Wacom Intuos4

Pen tablets aren't just for commercial artists anymore. For proof, look no further than the just-released Wacom Intuos4 ($230 and up, street, depending on size), a worthy addition to the toolkits of professionals, casual artists, and photography enthusiasts alike. Used with Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Corel Painter 11, the Intuos4's impressive pressure sensitivity lets you lighten or darken areas of an image with precision. Putting the tablet to work with Photoshop's dodge, burn, blur, and sharpen tools gives you the kind of personal expression that's associated with a photographic darkroom. And if you're used to drawing with traditional art materials, such as chalk or watercolors, you'll find that the combination of Intuos4 and Painter comes remarkably close to that experience. Wacom is pretty much the only game in town when it comes to pen tablets, but the impressive Intuos4 proves that the lack of competition hasn't made the company lazy.
For this review, Wacom provided me with the medium version of the Intuos4. Think of this midsized, midpriced pen tablet as the Goldilocks model—not too large, not too expensive. The active area of the 10-by-14.6-inch (HW) pad, at 5.5 by 8.8 inches, is not as high but a bit wider than the 6-by-8-inch active area of the Intuos3 6x8. With the Intuos4, the company has switched from the active-area designations associated with its now-discontinued predecessor to the generic small, medium, large, and extra large.
A rubberlike finish along the bottom half of the pen helps you keep a firm grip. But it also attracts dust and lint, so when not in use, keep the pen in the supplied holder. The tablet has a sleek, all-black appearance, as opposed to the Intuos3's institutional slate-gray styling. The eight programmable ExpressKeys are sensibly grouped to one side, rather than being split between the left- and right-hand sides, as they were on the Intuos3.

Gateway FHD2400

The FHD2400 has nearly every video input you could want in a 24-inch display: component, composite, DVI, HDMI, S-Video and VGA. The only port lacking is the new, up-and-coming Display Port connection. The on-screen display menu is incredibly well designed and intuitive, and it has the full range of adjustment options. You can control primary colors or use one of the many presets. The ease of navigation through the submenus is refreshing as well.

It's not all about video with this monitor, either; for an extra $50, you can obtain a detachable sound bar that produces amazingly clear sound. The speakers even have great bass, and I couldn't detect any distortion when I cranked up the volume--a rare virtue in built-in monitor speakers.

This display features four USB ports, a headphone jack, and a standard native resolution of 1920 by 1200. It's fully adjustable by tilt, pivot, and height, and a unique swivel permits 360-degree rotation.

Gateway's FHD2400 didn't outperform the competition in image quality, but it found a comfortable spot in the middle of the pack, resulting in a score of Very Good. The display cost about $550 at the time of this review, making it a great choice for anyone in the market for a well-designed, strong-performing 24-inch monitor. You won't be disappointed with this display's range of inputs or its adjustment options.

AG Neovo H-W22

The H-W22 excelled at rendering Word documents and Excel spreadsheets with a consistent sharpness throughout. Whether the text background was white or black, jury members rated readability as very high overall. The monitor also produced pleasing graphics. Close-up pictures of fruit showed good texture, with natural-looking colors on blueberries and strawberries, and well-balanced saturation on reds, yellows, and blues.

A screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl showed the AG Neovo H-W22 to be a capable movie display. Blues and greens in scenes with water looked refreshing, and characters' skin tones were warm and natural, though at times a bit powdery, as if some faces had too much makeup on them. Light skin tones looked realistic, without the pinkish tones produced by some displays. The pirate Jack Sparrow's dark skin tones contrasted nicely with the soldiers' lighter skin tones. Uniforms in various reds and blues seemed well saturated, and the monitor revealed good background detail even in darker clothes and scenery.

The H-W22's design is very simple, with clean, uncomplicated lines. Its nicely integrated speakers avoid adding visual bulk to the thin-looking cabinet, but they sound tinny even at maximum loudness. Voices and dialogue often were so low that the characters were virtually inaudible.

Five simple, tactile buttons let you navigate the on-screen display (OSD) menu. Situating the power button in the middle of this otherwise useful group of buttons seems like a mistake, because it makes accidentally turning the monitor off when you're fiddling with the settings too easy.

With its simple lines, the H-W22 will fit nicely on the desk of anyone who prefers an understated monitor that offers consistently robust performance.

ViewSonic VG2230WM

Images of fruit slices looked sumptuous, thanks to the screen's brightness and natural-looking colors. Text on Web pages showed no signs of edge blur, so the VG2230wm should be good for people who spend hours reading Word documents or scanning long spreadsheets. Icons on these Office applications were well defined, and text (as on Web pages) was razor sharp.

ViewSonic's monitor lets you adjust its tilt, swivel, and height. The true swiveling base can rotate 360 degrees, and the height-adjustable stand extends the monitor across an unusually large range, making it ideal for a setup with multiple users. A small steel wire clip inserts on the side of the stand to secure the monitor to its minimum height; I would have preferred a built-in button to lock down the stand, so I wouldn't have to worry about losing the wire.

Integrated speakers are another of the monitor's extras. Not surprisingly, they seemed underpowered, producing muddled dialogue in our test DVD movies, though they handled the soundtrack and general background music better. The monitor's circular base is decorated with a raised wave pattern--a pattern that recurs on the sides of the black panel in the form of simple silver lines that slope at the bottom.

Four pill-size buttons and a small round button--aligned vertically on the right side of the monitor--provide access to the monitor's on-screen display (OSD) and its power, respectively. Unhelpfully labeled '1' and '2', the OSD buttons don't aid you in navigating the OSD menu, so you may want to fire up the CD manual if you plan to adjust to the monitor's settings significantly.

In displaying Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the monitor tended to render scenes a bit the light side, infusing many backgrounds and foregrounds with a washed-out sheen. Colors in general were nicely saturated, though reds were on the pink side. Lighter skin tones also seemed too pink or too light, while the pirate Jack Sparrow's skin didn't have a dark enough tone.

Nonetheless, this monitor is a serious contender for a workplace or home setup. It's reasonably priced ($319 as of October 9, 2007), has a thoughtfully designed cabinet, and provides eye-pleasing performance.

NEC LCD225WNXM-BK

Whereas most built-in speakers sound flat or tinny, the speakers on this display possess a full range of sound, though they lack the deep bass that a separate speaker system would provide. Their main limitation is volume: They don't get superloud.

The on-screen display (OSD) menu is far from spectacular. You can make all the adjustments necessary--such as brightness and contrast--and you even get individual color controls, but the menu's text and graphics are very small and unintuitive. A bit of common sense and good engineering could fix the navigation shortcomings.

When we tested the 225WNXM at the PC World Test Center as part of a collection of 19 LCD monitors in the same category (models with 20- to 22-inch displays), it ranked sixth in performance. The monitor did a particularly good job of rendering text but was less successful with graphics. This set's screen is treated with an antiglare chemical coating. If you prefer a glossier look, you'll have to search elsewhere.

An HDMI option on this monitor would have been nice, and the OSD certainly has plenty of room for improvement, but other than that this is a great 22-inch display.

HP W2207H

HP incorporated its Brightview glare panel in the w2207h, instead of using the chemically treated antiglare coating that appears on some of the company's other monitors, such as the the HP LP3065 and the the HP LP1965. This makes for a cleaner-looking image, but introduces more reflectivity as well.

The display, which has a native resolution of 1680 by 1050 pixels, comes with two side USB ports, plus HDMI and VGA inputs. HP doesn't bundle an adapter to connect the monitor's HDMI or VGA ports to the DVI connection that most PCs now use, though such adapters are inexpensive and readily available online. ? ? ?

The display sits in a thin (about 1-inch) glossy black bezel with rounded edges. Unfortunately, you can easily smudge the glossy finish with fingerprints when adjusting the display. Though the w2207h doesn't have a headphone jack, it does include a set of built-in speakers. Like most speakers built in to monitors, the HP's are weak in bass, resulting in flat, tinny audio. For soft background music or basic sound effects for games, however, the speakers are adequate.

