All Desktops

The Bottom Line: Massive case notwithstanding, the affordable Asus Essentio CG5270-BP004 delivers a competitive feature set with the horsepower to back it up. We recommend this system for light media editors and anyone who can make use of its straightforward performance and multipurpose features.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 (2.5 GHz), 8 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 1 TB Standard, Intel GMA X4500, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: The HP Pavilion P6230y yields decent scores, but we have a hard time recommending a system that comes at a higher cost and a slower performance rating over competing systems. This system has a few uncommon features for its price, but nothing that makes up for its overall poor bang-for-the-buck.

Specs: AMD Phenom II X4 810 (2.6 GHz), 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 750 GB Standard, ATI Radeon HD 4200, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Gateway's affordable One ZX4800-02 all-in-one isn't the most feature-rich desktop at this price, but it's fast and capable enough that it will handle most basic consumer tasks with aplomb. Don't get too excited about its touch screen, but there's enough to like about this system that we can recommend it as an everyday PC.

Specs: Intel Pentium T4300 (2.1 GHz), 2 GB DDR II SDRAM, 750 GB Standard, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

The Bottom Line: The Gateway DX-4822-01 makes a convincing pitch with the performance numbers and features to earn its place in your home, but if you're not tied to the midtower design, the older Gateway SX2800-01 offers faster speeds and the option to set it up as a media center PC.

Specs: Intel Pentium E5300 (2.6 GHz), 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1 TB Standard, Intel GMA X4500, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: At a glance, the Asus Essentio CM5570-AP003 offers adequate performance compared to other midtower budget desktops, but an older Gateway outshines Asus with faster performance and more versatility for a little more, leaving us unenthusiastic about this system.

Specs: Intel Pentium E5300 (2.6 GHz), 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 750 GB Standard, Intel GMA X4500, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Despite its good looks and a few useful new features, Apple's new iMac is all about business. You can find a larger screen for less, not to mention all kinds of digital entertainment features, but no other all-in-one at this price can boast similar performance. If you need a modestly priced all-in-one for getting work done, we'd recommend no other system.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (3.06 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, EPA Energy Star, Apple MacOS X 10.6, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Earlier this year Sony was the unquestioned king of all-in-ones designed for home entertainment. The new Vaio L117FX retains and improves on many of the features we liked about older models, but revamped all-in-ones from its competition make the new Vaio seem a touch overpriced.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400S (2.66 GHz), 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 1 TB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Media center

The Bottom Line: The HP Pavilion Slimline s5220y provides adequate performance for light-duty media editing and entertainment, but its slim tower case leaves little room for future upgrades, leading us to recommend the older Gateway SX2800-01 that offers more features and better components.

Specs: Intel Pentium E5300 (2.6 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, Intel GMA 3100, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: The Dell Studio XPS 8000 offers a strong combination of midrange performance parts that should satisfy anyone looking for a midtower desktop for general productivity, digital media editing, or gaming. It lacks a few performance-oriented extras, but it makes up for any deficiencies with its attractive looks.

Specs: Intel CORE I5 750 (2.66 GHz), 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1000 GB Standard, nVidia GeForce GTX260 1792MB GDDR3, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English

The Bottom Line: With similar results as its ancestors, the Dell Inspiron 545s-1476N registers decent benchmarks and offers respectable upgradability, but we hesitate to recommend it over the older Gateway SX2800-01 that leaves Dell in the dust in regards to both performance and features.

Specs: Intel Pentium E5300 (2.6 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, Intel GMA 3100, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer