updated Like most consumers, you probably have an idea
of how much you want to spend on a desktop. But how do you
ensure that you get exactly what you need? The different shapes
and sizes, wide range of configurations, and seemingly constant
arrival of new and faster processors all make for a difficult
decision, not to mention the fact that Windows Vista, Microsoft's new operating system, is on the horizon. To help you find the right mix, we've outlined four common user types.
Desktop PCs come in all shapes and sizes, including this all-in-one Touchsmart PC from HP.
These days, less than AU$1,500 will net you a desktop with a dual-core CPU and enough power to quickly run productivity apps, view and edit vacation photos, manage MP3s and videos, and even play many of today's games--the core activities most common to families, students, and the general purpose PC user. If you spend AU$1,500, you should even be able to make the transition to Windows Vista when it's released and run the OS with the fancy Aero visual effects enabled. Spend half that amount, and in most cases you'll still be able to run common tasks without delay, although 3D gaming becomes a stretch. You might even find a dual-core chip in a sub-AU$1000 PC (you should insist on a dual-core chip these days, unless your budget keeps you under the AU$1000 mark), but upgrading to Vista could still give you trouble. Be sure the PC is equipped with at least 1GB of memory, and you'll be able to make the leap to Vista. Add in a 128MB graphics card, and you'll get the Aero effects with little-to-no performance loss. Apple has yet to state the system requirements for Mac OS X Leopard; while it's hard to prepare for the future with a Mac, given Apple's tight-lipped ways, a Mac Mini or an iMac will get the job done for most of today's day-to-day users.
KEY FEATURES:
AMD Athlon 64 X2, Intel Core Duo (via Mac Mini or iMac), or Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB of DDR2 memory
250GB or 300GB hard drive
128MB, DirectX 9-capable graphics card from ATI or Nvidia
DVD burner
17- to 19-inch LCD
2-piece or 2.1 speaker set
Windows Vista Home Premium or Apple OS X
Apple iLife or Microsoft Works Suite 2006 (students might want full-blown Office XP or iWork '06)
It's easy for the price to get out of hand with a power PC. In the US, Dell dropped jaws earlier this year with its US$10,000 limited edition XPS 600 Renegade. If you shop around, you should be able to find a more than adequate gaming or digital design box for between AU$3000 and AU$4000. Look for an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and between 2GB and 4GB of DDR2 RAM. You'll also need a large, fast hard drive--perhaps two or more if you plan to transfer and edit movie files--and of course, a DVD burner or two. If your goal is digital design, Apple's Mac Pro (the Intel-powered update to the venerable Power Mac) shows a lot of promise, and we'll give Apple credit for its legacy in this area. We still won't recommend an Apple for gaming, though, so if that's your aim, it's Windows for you.
The graphics card issue is a bit stickier. Right now we recommend either of Nvidia's DirectX 10-capable cards, the
flagship GeForce 8800 GTX or the step-down 8800 GTS. If you can put off
your purchase, you might wait until ATI releases its next-gen DirectX10
Radeon cards in May to see if they leapfrog Nvidia's current models.
And until Nvidia releases fully certified SLI drivers for Vista (right
now, SLI support is still a "beta" feature), we don't recommend a
dual-card setup.
KEY FEATURES:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, E6700 or Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor
2GB to 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory
500GB 7,200rpm hard drive(s)
768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX or 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS
Media Center functionality is built into Windows Ultimate and Home
Premium, so you could make the argument that a home-theater PC doesn't
need its own category anymore. Of course, you'd be wrong. We never really bought into the idea of putting a standard tower desktop in the living room, which is why we're glad to see so many ultra-small-form-factor designs like Apple's Mac Mini. You don't really need all the power of a traditional desktop to simply watch downloaded movies and listen to music, as long as you can output video and audio from your PC to your TV and your audio receiver, you're all set. You might sacrifice some video quality on the lower-end systems, and if you're really demanding in that regard, you can get a larger A/V component-style case with a full-fledged video card in it to help with the video processing. You'll want a larger PC, too, if you want your media PC to run Windows Vista, since the smaller boxes can't accommodate a graphics card, which is looking like a Vista necessity.
Another question to ask yourself with a media PC: do you want to use your TV as your primary display? Flipping through your recorded TV shows via Media Center is easy to do on your TV, but simple PC tasks, such as writing e-mail and browsing the Web, aren't ideal with the 10-foot interface of sitting on your couch and squinting at small text and icons. This is why we think that wireless networking and smaller, cheaper PCs have helped the media PC come a long way. By minimizing the cables and their own footprint, these less offensive computers make it easy to justify owning two PCs: one that's hooked up to the TV and a more traditional system that sits on your desk. The desk-bound PC can even store the bulk of your media files if your smaller system doesn't have a large enough hard drive.
KEY FEATURES:
Intel Core or Core 2 Duo or Athlon 64 X2 CPU (quiet and cool operation is more important than raw power)
1GB to 2GB of RAM
500GB or more hard drive space
256MB or better graphics card from ATI or Nvidia
Internal TV tuner card
DVD burner
21-inch or larger LCD or a direct connection to your home-theater display
Wireless keyboard and mouse and Media Center remote
Front Row, Windows Vista Ultimate or Home Premium, or other media management/DVR software
Graphics are less of a concern for most businesses, unless you run a design shop. At minimum, you'll want a system with enough power (read: dual-core CPU) for multitasking your daily office chores. The money you save on the graphics you can put toward a larger flat-panel display and a better warranty. Vista-preparedness complicates matters a little. Microsoft recommends at least 512MB of system memory and a DirectX 9-capable graphics card, and it ups the specs to 1GB of RAM and at least 128MB of independent video memory for Vista Premium with Aero. Of course, an iMac will get the job done, too, though at a higher price than your typical business PC.
KEY FEATURES:
Midrange AMD Athlon 64 X2 or Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB of DDR memory
250GB or 300GB hard drive
DVD burner
128MB ATI or Nvidia graphics card
19- or 21-inch LCD
Windows XP Pro or Mac OS X
Microsoft Office XP or Works Suite 2006, or Apple iWork '06
The variety in desktop shape and size has only gotten broader. Traditional towers are still popular because they offer the most room for expansion. But space-saving, small-form-factor PCs have grown even smaller in the last year. Living room-friendly, A/V component-style cases are still around to some degree, although we're not sure for how much longer, and thanks to Apple, the all-in-one PC remains healthy.
The small-form-factor (SFF) case is in a bit of a transition phase right now, because the bread-box-size design we normally think of is starting to look clunky compared to even smaller case designs that have cropped up, such as that of the Mac Mini and others. This doesn't mean that we expect the traditional SFF case to disappear, though. We've been surprised at the number of features desktop vendors have been able to cram into the ultra-SFF boxes, but what those ultrasmall cases can't accommodate is expansion cards. So for most gaming, digital video encoding, and other tasks normally aided by PCI and PCI Express cards, you'll need the bigger little box.
Popularised by the iMac, the all-in-one PC is a desktop with a built-in monitor. The desktop components (processor, memory, hard drive, and such) may be in the base or hidden behind the flat-panel display itself. Like a SFF desktop, an all-in-one limits expansion, but many boast advanced features, such as DVD burners and TV tuners. Because the display and the computer itself are enclosed in a single box, they're generally more space efficient than a traditional tower-and-monitor combination. On the other hand, the PC components will become obsolete faster than the LCD, one drawback of having the two so tightly integrated. If you have a small space in which to setup your computer, an all-in-one can save the day.
Your home theatre looks like a cross between a sci-fi movie set and a Philippe Starck hotel lobby, so why destroy the vibe with a boxy desktop PC? A small percentage of dedicated Media Center PCs are built into low, wide cases, designed to fit in among the cable boxes, DVD players, and video game consoles in the typical home theatre. Some call them "living room PCs," others "A/V-style" or "rack-mount systems," although very few are ever actually mounted in equipment racks, and you're likely to find extras such as LED displays and copious audio and video connections. A trade-off for some smaller models is half-height expansion card slots or no slots at all, limiting possible upgrades.
The box no longer has to be beige, but the basic design of the tried-and-true midtower case remains the same: several internal and external drive bays, PCI Express and regular PCI slots for expansion, and a long list of ports on the front and the back for connecting peripherals, such as digital cameras and printers. You'll still find the trusty midtower case under many desks.
If you are a serious speed junkie, then this is your hot rod. The interior space allows for plenty of expansion room, with many internal and external bays for both optical drives and hard drives. It should also include an x16 PCI Express slot or two for high-end 3D gaming cards, as well as at least five PCI or x1 PCI Express slots.
Desktops' specs and prices vary widely, from budget boxes for basic tasks such as word processing and e-mailing to performance PCs for playing the latest 3D games or editing digital video. The speed and the type of processor and memory you choose will play a large role in determining overall system performance. Here, we'll help you navigate the many choices you have in this area.
The brains of any PC is the CPU, or central processing unit. It is the single most important component of a desktop PC. Generally speaking, the faster the processor speed the better your performance, but once you really start to look into the complex world of CPUs, you'll realize that determining which CPU is the best for you is a little more complicated than merely counting gigahertz. For one, of the two major PC chip players, AMD and Intel, AMD's chips feature lower clock speeds than similarly performing Intel chips. And secondly, most new mainstream and high-end PCs come with dual-core chips in them, meaning two processing brains on one physical piece of silicon.
If that seems like more CPU than you need, don't worry, dual-core PCs are still affordable, and they're becoming the norm. Apple's AU$1299 Mac Mini Core Duo is a dual-core system, and we've seen complete Windows PCs for sub-$AU1400. Dual core has yet to hit the truly budget sub-AU$1000 computers, but it's only a matter of time. And it's a good thing, too, because dual-core chips are good at multitasking, processing digital media, and taking care of all the other modern tasks for which we use computers. And Windows Vista will benefit particularly from a dual-core chip, as it's been written specifically with them in mind.
Right now, the superior chip technology comes from Intel, in the form of its new Core 2 Duo processors. Released in July 2006, they give you more performance--for less money--than AMD's competing Athlon 64 X2 chips. Where AMD could have an advantage is with the special low-power versions of its X2s. They aren't available everywhere yet (HP's desktops will be among the only systems with them at first), but their benefit is that they will bring more processing power to smaller PCs that typically require a delicate balance of power and heat management. So if you're not concerned about size, we recommend Intel's Core 2 Duo chips, but keep an eye out for reviews of AMD's lower-power CPUs, as they could give AMD a leg up in smaller PCs.
PROCESSOR
DESKTOP TYPE
PROS AND CONS
AMD Athlon 64
Budget or mainstream
You might still find some of these single core chips in lower-end PCs. They were solid performers in their day but have since been outpaced in price and performance by other CPUs from both AMD and Intel. We wouldn't suggest paying more than AU$700 for a PC with one of these chips in it.
AMD Athlon 64 FX
Performance
AMD's high-end dual-core line recently had its performance crown taken away by Intel's Core 2 Duo CPUs. Even after AMD fired back by reducing prices, the FX series still couldn't compete with Intel in price/performance. They're plenty fast, and if you purchase a PC with one today, it will last you for a long time, but you should see PCs with faster Intel Core 2 Duo chips for less.
AMD Athlon 64 X2
Budget to performance
Like the Athlon 64 FX chips, this former mainstream dual-core CPU of choice has been overtaken by Intel's Core 2 Duo chips. Their remaining advantage lies in the Energy Efficient editions that are supposedly easy to cool and nearly as powerful as their full-wattage counterparts. HP bought out the entire first batch of Energy Efficient chips, and we're eager to get our hands on the first desktops to use them to see if they live up to the expecations. Otherwise, we don't recommend an Athlon 64 X2-based desktop unless the price is significantly less than that of a Core 2 Duo-based PC with equivalent specs.
AMD Sempron
Budget
We still see these single-core budget chips in sub-AU$1000 desktops, but we expect that as supplies dwindle, they won't last long in the market. After recent price cuts, AMD's dual-core, 64-bit Athlon 64 X2 CPUs should be widely available in sub-AU$1,500 PCs, with the single-core Athlon 64 taking over the extreme low-end, rendering the Sempron obsolete.
Apple PowerPC G5
Mac Mini, iMac, and Power Mac
You won't find Apple's PowerPC G5 chip in any desktop purchased directly from Apple, but you might still find a G5-based Mac from other retailers. They're fast enough for day-to-day use, but we wouldn't recommend paying a lot for one, since the new Macs with Intel's Core and Core 2 Duo CPUs are faster.
Intel Celeron D
Budget
Like AMD's Sempron chips, we expect that Intel's Celerons will slowly disappear from the market, although they might linger in extremely low-end PCs. Intel's Core 2 Duo chips have come on strong in a broad swath of the mainstream, and Intel has said that it will transition the Pentium name on lower-end chips. While Intel hasn't officially issued Celeron's demise, the superior Pentium D or even Pentium 4 CPUs have become so affordable, that it would be hard to justify paying for a Celeron-based PC.