HP includes MyDisplay software to help you perform simple monitor calibrations, and you can automatically rotate the screen when you pivot it. Overall, if this monitor finds its way into your home or office, you'll most likely be happy with it. Just be prepared to buy a DVI adapter!

Samsung 245T

The monitor's connectivity options include four USB ports, plus HDMI, VGA, DVI, composite, component, and S-Video ports. The only input missing is a Display Port connection, a linking technology that has gained popularity recently.

Despite the 245T's $649 price tag, you don't get a built-in Webcam or speakers; but the display does have a picture-in-picture option--a great feature to have, in view of all the input choices.

In our PC World Test Center evaluations, the monitor performed well, earning a score of Very Good. Nevertheless, it finished slightly below Samsung's own SyncMaster 2493HM (which has built-in speakers) in overall performance. The 245T's extra video inputs and USB ports (four versus the 2493HM's two) are the main differences between the two monitors. But those extras raise the 245T's price to about $150 more than the 2493HM's.

The 245T is best suited for users who need many connectivity options--because, say, they want to use it for PC work and TV/movie viewing. But the 245T costs about $100 more than Gateway's FHD2400, which has just as many inputs and received the same image-quality score.

Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP

Framing the display is a thin black bezel highlighted with silver accents on the top and the bottom. Dell includes video inputs for every possible connection: component, composite, Display Port, DVI (two ports), HDMI, S-Video, and VGA.

The monitor's on-screen display menu is clearly labeled and easy to navigate. Features include picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture, which displays two input sources side-by-side. This model comes with four USB ports--two on the back and two on the left side. Also on the left side, just above the USB ports, is a built-in reader for Compact Flash, MMC, MS, SD, and xD memory cards.

Dell bundles the UltraSharp 2408WFP with a CD containing drivers, a set-up guide, and a users' guide. Hardware extras include four connection cables for Display Port, DVI, USB, and VGA connectivity.

The images produced by this display resulted in a score of Very Good from our PC World lab. The UltraSharp 2408WFP's combination of good performance, input options, adjustability (it tilts, swivels, pivots, and can be adjusted for height), and excellent OSD make it the most full-featured and versatile monitor we've tested.

Regrettably (but understandably) this monitor's high-end performance, myriad features, and input selection come at high price. At about $700, it's one of the most expensive 24-inch displays we've seen.

Falcon Northwest Mach V

The Mach V sports a spanking-new (Nehalem-based) Intel Core i7 965 Extreme processor that's been overclocked from 3.2 GHz to 3.8 GHz using only air cooling. Added to this is more RAM than we've ever seen in a desktop machine--a whopping 12GB of DDR3-1066 memory--along with an Intel 80GB solid state drive for booting and a 1-terabyte, 7200-rpm Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 hard drive for storage. Although it didn't factor into our rating or system rankings chart (we rated all the gaming PCs in our current roundup on performance alone, excluding bundled monitors or peripherals), Falcon will also throw in a high-quality 22-inch Samsung 2243 LCD for an additional $400 on top of the system's $7395 price (as of November 11, 2008).

Although that premium price places it among the most wallet-crippling systems we've reviewed, you definitely get amazing bang for your buck. The Mach V achieved a score of 163 in our WorldBench 6 test suite. That's the highest result we've ever seen, but one that's equaled by two other new gaming machines: Hardcore Computer's Reactor and Xi's MTower HAF-SLI. The Xi pushes the limit for overclocking by cranking an older 3.33-GHz Core 2 Duo E8600 to an eyeball-popping 4.5 GHz, while the Reactor completely submerges its components in nonconductive oil (including a 3.2-GHz QX9770 CPU overclocked to 4 GHz); stay tuned for full reviews.

Helped out by dual 2GB ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics cards in CrossFire mode, the Mach V beat the frame rates of these and other recent gaming PCs for all the games (and resolutions) we threw at it. It even produced a smooth-playing average of 145 frames per second (fps) in Unreal Tournament 3 (under high settings) at 2560 by 1600 resolution. Next best in that taxing test: the Hardcore Computer Reaktor, whose three overclocked nVidia GTX-280 boards (in tri-SLI mode) achieved 113 fps in the same test.

This particular Mach V configuration includes an LG Blu-ray burner/HD-DVD reader, in addition to a Lite-on DVD writer. For expandability, four external 5.25-inch drive bays are open for upgrades, as are four internal 3.5-inch hard-disk bays. Overall, The Mach V's internals are well put together, with all cables neatly grouped and concealed where possible.

The Mach V's Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard holds a good number of ports: eight USB, two Firewire 400, and one eSATA. You also get built-in 5.1-channel audio and two ethernet ports. The front of the case is a touch more anemic, hiding four USB ports and a single Firewire 400 port beneath a locking door. At least there's plenty of room to plug in the Mach V's Logitech G15 keyboard (included). We'd almost rather not plug in its companion mouse, as the Logitech G9's misplaced DPI buttons are hardly satisfying for the kinds of games you'll be playing on this sweet rig.

Though it's loaded to the gills with high-end components, note that key parts of this killer system can't be upgraded without a big purchase, which some may find frustrating. For one thing, it has no available PCI Express x16 slots, which means that adding a new video card will entail replacing the two ATI Radeon HD 4870 cards (top-of-the-line units) that come with the system.

The Mach V is a new King of Speed that crushes every benchmark we threw at it. And for its price, you'd expect nothing less from this ultrapowered gaming machine!

Polywell Minibox 780G-9950

At 9 inches high, 11 inches wide, and 14 inches deep, the MiniBox fits in many places a tower wouldn't. Even so, it still offers enough interior space to accommodate a full-featured micro-ATX Gigabyte MA78GPM-DS2H motherboard, two free 5.25-inch drive bays (one external), a 16x PCIe slot, and two PCI slots. Its width also makes for a physically stable system--great for the living room or a child's first PC. Oh, and it even has a handle that folds out from the front of the system so you can carry the unit around like a 1980s boom box.

The MiniBox model's moniker informs us that it's strictly an AMD AM2+ system, starting with a 780G chip set, continuing with the latest 2.6-GHz Phenom X4 9950 CPU, and following through with a very fast ATI 4870 graphics card. The result of this relatively low-priced ($2350 as of August 8, 2008) combination, with some help from its RAID 0 tandem of 10,000-rpm Western Digital VelociRaptor hard drives, is a level of performance we don't generally see in a small PC--namely, a more-than-competent WorldBench score of 110.

The 4870 card also made for some fast gaming frame rates; it averaged a very playable 135 frames per second in Doom 3 running at 1280 by 1024 with antialiasing enabled. If you're willing to sacrifice some frames per second playing games, you can also configure a MiniBox without the 4870 and save a few bucks.

The MiniBox 780G-9950 system we tested is also a nice choice as a multimedia PC. This price includes a 22-inch Samsung SyncMaster 2253BW wide-screen LCD monitor, and the PC itself has a Blu-ray/HD DVD drive on board with HDMI output (with HDCP copy protection) on the rear panel.

Alienware AREA-51

The included video card, a 2GB ATI Visiontek Radeon HD4870x2, is no slouch for gaming. But it doesn't set any records, either. All in all, the Area 51's guts brought forth an above-average score of 120 on our WorldBench 6 tests--not bad, but still 10 to 20 points behind the fastest systems in our power desktops category.

At least Alienware gives you a small chance to upgrade your system and whip more performance out of this filly. There's space for two more PCI Express x16-friendly video cards, one more hard drive, and two 5.25-inch devices should you want to augment the Area 51's sole LG Electronics GSA-H55 20X Super Multi DVD writer. The Area 51's internals are well-managed and clutter-free, but we're just tired of the outside of the case--there's so much more that could be done over this dead horse of an alien-head design that the company keeps beating consumers over the head with.

For example, the Area 51's EVGA 790i motherboard hits the holy trinity of external connections with its six USB ports, one Firewire 400 port, and one eSATA port. But the front of the chassis only sports two USB and one FireWire 400 port. We might be sticklers for detail, but that's just not very much to work with. It's just barely enough to plug in the Area 51's two awesome peripheral offerings--a Logitech G5 mouse and a G15 keyboard. We're not sure which we like more: the soft, leathery feel of the G5 or the built-in digital orange screen of the ever-informative G15.

