitasking scenarios. We also love the design tweaks that improve on Apple's already industry-leading sensibilities. Any Apple-bound design professional would welcome this new tool in his or her arsenal.

Specs: Intel Xeon (2.26 GHz), 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Apple MacOS X 10.6, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: A few other all-in-ones make this 20-inch iMac look expensive on a dollars-per-screen-inch basis, but none are as attractive or as capable juggling multiple programs. With a fast dual-core CPU and a strong array of features, Apple's updated all-in-one will slide seamlessly into a variety of roles at home or at work.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.66 GHz), 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Apple MacOS X 10.5, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Apple's newest high-end Mac Mini maintains its small, stylish footprint, and as with the cheaper version, this $799 model has impressive multitasking capabilities. You'll like this desktop if juggling apps with attractive hardware is important to you, but you get much better all-around value in a Windows PC for the same price.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2 GHz), 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Apple MacOS X 10.5, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Apple made a number of changes to this $1,499 iMac, but making a 24-inch screen available at this price is the most impressive. The rest of the updates are welcome, and Apple's multitasking capability remains unmatched. Provided you like your all-in-ones best as straightforward desktop computers, the iMac will meet your expectations with speed and elegance.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.66 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Apple MacOS X 10.5, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: If you're considering all of the computers in the $700 to $1,000 price range, the Dell Studio Hybrid is not very compelling. However, if you limit yourself to the very specific niche of small PCs, you'll appreciate this system's clever design and its relatively powerful hardware.

Specs: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 (2.1 GHz), 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB Standard, Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 1, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Any business interested in cutting its power bills generated by its work-a-day desktop fleet might be interested in the ThinkCentre A61e, but home office workers or anyone interested in a smaller PC should stay far away from this system that has a major performance and features deficit compared to other small desktops.

Specs: AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 (2.1 GHz), 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB Standard, ATI Radeon X1200, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Personal computer

Specs: AMD Athlon 1640B (2.7 GHz), 1.0 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 80 GB Standard, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 210S, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, FreeDOS, Personal computer

Specs: AMD Second-Generation Opteron 2216 (2.4 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 146 GB Standard, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Workstation

Specs: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 (2.1 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB Standard, Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 1, Personal computer

Specs: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 (2.2 GHz), 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 160 GB Standard, Intel GMA 4500, EPA Energy Star, RoHS, WEEE, EPEAT Gold, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Personal computer