Intel Core
Budget or mainstream
While Intel Core is mostly a laptop chip, it achieved widespread desktop use, thanks to Apple's iMac and Mac Mini. Available in single-core (Core Solo) and dual-core (Core Duo) versions, these power-efficient, fast CPUs are solid performers, especially for small-form-factor desktop designs. We expect that they might not last on the market too long as Intel has updated its notebook chips to Core 2 Duo. You will probably still find it in Macs and a handful of Windows-based desktops, and as long as the price has been reasonably reduced, you should get fast, extended use from a PC with one of these chips in it.
Intel Core 2 Duo
Budget to performance
Intel's flagship line of CPUs are fast, power efficient, and affordable. We've seen them in budget PCs that cost less than AU$1,500, as well as in high-end gaming boxes upward of AU$5,000. These chips are dual-core, 64-bit powerhouses that will run current apps with no problem, and they're poised to run Vista smoothly, as well. The Core 2 Duo is our current favorite CPU on the market.
Intel Pentium D
Budget or mainstream
These mainstream dual-core chips were never well loved due to their lack of performance compared to AMD's Athlon 64 X2 chips, as well as their ridiculous heat output and power demands. They're fast enough for most day-to-day computing tasks, and you should find them in lower-end PCs. Just be sure to check that there's no similar deal on a comparable Athlon 64 X2-based PC.
The amount and type of memory you choose goes a long way toward dictating your system's level of overall performance. For a machine running Windows XP, 2GB is ideal, 1GB is fine, but we highly recommend that you start with 512MB at a minimum, along with a discrete graphics card with its own dedicated video memory. You'll see much better performance than with a PC using the bare-minimum 256MB of system memory or a PC with 512MB of memory and an onboard video chip that siphons part of the system memory for image processing. For Windows Vista, Microsoft is recommending a minimum of 512MB.
Written in one of two ways, memory speed is referred to by the speed in which it communicates with the CPU (400MHz, for example) or by its data bandwidth (3.2GB per second or PC3200).
For the most part, you'll find two different types of memory in new systems: DDR SDRAM and DDR2 SDRAM. Older AMD Athlon-based systems support only DDR (without tweaking), generally running 400MHz. You might see some configurations with 333MHz memory, but they're likely bottom-of-the-barrel systems. All current Intel CPU-supporting chipsets, as well as the Socket AM2 chipsets for AMD's chips, support more-advanced DDR2 memory, which can run at either 533MHz, 667MHz, or higher.
When deciding on the graphics subsystem, you'll come to a fork in the road. One path leads to integrated graphics, which come as a chip on your computer's motherboard that shares the system's main memory. If you have at least 1GB of main memory, an integrated video chip won't siphon enough of it for video purposes to really slow things down. For basic computing tasks, such as working on e-mail, browsing the Web, and giving the occasional photo slide show, at least in Windows XP, you can get away with integrated graphics. If your video needs go beyond the basics, however, or if you have designs on Windows Vista and its Aero effects, you'll be best served by choosing a dedicated graphics card with its own graphics memory. Gamers, digital media creators, home-theatre-PC fans, and anyone who wants to use more than two monitors will all benefit from adding a discrete graphics card.
If you're upgrading an older system, there's a chance that adding a card means buying one to fit in an old AGP slot. The newer PCI Express graphics card standard has been around for two years now, and you'll likely find PCI Express rather than AGP in any new purchase since the summer of 2004. Card vendors ATI (recently purchased by CPU vendor AMD) and Nvidia still make AGP versions of some of their graphics cards, but the vast majority of new 3D cards require a PCI Express slot. Make sure you buy a card that matches your expansion slot type. Graphics cards based on ATI or Nvidia technology can cost anywhere from AU$100 to AU$1000+ depending on the features and the amount of memory. 128MB of dedicated memory should be enough for the basics, gamers should go for 256MB or even 512MB if they're feeling spendy.
Particularly rabid gamers have another option: using two graphics cards. Both ATI and Nvidia's graphics chips have technology that lets you use two 3D cards in one system if your motherboard has two x16 PCI Express slots. The performance increase of using two cards varies from game to game. With some titles you'll see an 80 percent boost, and with others you might not get any at all. Both vendors outline the specifics of their technologies--ATI's is called CrossFire, Nvidia's is SLI--on their Web sites. Using two cards is a costly option that sacrifices expandability, so it doesn't make sense unless you're really focused on PC gaming.