We can't bear to shoot Alienware's Area 51, but there's no question that this thoroughbred PC has outlived its days at the top of the system charts. At $3219 (as of December 3, 2008; $380 extra with a bundled Samsung 2253BW monitor), it's far too pricey a starter machine to be acceptable for power users, especially gamers.

CyberPower Power Infinity Pro

Our review unit shipped with 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate. In our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 test suite, it earned a strong mark of 120. That score fell a bit short, however, of the 124 mark of a CyberPower Infinity Pro that we tested a couple of months ago, which uses the previous-generation, 3-GHz QX6850 Core 2 Extreme CPU. This result echoes the benchmarks that PC World obtained in similar tests comparing the QX9650 with the QX6850 chip that it is supplanting.

In the Photoshop, 3DS Max rendering, and multitasking components of our WorldBench series, the Power Infinity Pro earned the best scores among all power PCs we've recently tested, though its marks were only a few seconds faster than the results of the next-closest models. In some WorldBench application tests (3DS Max DirectX, Windows Media Encoder, and VideoWave), the Power Infinity Pro's scores merely tied those of other systems (the Xi Mtower PCIe and the HP Blackbird 002) that used older CPUs. Most perplexing was the Power Infinity Pro's sluggish performance in the Nero portion of our WorldBench suite, for which its score of 592 seconds was the slowest of the lot. While none of our WorldBench scores reflect the performance gains that Intel predicts for the QX9650 CPU in imaging, 3D rendering, and video encoding, it should be noted that none of the applications in our test suite are optimized to take advantage of the QX9650's new SSE4 instructions, which can greatly speed up tasks such as video encoding (in applications that use SSE4).

On the plus side, the newer Power Infinity Pro posted the fastest scores ever in all of our gaming graphics tests, beating older quad-core models that use the same EVGA 8800 GTX graphics board. The Power Infinity Pro achieved an impressive average of 193 frames per second (fps) while running Doom 3 and 223 fps running Far Cry, both at 1280 by 1024 resolution with antialiasing turned on, well ahead (by about 13 percent) of the second-fastest system, the nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra-equipped HP Blackbird 002 LCi, which posted results of 170 fps and 198 fps, respectively. That's not the 40 percent that Intel claims for gaming, but it's still pretty darn impressive. Though the Power Infinity Pro came with a single graphics board that performed well in our graphics tests, the system's Asus P5K3 Deluxe motherboard is capable of hosting two graphics cards in a CrossFire setup. (Taking advantage of the feature would preclude using an SLI-compatible card such as the EVGA 8800 GTX card in our test system.)

Without a doubt, one of the Power Infinity Pro's best features is its stylish Cooler Master Cosmos case, which sports sturdy bars on top that are helpful when you're lifting the case--especially because it weighs a ton. The top panel includes an easily accessible connection dock with USB, FireWire, and audio ports, plus an eSATA connector, with additional USB, FireWire, and other ports on the back. Five external drive bays are easily accessed behind the hinged front panel. Our test system included a Lite-On Blu-ray DVD drive, a multiformat DVD burner, and a multiformat card reader drive-bay module, leaving two open bays for expansion.

Opening the side panel (insulated to keep the system's noise levels down) is easy, and the neat and tidy interior has plenty of room for expansion. Adding upgrades couldn't be much easier, thanks to a tool-less design that features push-button locks and pull-out aluminum racks for easy hard-drive installation. But some upgrades could be costly: For example, adding a matching pair of Corsair XMS 1GB DDR3 RAM sticks to raise the system's memory to 4GB would cost about $400. A Thermaltake V1 CPU cooler, four 120mm case fans, and a cooling attachment for the graphics board provide sufficient thermal management.

The $4299 (as of 11/2/07) Power Infinity Pro model we tested represents only one of several different configurations that CyberPower offers. Our test system also came with a generous 1.8 terabytes of hard-disk space, consisting of two 150GB, 10,000-rpm Western Digital Raptor drives (configured in a RAID 0 array) for performance and two 750GB, 7200-rpm Hitachi drives for backup and data storage that can hold hundreds of hours of video.

The included dual Sylvania 22-inch wide-screen monitors (SK2201W-B) have thin bezels that make positioning them closely side by side easier, but you get no height-adjustment control for maximum flexibility in setting them up. The picture quality was very good, with crisp readable text (even at 8 points) and nicely saturated color when we viewed still or moving images. The cordless Logitech MX3200 keyboard presents a host of useful extra keys and a wrist pad that's comfortable to type on. The MX600 laser mouse also benefits from an ergonomic design that fits nicely in the hand.

The CyberPower Power Infinity Pro is clearly aimed at enthusiasts and other early adopters who don't mind paying a premium for the latest technology. But considering that the market has few SSE-4 optimized apps, mainstream users may want to wait a bit longer before taking the plunge

Dell Studio XPS

While the system's 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850 isn't the fastest graphics card on the market, especially when compared with some of the dual-GPU offerings of other PCs in this category, it still performs well on our Doom 3 and Far Cry benchmarks: The Studio XPS achieved 202 and 236 frames per second, respectively, in those tests. Its WorldBench 6 score of 136 nestles it solidly within the top percentile of power desktops we've tested, coming just 5 points shy of the category leader at the time of writing: Polywell's $4000 Poly X4800-Extreme (equipped with a 3.2-GHz Core 2 Extreme X9770 and 4GB of speedy DDR3-1625 RAM). We'd take the Studio XPS for $2000 less, any day--at least, on paper.

What the paper doesn't show is the Studio XPS's weak internal design: It's disappointing enough to pull the system into the middle of our top-ten list instead of catapulting it toward the top of it. The only noteworthy expansion you're going to get inside of this chassis is room for a single hard drive. That's all, and even then, you have to screw into the side of the chassis in an unorthodox fashion. The system uses its two 5.25-inch bays for a Blu-Ray combo drive and a DVD reader/writer. The sole PCI Express x16 slot is already taken up by the video card, and an included TV tuner steals one of the three available PCI Express x8 slots. This chassis truly is an upgrader's nightmare.

Four rear USB ports join onboard 5.1 surround sound, an optical S/PDIF jack, a single eSATA port, one FireWire 400 port, and one Ethernet port on the back of the machine. The front of the case comes with an above-average offering of four USB ports, one FireWire 400 port, and an included media card reader.

As expected, the Studio XPS comes with a standard Dell media keyboard; its function buttons are useful for Web surfing and media playback, and the keyboard design is nice (even though it's slightly smaller than a typical keyboard). The two-button mouse has two additional back/forward buttons where your thumb rests.

Though standard parts and components can be customized and changed over time, Dell is relatively locked to its proprietary case and components. That's a shame, because in a normal, upgrade-friendly chassis, the Dell Studio XPS would shine as a solid PC for power users. The Studio XPS isn't a bad choice overall, just as long as you can stomach the hardships when you try to upgrade the system.

Dell Inspiron 530

Our test system was based on a 1.8-GHz Intel Pentium dual-core E2160 processor and had two sticks of 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM, for a total of 2GB of memory. It came with a 19-inch Dell SE198WFP wide-screen LCD (1440 by 900 native resolution), as well. Most value systems use integrated graphics that rely on main system memory, but the 530's graphics duties are handled by a 128MB nVidia GeForce 8300GS graphics card. The 250GB Western Digital Caviar hard drive provides an average amount of storage space for PCs in this price range, and our test unit had a DVD/CD combo writer, too.

As for performance, the 530 earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 73--commendable in the value desktop category, and slightly better than the 71 earned by the Compaq Presario SR5350F, which uses the same Intel Pentium dual-core E2160 CPU. The Inspiron 530 provided the best performance in the 3DS Max DirectX component of the WorldBench suite of all the value systems recently tested. Not surprisingly, therefore, it also earned the top scores among value systems for its graphics performance, making it the best choice for playing simple games. Because its graphics card has only a modest 128MB of memory, however, it still isn't powerful enough for intensive gaming titles, such as Doom 3 and Far Cry. In our Doom 3 tests, the system earned only a subpar score of 20 frames per second running at 1024 by 768 resolution with antialising turned on.