Integrated graphics chips will suffice for basic computing tasks. If you aren't a gamer or a creative professional and you are looking for a computer for e-mailing friends and family, surfing the Web, and creating the occasional Word doc, you need not pony up for a dedicated graphics card. Below are some of the current types of integrated graphics chips you'll find in lower end PCs.
For the consumer graphics market, two companies maintain an overwhelming share of the market: ATI and Nvidia. Each company has offerings for every segment of the graphics market. You'll find plenty of older cards still available at retail, some of which might even be good deals if the price is right. Below is a list of the most recent chip releases from ATI and Nvidia.
A video card may benefit your PC-based, video-watching habit by improving the image quality a bit, but the real bonus of integrating your PC into your home-entertainment stack occurs when you use it as a digital video recorder. Unfortunately, the perfect setup doesn't really exist. Until CableCard-equipped PCs make their debut next year (in the US, at least), the only way to record TV content on your computer is through a TV tuner card. One caveat: Your digital cable signal may look great on your TV, but when you send that digital signal to an analog TV tuner in your PC, the image quality undoubtedly will suffer. This discrepancy is especially noticeable on big displays. Our current favorite TV tuner is ATI's TV Wonder Elite. Plenty of people use that and other tuner cards to watch and record TV on their PCs, but on the whole, the technology still leaves lots of room for improvement.
First, decide how big and fast a hard drive (or drives) you need. For example, if you plan to work with large video files as you make your way to Hollywood, spend the extra money on a large drive or two. Filmmakers will also want to be sure to invest in a DVD-recordable drive, and music downloaders will definitely want to include a CD burner.
Following the proliferation of digital media content has been an increase in hard drive size. Only four or five years ago, a 2GB hard drive wasn't unusual, whereas the smallest drive you'll find on a PC sold today is 100GB. For mainstream PCs, the norm is a 250GB or 300GB drive. Power users such as DV editors who need to store large video files can opt for a 400GB or 500GB hard drive or two, all the way up to 2TB (that's terabytes). Most desktop drives spin at 7,200rpm--the faster a drive spins, the faster you can access its data--and both Western Digital and Seagate have come out with 10,000rpm drives, though their storage capacity is somewhat limited at 150GB.
Most performance systems we've seen come with two or more Serial ATA hard drives. With multiple drives, many power users will use a RAID 0 configuration. RAID 0 (redundant array of independent disks), also called data striping, doesn't actually offer any redundancy, but it improves performance by distributing data across both drives. The PC sees the drives as one drive and can break apart portions of a file and distribute the parts to the different drives, which speeds the reading and writing process. A RAID 1 configuration, or disk mirroring, is less popular in desktops, although Dell offers it in its desktops the form of its DataSafe feature. RAID 1 doesn't offer a performance boost, but it gives you peace of mind by copying your data to both drives simultaneously so that if one of the drives fails, your work won't be lost.
Like CD burners of a few years ago, DVD burners have finally come down in price. We're almost to the point where DVD burners are universal because they've become so affordable. Choosing a DVD burner used to be complicated, thanks to competing DVD-recordable formats, but it's now much simpler, thanks to the dawn of the dual-layer, multiformat drive, which can use virtually every type of DVD media. You won't find every budget PC with a DVD burner (in which case you should at least get a 52X CD-RW drive); every system that does have one should be multiformat. If a system you're looking at has an old DVD+ or DVD- specific drive, skip it.
Blu-ray and HD DVD are primarily referred to in terms of set-top boxes for watching prerecorded video discs (the PlayStation 3 game console also sports a Blu-ray drive), but both formats are also available to PC users, and have some promising potential as storage mediums.
Sony's Blu-ray drives are capable of storing 25GB of data (or 50GB on dual-layer discs). HD DVD was developed by Toshiba, and its discs store 15GB of data (30GB on dual-layer discs). By comparison, a typical single-layer DVD is 4.7GB.
Blank media is expensive, around AU$30 per disc, and burning speeds are stuck at 2X for the current generation, so it may be some time before one of these two competing formats becomes a clear winner in the public eye. Prices will drop eventually, but for now, expect to pay a hefty premium for adding one of these drives to your system--an IDE Blu-ray burner can cost upward of AU$1200.