The 530's attractive, glossy white-and-silver midtower case is well ventilated, and its sliding front panel covers an external bay module containing a media card reader and connectivity ports. Inside the 530's case, you'll find that good old-fashioned screws secure the components, so you'll need a screwdriver when installing expansion cards and optical drives. Like most other value systems, the 530 uses a smaller motherboard that supports fewer expansion options than larger (and pricier) boards. Available expansion options include one 5.25-inch external and one 3.5-inch internal drive bay, two PCI and one PCIe x1 card slots (the PCIe x16 slot is filled by the discrete graphics card), and two (out of four) DIMM memory sockets. The 530 lacks FireWire ports, but they can be added as an extra-cost ($30) option.

The Dell monitor delivered sharp text and fine color quality in both still and moving images. The USB-based optical mouse and enhanced keyboard that Dell bundles with this system are comparatively better (in performance and features) than the standard-issue input devices that come with most value systems. Among the keyboard's extras are several quick-launch keys, a retro-style volume knob, and two upstream USB ports. The 530's online-only documentation is exemplary, with thorough, well-written instructions that are (thankfully) specific to the actual model, unlike the more generic documentation that some vendors often include.

If you want a value desktop with an excellent price-to-performance ratio and some room to grow, Dell's Inspiron 530 is arguably the best deal among the budget PCs we've tested recently.

Gateway FX6800-01E

The system includes a 2.66-GHz Core i7 920 processor (part of Intel's top CPU line) plus 3GB of DDR3-1333 memory. Joining that powerful combination is a 750GB Seagate hard drive--not quite as expansive as, say, the 1.5 terabytes of space on Polywell's MiniBox 780G-940, but enough to accommodate all the data you need to store.

The single ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card did an exceptional job of producing playable frame rates for all the games we tested, including an average of 51 frames per second on Unreal Tournament 3 (2560 by 2100 resolution, high quality) and 46 fps on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2560 by 2100 resolution, high quality). Only the Maingear Dash, which uses two of the same cards in a CrossFire setup, surpassed this Gateway. The Dash also beat out the FX6800-01e on our WorldBench 6 benchmark, though by a scant two points, 117 to 115. (The fact that the Dash's Phenom II X4 940 processor is clocked 0.34 GHz higher than the FX6800-01e's CPU and that the Dash comes with an additional gigabyte of memory likely factored into the results, as well.)

This Gateway's peripheral offerings are generic, but at least they're boring with style. The two-button mouse is glossy black with a nice orange trim, and the keyboard uses half-size buttons and orange accents to spice up the otherwise drab functionality. We give the company credit for at least making the input devices fit the FX6800-01e's aesthetic theme. As for the PC's connections, eight USB ports grace the front and rear of the case. The two eSATA ports, single FireWire 400 port, on-board 5.1 surround sound, and front-panel media card reader are strong additions to the system, too, but we would have appreciated seeing at least one next-generation connector, such as DisplayPort or HDMI.

We love the FX6800-01e's case. It's a beautiful mix of glossy paneling and orange highlights that suggests a gaming PC more than it does a value desktop. The front CD bays are stealthily tucked behind clearly labeled paneling, and the included media card reader pops up and down out of the top of the chassis. Cooler still, the top panel on the case's front doubles as a touch-button controller for the system itself: You can skip music tracks and adjust the volume by poking the front of your PC, almost eliminating the need for a media-themed keyboard--almost.

The inside of the FX6800-01e is slightly marred by the wiring job, but it isn't all that bad. The area near the 5.25-inch bays is just a little cluttered. The system has space for an additional 5.25-inch device, two hot-swappable hard drives, and a single mounted hard drive. The motherboard boasts room for an extra PCI Express x16 device (CrossFire, anyone?), as well as PCI Express x4 and x1 cards. That's a great amount of expansion for a value PC, though not quite as much as the options you'd find in the average power system.

Gateway bundles a giant, full-color setup guide with the rig that details how to connect the monitor and cabling. The comprehensive reference guide is specific to the FX6800-01e, and it should answer even the most technical of questions a newbie might have. We appreciate Gateway's hand-holding for FX6800-01e owners, though the inclusion of an OEM operating system CD or driver CDs would have been nice as well.

The Gateway FX6800-01e is a solid desktop PC, and we'd expect nothing less for its price. But our Top 10 Power Desktops chart has some stronger machines that cost only slightly more; which one you choose just depends on what your budget's absolute cut-off point is

Dell XPS 630

Dell lets you choose either Windows XP or Windows Vista as the operating system, and you can add extras, such as an Ageia PhysX accelerator, a Blu-ray Disc drive, and up to 4GB of DDR2-800 Corsair Dominator memory.

The aforementioned gaming XPS 630's SLI-rigged 8800 GT graphics card certainly gives it an edge in graphics performance, but in this version of the XPS 630, the single 512MB nVidia GeForce 9800 GT card didn't do too badly: the system averaged a frame rate of 138 frames per second while running Doom 3 at 1280 by 1024 resolution with antialiasing turned on.

In general application performance, this XPS 630 (equipped with a 3.16-GHz Core 2 Duo E8500 CPU and 4GB of DDR2-800 Corsair Dominator memory) delivered a WorldBench score of 114, whereas the gaming XPS 630 (equipped with a QX6850 CPU) achieved a score of 123 in our WorldBench suite. That's a nice result, considering this XPS 630 costs substantially less, though it does so by trading off features. For instance, it includes a single 640GB, 7200-rpm hard disk (Western Digital Caviar SE16) versus the gaming version's two speedy 160GB, 10,000-rpm Western Digital Raptor hard drives configured in a RAID 0 array.

The XPS 630's industrial design is reminiscent of--but scaled back from--that of Dell's XPS 720 desktop. The 630's ATX case features brushed aluminum on the sides and top, with a choice of a black or red plastic front, and back panels with large grilles. The side panel easily unlatches to reveal a well-organized interior with neat cable management, a 750-watt power supply, and a tool-less hard-drive tray. For a case of its size, it offers respectable expansion room, with one open 5.25-inch drive bay at the front (a DVD±RW drive occupies the other bay). Four internal slots are open: two regular PCI, one PCI Express x8, and one PCI Express x1.

The motherboard for this system uses nVidia's 650i SLI chip set. Unfortunately, that chip set limits each of the system's two PCI Express x16 slots (used for the dual graphics cards) to 8X speed in SLI mode, raising the possibility of an old-school bandwidth bottleneck that is less common today than it used to be. Another issue: Dell's own LightFX software, which controls the colors of the case exterior's four LED lighting zones, has a conflict with this chip set that forces users to resort to nVidia's ESA light effects software instead. An open standard created by nVidia, ESA (Enthusiast System Architecture) promotes two-way communication between PC components. The XPS 630 is among the first ready-made PCs to support it.

The XPS 630 ships with Dell's standard wired optical mouse and multimedia keyboard combo that's perfectly serviceable but nothing special. You also get a 15-month subscription to the PC-cillin Internet security suite. Chip-set concerns aside, the XPS 630 is a well-built, highly customizable power desktop that delivers good performance for the price

eMachines ET1161-03

The system bears a sluggish a 2.3-GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ CPU coupled with 3GB of DDR2-667 memory nestled into an ECS motherboard. A single Western Digital drive provides 320GB of storage, which you might consider the highlight of this machine's specifications.

The ET1161-03 also uses an integrated nVidia GeForce 6150SE chip that offers little in the way of graphical prowess: None of our gaming benchmarks could be considered playable. Unreal Tournament 3 failed to run, and on Far Cry--a five-year-old title that doesn't exactly tax modern systems--the ET1161-03 delivered a whopping 6 frames per second (at 1280 by 1024 resolution, with antialiasing turned on). Its WorldBench 6 scores were similarly disappointing, but the results fit the kind of performance we see on machines of this price; its score of 79 was around 30 points lower than the marks of the best value PCs we've tested. That said, some of those PCs are also two to three times the price of the ET1161-03.

To its credit, eMachines does a remarkable job of easing first-time users into the setup process for the ET1161-03. The system comes with a giant diagram that details exactly how to go about getting the PC and optional monitor up and connected. The package doesn't include any driver CDs--you can rebound from disasters only via a recovery partition embedded on the hard drive. But the system does come with a decent starter guide for working in Windows for the first time. Given that this desktop makes the most sense for novices, the extra attention to introductory detail is a great touch.

Given the system's low cost, we didn't expect eMachines to toss killer peripherals into the mix. A generic two-button mouse and a default keyboard are indeed all you get to play with, though the latter has two volume buttons--more than we can say for the keyboards of other value PCs. The system's connectivity is a tad anemic. It sports only four USB ports on the rear of the system, as well as a single ethernet port and integrated 5.1 surround sound. The front offers two additional USB ports and a media card reader. In total, that isn't a grand number of connections, but it is a little more diverse than the offerings of lesser-value competitors.

On the front of the chassis, the glossy case conceals the system's sole optical drive, a DVD reader/writer combo. The smooth look of the case is nothing remarkable, but it isn't bad either. As for the inside, we appreciate the extent of this machine's upgradability compared with other minitower value PCs we've tested. Two PCI Express x1 slots, a single PCI Express x16 slot, and room for one hard drive and a 5.25-inch device sit amongst a slightly messy cabling job. Considering that $400 gets you an average base system, we can see how one or two key upgrades would make a world of difference on the ET1161-03. And the total price after the addition of, say, a discrete video card would still make this desktop less of a hit to the wallet than other value PCs we've looked at.

You're getting what you pay for with eMachines' ET1161-03. Its performance is nothing pretty--in fact, it's horrible compared with that of most other value PCs. But the low cost is the key, and with an upgrade or two, the ET1161-03 could become a pretty good general-purpose PC. Adding a dedicated graphics card would remedy its lack of gaming performance as well.

Xi Mtower IGE-STACKER

This dual-core unit's performance surpassed that of the quad-core power and gaming systems we recently tested, and earned a record-breaking score of 139 in our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 test suite; the previous high was the CyberPower Gamer Infinity Ultimate's score of 129. Better still, at $3299 (as of September 12, 2007), it's one of the least expensive power-oriented PCs we've seen of late.

The MTower is equipped with Intel's fastest dual-core processor to date, the 3-GHz Core 2 Duo E6850, which Xi overclocks to 3.3 GHz (and covers under warranty). The CPU also boasts a faster frontside bus speed (1333 MHz) than its dual-core forebears had (1066 MHz). Using a single, 768MB EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX graphics board on an nForce 680i SLI-ready motherboard, our MTower was a racehorse in its graphics performance, earning the highest scores for most resolution settings among the four power systems we tested in the latest batch. For example, running at 1280 by 1024 resolution with antialiasing turned on in the graphically intensive game Far Cry, the MTower averaged 232 frames per second, compared with its rivals' average of 200 fps.

The MTower's black aluminum case (Cooler Master Stacker 832) features mesh grilles on both side panels as well as on the top and bottom sides. A hinged front panel conceals six external drive bays, two of which in our test model were occupied with a DVD burner and DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo player (but no multiformat card reader). Port connectors for USB, FireWire, and audio are sensibly located at the very top of the case, making them easy to access if the system sits on the floor. Additional USB and FireWire ports are provided on the back, but no parallel or serial ports for older devices are included.

The case's side panel and a second inner panel (featuring three of a maximum four 120mm fans) both come off easily without tools. The IGE-Stacker also has a liquid cooling system (Cooler Master Aquagate S1), and you can adjust its fan speed via a dial on the back of the rig (useful if you wanted to tinker with overclocking the processor yourself--though doing so would void Xi's warranty). As shipped, the liquid cooling of the MTower wasn't noisy or overly distracting, but I could definitely hear it humming along. Two of the four internal drive bays were filled with a pair of 150GB, 10,000-rpm Western Digital Raptor hard drives configured in a RAID 0 array, and of the four memory slots, two were occupied, giving our test machine a total of 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Our test model also offered two PCIe x16 and two PCI slots, but both PCIe x1 slots were unavailable: One was covered by the extrawide graphics card, and the other was blocked by the water cooler's adjustable dial bracket.

The bundled 22-inch wide-screen LCD, a ViewSonic VX2255wmb, delivered excellent color fidelity in both still and moving images, and readable text in small sizes. I also liked the convenience of its built-in microphone and 1.3-megapixel Webcam. The included Logitech Deluxe 250 keyboard and optical mouse were responsive but offered no extras; you may want to spend a few extra bucks on more versatile input devices.

If you don't require quad-core capability out of the box, the overclocked MTower IGE-Stacker offers top-flight performance and easy expandability at a very reasonable price.

eMachines T5246

At $620 (as of 2/7/08), the eMachines T5246 is the least expensive value PC in our lineup. But since it's a prebuilt retail system available in only one configuration (it's sold as the 4200+ Desktop at Best Buy), you can't mix and match components before you buy it. The T5246 comes with a 2.2-GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU and two sticks of 1GB PC2-5300 memory (2GB total) mounted on a Gateway motherboard with integrated nVidia GeForce 6100 nForce 405 graphics. Our test unit also came with a 400GB Western Digital Caviar hard drive, providing more storage space than most value desktop PCs.

This test T5246 included essentials like a DVD/CD combo writer and a memory card reader; and for those still on dial-up, it even had a 56KB modem. But the 17-inch, $190 eMachines E17T4W LCD monitor (with 1280 by 720 native resolution) that was included in the price of our unit had only a VGA input. Although the flat panel produced sharp text and realistic color graphics, its screen space is considerably less than the 19-inch (and larger) LCDs that ship with some value business desktops we tested. My recommendation would be to go for a larger wide-screen LCD--such as the $210 eMachines E19T5W or the $220 eMachines E19T6W (both 19-inchers sold at Best Buy)--instead of this 17-inch model. For my money, the added screen real estate is worth the extra $20 to $30 you'd spend on one of these alternatives.

In our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 performance tests, the T5246 earned a score of 70--average for our test group. However, its scores in the Firefox and multitasking parts of the test suite were the best of the sub-$750 PCs here. But like most of the other systems that rely on integrated graphics rather than a discrete graphics card, the T5246 fared poorly in graphics performance--it's inadequate for fast-action 3D games.

The T5246's black-and-silver mini-tower case is a no-frills design with no front panel to cover the external drives and connectivity ports. Although the system includes parallel and serial connections for attaching older peripherals, it lacks FireWire ports. Open expansion options inside the generally neat and tidy interior include one external 5.25-inch and one internal 3.5-inch drive bay, and three card slots (one PCIe x16, one PCIe x1, and one PCI). Although you can add a discrete graphics card to the PCIe x16 slot, it will work only at half speed (x8) rather than at full speed (x16). So gamers take note: This system isn't well-equipped for upgrading to faster graphics.

The bundled input devices were a mixed bag: The eMachines multifunction keyboard worked fine, but I would have preferred a more precise optical mouse instead of the clunky ball mouse that was included. Gateway's setup guides and online documentation for this system are helpful and well done, and a final plus is the addition of a small set of dual speakers.

The T5246 provides respectable speed for everyday computing and a sizable hard drive. However, the small size of its bundled LCD and its weak graphics performance limit its appeal. Of course, you could spend an extra $70 or so to get a larger LCD and a cheap add-in graphics card, bringing up the price of the T5246 to approximately that of the $689 Dell Inspiron 530. But the Dell system would still provide better overall performance, including faster, full-speed (x16) graphics.

Acer Aspire Predator

Our test configuration (G7700-UQ9550A) ships with an Intel Core 2 Quad 9550 processor (stock-clocked at 2.83 GHz); 8GB of DDR2 (800 MHz) memory; and 1.92 terabytes of total storage, courtesy of three 640GB, 7200-rpm Western Digital Caviar hard drives. The system also features a single nVidia 9800GTX graphics board to power games and CUDA-enabled applications, along with separate DVD-writing and DVD-ROM optical drives. This Predator's price of $2199 (as of December 3, 2008) doesn't include Acer's matching $400 24-inch wide-screen G24 display, but you do get two awesome peripherals bundled in for the price: Logitech's G11 keyboard and G5 gaming mouse.

We love the Predator's exterior design, accented with stealth-fighter-like lines in metallic-orange. But the proprietary nature of its insides--complete with more plastic coverings than we ever needed to see--could make upgrading a frustrating situation. Given the lack of available 5.25-inch bay coverings on the case's front, you can't add more 5.25-inch devices to that section of the chassis. However, the four hot-swappable hard drive bays at the lower front of the machine (behind a lit-up, hinged door), redeems that shortcoming a bit.

Still inside the case, why is Acer liquid-cooling its quad-core processor without overclocking it whatsoever? If "acoustics" is the only answer, we frown: You can have a quiet and fast rig with liquid cooling, so there's no need to ignore the potential benefits of an overclocked processor. More frustrating still is that the system's Worldbench 6 score of 122 isn't exactly chart-topping. A little factory-side CPU tweaking could have gone a long way.

The aging nVidia 9800 GTX video card delivers acceptable (again, not stellar) performance; on the other hand, the Aspire Predator has two free PCI Express x16 slots for a dramatic degree of upgradability.

All in all, the Aspire Predator delivers solid performance for its price, but a few additional tweaks and a little reconfiguring could have squeezed even more performance out of this killer-looking machine. Cut the RAM in half, overclock the CPU, boost the video card, and cut another hole in the front of the case. Then we'll talk.

HP Pavilion DV7T

The dv7t, with its 2.53-GHz Core 2 Duo T9400 processor and 3GB of RAM, turned in a blazing score of 98 in our WorldBench 6 tests. Interestingly, MicroExpress's identically stacked all-purpose machine, the JFL9226, earned a mark of 103.

The dv7t's nVidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card makes this laptop a better gaming rig than many other portables. It produced an impressive 152 frames per second in our Doom 3 and Far Cry tests (and a respectable 95.26 fps with antialiasing turned on).

Battery life was 3 hours, 1 minute, not bad for an 8.4-pound unit with a 17-inch screen. If only we could see the screen a little better. In a typical fluorescent-lit office, viewing the display is hard. Even when ratcheted all the way up, the huge screen was not very bright--not what you'd expect from a high-end machine. Compared with the display of a 15.4-inch HP Pavilion DV6000t, in fact, the dv7t's screen was grayish. That said, the dullness shouldn't impede enjoying a flick on the Blu-ray drive or getting work done, especially with the lights turned down low. The 1680-by-1050-pixel resolution makes mainstream applications plenty easy to work in. Be sure to keep headphones handy, though: Despite the unit's subwoofer, to me it sure didn't sound like a Blu-ray movie was playing.

On the bright side, if you like shiny things, you'll love the dv7t. The lid and lower casing are black, but inside it resembles a slab of highly polished steel topped off with a similarly finished keyboard and icy-white status lights. It's so reflective that you can see yourself in the wrist rest, quite handy for surreptitious spinach-stuck-in-teeth and makeup checks. The keys gleam like pricey flatware, and even feel cool to the touch. Maneuvering about the keyboard is just as smooth, thanks to the great layout, the wide mirrored touchpad, and the dedicated number pad. The fingerprint reader is completely and conveniently out of the way in its right-bottom-corner location.

I only wish that the rigid mouse buttons depressed a little farther into the case, and that HP's volume swipe were better behaved. Though it's always a pleasure to use HP's signature one-touch QuickPlay media button for directly launching a movie and music menu and its forward and backward controls, HP still hasn't ironed all of the kinks out of its touch-sensitive controls. Getting the mute control working took a hard punch. The cranky volume swipe would lower but not raise volume--which, unlike movie sound, is quite loud and pleasing with CDs and MP3s. (We've had the opposite problem--the volume swipe raising but not lowering sound--on other Pavilions.)

If you can overlook those little problems, the dv7t is a handsome, fast unit. For our review it was nicely configured with a 400GB hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, and Windows Vista Home Premium. And if you're looking to replace a desktop, it's a better candidate than most other big notebooks because of its proprietary left-side connection for HP's xb3000 expansion base. Though the base is an expensive add-on, it incorporates a screen stand, a third hard-drive bay, far better speakers, and a wireless keyboard and mouse for a complete desktop experience.

Forget the peripherals right now, though. Without the docking station, the dv7t slightly stumbles as an end-all, be-all entertainment unit. If you're looking for the whole package, consider Toshiba's Qosmio line of massive desktop replacement PCs. They're hardly portable, but the Qosmios (or is that Qosmii for plural?) have consistently incorporated terrific audio into their designs. That said, thanks to its beefy new CPU, HP's powerhouse sails through performance tests and whips the current competition. If speed is what matters to you, the Pavilion dv7 has it in spades.

Micro Express Microflex 450B

Built around the same Gigabyte X48-DS4 motherboard as the top-performing Polywell Poly X4800-Extreme, the MicroFlex 450B steps down a notch or two on other primary components. A 2.83-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, a single 500GB Seagate ST3500320NS hard drive, and a 512MB ATI 4870 graphics card lurk inside. Though this combo is pared back compared with some other high-end PCs, it still managed a more-than-acceptable WorldBench 6 score of 119 and gaming rates around 200 frames per second.

As inexpensive as the MicroFlex 450B is for a power system ($1599 as of August 8, 2008), you don't get the feeling that Micro Express has been stingy. Open the black midtower case, and you'll find plenty of room for even large hands to work, with five external bays open--four 5.25-inchers and one 3.5-incher--as well as two 3.5-inch internal bays for additional hard drives. It also has two 1x PCIe slots and two PCI slots unblocked, plus another CrossFire-enabled 16x PCIe slot if you want to up your high-resolution gaming capabilities with a second graphics card.

Although Micro Express made trade-offs to achieve its low price, they are relatively wise ones. The bundled 19-inch LG W1942TQ wide-screen display is smaller than what we see with most power systems, but it does produce a very crisp picture. The basic Microsoft keyboard and optical mouse are both wired, and the LG GH22LP20 optical drive offers LightScribe but no Blu-Ray or HD DVD reading.

Put succinctly, the MicroFlex 450B provides 85 percent of the Poly X4800-Extreme's performance at 33 percent of the price. I could yap more about the relative lack of big-vendor style, but those numbers are the real story.

Asus EEE TOP 1602

With its glossy white chassis and transparent plastics, the Eee Top looks like something Apple would design. Its 15-inch, 1366-by-768-resolution LCD touch screen is small by desktop standards, but it is adequate for most basic tasks (Internet, word processing, light gaming, and the like), and it helps the Eee Top fit into a range of living environments. One of the machine's best design touches is a carrying handle integrated into the Eee Top's angle-adjustable foot, so you can carry it around. Of course, it helps that the Eee Top is light enough and compact enough that toting it around with one hand doesn't require you to have the arm strength of Alex Rodriguez.

Asus includes six USB 2.0 ports on the Eee Top, two of which occupy the left side (along with an SD Card slot) for easy access. One nagging design flaw, however, is the location of the Eee Top's headphone and microphone jacks on the unit's rear. The Eee Top is small enough that you can easily rotate it to get to the jacks, but I wish that Asus had included jacks on the front for easy access.

Another drawback: What you buy is what you get. The Eee Top is a completely closed system, and you can't upgrade the components inside--which you may find frustrating if you want more memory than the unit's included 1GB (plus a 160GB hard drive). In addition, Asus took a page out of Apple's book and omitted any optical drive.

Users who value expandability are clearly not the Eee Top's target audience. Instead, this computer and its components are most suitable for users who want a no-fuss PC to cover the basics, plus a touch screen to simplify performing certain activities.

The Eee Top's signature feature is its display, with touch-screen capabilities. Colors are bright and vibrant, and the screen accepts both finger input and touch input--though not multitouch as the Apple iPhone and Microsoft's Surface do. The Eee Top has a resistive touch screen, whereas multitouch displays use capacitive touch.

To make touch input more practical, Asus bundles the Eee Top with Easy Mode, a software interface/program launcher with large finger-friendly buttons that just ache to be tapped. Asus also throws in a handful of touch-friendly programs, including some games, the bundled Eee Cinema media viewer, and Eee Memo (a sticky notes app). SoftStylus, another piece of software, lets you draw letters directly on the screen or use an on-screen keyboard. I didn't find SoftStylus to be particularly practical, however; using the included keyboard was much easier for me, but SoftStylus is there if you want it.

Asus gives you plenty of apps to get started with, including Opera, Skype, StarSuite 8, and a handful of simple games In general, the Eee Top's touch interface is user-friendly and fun, but some of the bundled utilities are less so. For example, the user interface on the included Touch Tool (a utility containing various touch-screen controls) is so cumbersome that the utility is completely unusable. Luckily, such apps are the exception, not the rule on the Eee Top.

Powered by a 1.6GHz Atom processor and running Windows XP Home, the Eee Top is no world beater. In our PC World Test Center tests, the Eee Top achieved a WorldBench 6 score of 41, which is slow by desktop standards, though better than the average score of 38 that similarly configured netbooks achieve. The ambling pace is no surprise, of course, since the Eee Top uses netbook components. You won't want to run any high-end graphics programs or games on this machine; but for the basics, the Eee Top will get the job done.

The Eee Top also sports some healthy networking features: Gigabit ethernet and 802.11b/g/n wireless. The bundled keyboard and mouse lack certain features (the keyboard has no numerical keypad, for example), but I found them to be usable--and I liked the keyboard's feel and tactile response.

Though you can get more power for your money if you go with a typical desktop PC, the Eee Top's $600 price tag is reasonable in view of the PC's sleek, eye-catching design and friendly interface.

If you're looking for a computer for the kitchen, for your kids, or perhaps for the technophobe in your life, the Eee Top may be just the ticket.

HP Mini 2140

The HP Mini 2140, the latest entry in Hewlett-Packard's 2100 series of netbooks, is what the company's Mini 1000 aspires to be when it grows up. But it carries a grown-up price as well: $529 for our test unit's midlevel configuration.

Like the Mini 1000, the Mini 2140 has a fairly large keyboard (92% the size of a full-size QWERTY keyboard) with wide, flat buttons. The mouse configuration remains the same, too: The right and left mouse buttons flank the mousing surface instead of sitting below it, which makes navigating and editing documents more difficult. But at least the mouse buttons on the 2140 are rubberized and rise above the surface, improving the mouse's manageability.

The 2140 has a few other things in common with the Mini 1000--and with the rest of the netbook market. The base-level, $499 version of the 2140 comes with Intel's Atom 1.6-GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive (which spins at 5400 rpm), a three-cell battery, and Windows XP. For an extra $30, you can bump up the configuration (as we did) to include a six-cell battery, or you can cough up the maximum $629 asking price for a three-cell unit that has 2GB of memory and a 7200-rpm, 160GB hard drive. Even then, the Mini 2140 is smaller and less expensive than the Asus N10Jc.

While the 2140 has all the right moves looks-wise, it stumbled a little in WorldBench 6. The metallic mini-note kept running into issues with Photoshop and as a result of only netted a score of 26. The only other netbook that's scored as low was the equally poor-performing Dell Inspiron Mini 9. Understand that the reason these netbooks score lower is usually due to the fact that their odd-sized screens (and native resolutions) can't run some of our benchmark programs. Otherwise, they pretty much have the same, exact guts as high-flying netbooks that rank better on the charts. That said, it's still a pricey portable (well, pricey as far as netbooks go) that can't run programs other netbooks can.

At least the 2140 wins back points by lasting almost seven hours on one charge. That's good news for frequent fliers. In my informal hands-on testing of the 2140, the 10.1-inch backlit LED display stood out. Colorful and crisp, this screen has a native resolution of 1024 by-576 pixels. (An optional high-definition 1366-by-768-pixel display will be available in February.) Like the display on the Mini 1000, the one on the Mini 2140 carries glossy coating that makes it a little tougher--but not impossible--to view outdoors.

The unit's rugged frame and aluminum lid make it a little on the meaty side. It weighs 2.6 pounds with the three-cell battery in place, compared to the Mini 1000's 2.25 pounds; but the Mini 2140's remain notably svelte, at 1.05 by 10.3 by 6.5 inches. The metal alloy hinges are recessed, for durability. And both the spill-resistant keyboard and the 3D DriveGuard that parks the hard-drive head during a sudden movement (such as a drop on the airport floor) enhance this model's ruggedness for the road.

The 2140 supports 802.11n, and Bluetooth 2.0 is optional. HP claims that the netbook can recharge up to 90 percent of capacity in about 90 minutes. And for the $629 flavor of the 2140, you can get "Genuine Windows Vista with downgrade to Genuine Windows XP Professional custom installed." Don't go looking for more software, though: You're just getting the basics here. If Windows isn't your thing, you can request FreeDOS or SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 with your unit.

Even though it's a business-class machine, the Mini 2140 puts on a reasonable audio show. Its speakers, parked in the hinge between the display and the keyboard, performs on the same scale as the Mini 1000 (it sounds a bit tinny, but good enough to fill an office or hotel room).

The only major downer involves a limited capacity to accommodate external devices. The machine has a few handy ports such as an SDHC flash card reader, VGA-out, an ethernet jack and two USB ports. But the USB ports are located on either side of the device, creating a potential problem if you want to plug in an external hard drive that requires a spare USB port to power the device. This issue isn't unique to the 2140, but it is something to keep in mind if you're a big-time data jockey.

HP has assembled a compelling package that could go toe-to-toe with the Asus N10Jc. But like Asus's heavyweight netbook, the Mini 2140 in its premium configuration bears a price tag that approaches what you'd expect to find on a good all-purpose machine like the Sony VGN-NR485 ($800).

Asus EEE PC 1000HE

The streamlined and redesigned Asus Eee PC 1000HE takes no prisoners. While the previous Asus Eee PC 1000 offered a solid netbook, Acer's Aspire One stole all the attention with its lean and incredibly affordable approach. With the latest incarnation of the Eee PC 1000, the "HE" might as well stand for "Holy Enhancement!" This model bears only a passing resemblance to last year's Eee PC, and improves upon just about everything from the keyboard to the CPU. Better yet, in addition to losing some unsightly girth, Asus also trimmed the price to $400.

Let's take a quick tour around the machine to kick this off. The first, most obvious thing you'll spot is the cut-out keyboard. Just like you'd find on an Apple MacBook Air or on Sony VAIO laptops, the keys poke through the plastic, creating a wide gap between buttons. In that respect, this feels and looks great, and is generally more usable. The trackpad is just spacious enough -- I particularly like its metal framing and the few multitouch functions incorporated into the design. However, I found the pad slightly twitchy to control. No deal-breaker, but I noticed.

You also get a couple handy shortcut buttons hovering along the top of the unit. They do everything from give the CPU a speed boost (more on that below) and user-definable shortcuts to a screen resolution adapter. That is, you can view 1024-by-768 resolutions even though the native resolution of the 1000HE is 1024 by 600 -- it's a special compression mode that Lenovo employs in the IdeaPad S10 as well, and represents a convenience given that some applications default to a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution and won't work otherwise.

This unit's 10.1-inch backlit LED display is bright and capable of good color reproduction; its glossy coating helps the image pop a little more than you usually see on netbooks. However, the highly polished bezel that keeps the screen in place can get a little distracting at times.

A number of aerodynamic nips and tucks make this 10.3-by-7.4-by-1.4-inch netbook just a hair thinner than the older, clunkier Eee PC 1000 we reviewed last year. It's also a little on the "heavy" side for a netbook, weighing 3.2 pounds. That's the price of strapping an 8700mAH battery to the bottom of this thing; Asus promises that the 1000HE will deliver 9.5 hours of performance (but we got a solid seven hours, nine minutes in our tests).In short, netbooks in this generation are finally packing the battery power required for marathon computing sessions.

Speaking of performance, the Asus Eee PC 1000HE sports Intel's 1.66-GHz Atom N280 CPU. For the sake of comparison, most of the netbooks that came out late last year used the N270 CPU, which runs at a lower frequency (1.6-GHz) and a slower frontside bus speed (533MHz as compared with 667 MHz in the N280). The difference, however, was minimal. Our test unit got a 35 in WorldBench: an average score for what you'll find in netbooks.

The Asus comes with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard disk drive, and 802.11b/g/n /Bluetooth wireless. Around the perimeter of chassis lies a fairly standard set of three USB 2.0 inputs.

The audio, as on the Eee PC 1000, sounds surprisingly strong for its size. But it lacks a good subwoofer, so don't expect to rock a house party with this thing. Other notable features thrown into the mix: InterVideo WinDVD (which seems to be a little bit of overkill, I'd recommend you try out KMPlayer), and 18 months of 10GB of free online storage.

In the end, this is a fairly solid -- and sizable -- jump over what's come out just a few months earlier. In fact, I'd dare say that amongst the netbook pack, this is one of my current favorites and something that I'd highly recommend that you check out. Considering that its selling in some places for as little as $380, you could do worse.

Acer Aspire ONE AOD150

I love it when a company sees fit to shake things up a little and cook up some crazy new design. The Acer Aspire One AOD150 is not that netbook. In fact, many of the changes made from the original Aspire One make the AOD150 seem more like everything else on the market. And that isn't necessarily a good thing.

Seem a little harsh? Let me put this in perspective: The original, 8.9-inch screen model packed a huge keyboard onto a fairly tiny frame. That keyboard was practically dripping over the sides and I was genuinely impressed for the effort. Here, with its new 10.1-inch screen (which looks great), I'd expect a little more room to work with. Instead, you get the same still-short-of-full-size keyboard. It's not tiny, but Acer could've made an effort to space out the buttons a little more.

The next big switchup is the touchpad. At first glance, I was ready to dance a jig because the left and right buttons flanking the touchpad surface were gone. Just a single, simple mouse button bar. In and of itself, not necessarily a bad thing. But then I tried using it. Exerting a shaolin monk's concentration, you need to really want to hit that button in order to get it working. With very little give, it's hard to know when you've made contact and the way that it's recessed into the wrist rest makes it a little more difficult to use than the mouse on the first Aspire One. At least the new touchpad has a multitouch functionality, so that scrolling and browsing is a little less headache-inducing.

The only other change for the (slightly) worse is the second-gen Aspire One ditches the original's second SDHC Card slot. Not a major bummer, because this machine has a reasonably large 160GB hard disk drive.

Now, back to that new 10.1-inch display: I really do love this 1024-by-600-pixel screen. It's crisp, with good color reproduction and, quite frankly, it feels like this machine was built around the gorgeous screen. Its dimensions are relatively slim (one thing that hasn't changed too much from the original) measuring 10.2 by 8.0 by 1.31 inches. That makes it slighter than comparable netbooks with a 10.1-inch screen. The Aspire One is also very solidly constructed, ready to get knocked around in a bag.

The second-generation Aspire One's performance is in line with what we'd expect from its components: 1GB of RAM and a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU. It achieved a score of 35 in our PC WorldBench 6 tests, an average score based on what we've seen with this configuration in other netbooks.

One thing that isn't quite standard is the battery that came with our machine. Our test unit arrived with a 5800mAH battery. Don't get too excited, though: This battery will not be a standard config in any of the units here in the U.S., and Acer doesn't even know when this longer-life battery will be available separately. The standard configuration usually comes with a 6-cell 4400mAH battery. Usually.

Here's where it gets goofy: According to a spokesperson, in the hurry to get units to store shelves, some of the machines shipped with higher-powered batteries, instead of the standard. It's like some kind of Willy Wonka move, but instead of a golden ticket, you have a chance you'll get a better battery and not get charged for it.

If you get lucky, you'll be thrilled: In the PC World Test Center's battery life test, the Aspire One lasted an amazing 8 hours, 34 minutes with the supercharged battery. Since the odds are more likely you'll get the 4400mAH power, though, we are scoring this machine based upon the reasonably impressive 6 hours, 38 minutes. It's funny -- last time around the Aspire One got dinged for its poor battery life and celebrated for its large keyboard. This time around it's almost the reverse. Am I in Bizzaro world?

The software on the machine is fairly minimal. The only things of note here are a 30-day trial for an online backup solution (my advice, Acer: check out what Asus is doing -- its netbook comes with 10GB of free online storage for 18 months) and eSobi, a news and RSS feed reader.

Not much else has changed, though, between the two Aspire One models. The ports are the same: Three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, ethernet jack, webcam and microphone . . . it even has the same $350 price tag. And honestly, I think a good chunk of that money went into the screen. It shows. But at the end of the day, I feel like the Aspire One moved on, but I'm not 100 percent sold that the developers have taken these guys in the right direction.

The new Acer Aspire One has some strong points, but even better netbooks are on the market now, and more are on the way. If you want in on the battery lottery for the long-life battery, then go for it, but even the included battery will give you solid day-long performance, That said, I'd still recommend that you take a peek at what Asus offers with the Eee PC 1000HE. I'm digging that netbook a whole lot more and it only costs a few dollars more.

Lenovo Thinkpad X200

Because it bears a lower model number, you might imagine that this a less-powerful version of the ThinkPad X300, but the X200 actually has a more recent processor. The X300 has a 13.3-inch display, however, while the X200 has a 12.1-inch screen. Ah, but what you'll see when you fire this baby up!

At just under 3 pounds with its lightest battery installed, the X200 weighs a few ounces less than the ThinkPad X61, despite offering the same 12.1-inch wide screen and a bigger keyboard. The bright little screen has an easy-to-read 1280-by-800-pixel resolution, making it quite comfortable for work on the go. And the built-in Webcam keeps you in visual touch with your colleagues.

The redesigned keyboard is as big as the ones that members of Lenovo's ThinkPad T series carry, and it has all the same amenities: spill resistance, dedicated page up and page down keys, and the all-important ThinkVantage button. The ThinkVantage application suite offers one-touch access to the onboard user manual as well as to recovery, security, and other crucial utilities. A fingerprint reader rounds out the package. What's missing: a touchpad. Many ThinkPads offer both a touchpad and aneaserhead as pointing devices, but not the X200.

The review unit Lenovo sent us came with 2GB of RAM and a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, and it notched a WorldBench 6 score of 88, putting it only 14 points behind the fastest laptop we've tested to date. As you might expect, the X200's integrated video graphics can handle only simple games. But the X200's battery life soars. Lenovo has expanded its battery line to three choices, topped by the powerful nine-cell model that our X200 carried. Though this battery extends the back of the notebook by about half an inch and brought our unit's weight to 3.7 pounds (not including power adapter), the payoff was almost nine hours of juice on a single charge.

Unless you already have a spare external USB optical drive on hand, you'll have to shell out $219 extra for Lenovo's Ultrabase docking slice to get an internal drive bay. (A Blu-ray optical drive costs even more). On the bright side, the modular bay accepts other devices like a second battery or second hard drive. But the docking slice also offers some nifty new connections, most notably a place to charge yet another battery and a DisplayPort display interface that combines high-def audio and video in a single connector.

Of course, ultraportable ThinkPads have always used the space they save by omitting a built-in optical drive to add lots of laptop features that are missing from same-size competition. The X200 features three USB ports, microphone and headphone ports, a VGA port, and an ethernet connection. You have your choice of a modem jack with a five-in-one memory card slot, or a less expensive configuration offering an SD Card slot but no modem.

The X200 feels tough as nails, thanks to a magnesium alloy lid and bottom. A crash-proof solid-state hard drive up to 64GB is optional (we got a standard 160GB platter-based hard drive, however). For future upgrading the X200's two memory chip slots are located in an easy-to-access bottom compartment, and the hard drive can be removed from the right side of the unit after unscrewing one bottom screw.

A full array of wireless communications options come built in: 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WWAN, and even GPS. Before the end of the year Lenovo should offer WiMax, too--and a tablet version of the X200. But if all you need is the world's best travel laptop right now, you're looking at it.