Desktop cases serve up a number of ports on the back panel for connecting the system's peripherals, such as a monitor, speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse. There are also ports for using printers young and old and others for hooking up any number of digital devices, including digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players, and handhelds.
Unless you're particularly attached to an ancient printer, you need not concern yourself with legacy ports such as serial and parallel connections, though they are still being supported by the majority of today's motherboards. USB has replaced these slower ports for connecting printers and other devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players, and handhelds. Many mice and keyboards also use a USB connection instead of the old PS/2 port. At 480Mbps, the newer USB 2.0 offers 40 times the speed of USB 1.1. With so many USB devices out there, we suggest you settle for a minimum of four USB 2.0 ports, and you shouldn't have to look too hard to find six or eight, with a couple of them conveniently located on the front panel.
Most PCs today have front-mounted ports that make it more convenient to connect digital devices such as a digital camera or MP3 player. No longer do you have to reach around to the back of a PC to view photos or refresh the playlist on your MP3 player. Pictured here is the front of a Sony VAIO desktop, which boasts three slots for a variety of media cards (Memory Stick, CompactFlash, and SmartMedia). And below these slots are audio and video ports along with a couple of USB and FireWire ports.
FireWire, also referred to as IEEE 1394 and as iLink by Sony, is another popular port for peripherals. The standard was developed by Apple and is used mostly for connecting digital-video camcorders or external hard drives. Not to be outdone by USB 2.0, FireWire recently received an upgrade that doubles the speed to 800Mbps. The two versions are referred to as FireWire 400 and FireWire 800. One FireWire port should do the trick.
Many systems have a blue VGA port that's integrated to the motherboard and accessible on the back panel for connecting the PC to a CRT monitor or an analog LCD. If the system has a graphics card, the card will offer this same port, while some graphics cards will also furnish you with a white DVI connection (possibly two) for digital LCDs. If you want to connect your PC to your TV, you'll need a system with an S-Video port, unless your TV has an HDMI input, in which case you can purchase a DVI-to-HDMI adapter. A few video cards also come with HDMI ports built in. This new standard hasn't really hit the desktop in great quantities yet, but we suspect that it's only a matter of time.
As with graphics, a PC can provide sound processing via an integrated chipset or a dedicated card. The latter option generally offers better sound quality and more features, as well as better performance. If you are after a completely immersive gaming or DVD-viewing experience, be sure to spring for a sound card. And if you have a digital speaker set bundled with your PC, make sure it has the appropriate digital-audio outputs, which are called S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface).
For connecting to the Internet, it's simple. If you are stuck with dial-up service (or you just love to fax), you'll need a modem port. Sometimes referred to as an RJ-11 port, this is integrated to some motherboards and, at other times, provided by an expansion card. For broadband, you'll need an Ethernet port. More often than not, you'll find this integrated to the motherboard; if it's not, look for it as an option listed as a network interface card or NIC. Recently, we've seen some systems that contain an integrated wireless receiver. Although your desktop will still need at least one wire (the power cord), integrated wireless functionality means that you will be able to easily add your new PC to your wireless home network.
Choosing how best to fill the inside of your PC's case is only half the battle. You also need to choose peripherals that best complement the type of system you're assembling.
The price of LCDs has dropped so low that we no longer recommend purchasing an old-school CRT monitor. For help deciding, read CNET's monitor buying guide.
For basic audio, you'll need to choose a monitor with integrated stereo
speakers or a cheap two-piece set. If you have any appreciation for
music, look for a 2.1 set at the very least. The number 2.1
refers to the two satellite speakers and the one subwoofer. If DVDs are
your thing, a 5.1 (or better) set will give you surround sound. For more more information about your speaker options, head to CNET's surround-sound buying guide.
The wireless revolution has spread to keyboards and mice. Now you can
find wireless varieties of each, often powered by rechargeable
batteries. Obviously, these devices will cut down on the dreaded mess
of wires that can entangle your desktop, and they also give you more
freedom of movement than their wired counterparts. We don't love the
idea of wireless mice and keyboards in the living room, since with the
right software and remote-control combination your entertainment
commands should be simple. But even on your desktop, the fewer cables
the better.
The industry-average desktop warranty lasts one
year for both parts and labour. Not all one-year warranties are created
equal, however. Some companies will dispatch a repair person to your
home if a problem can't be fixed over the phone or online; others offer
only depot service, which means you must drop it off at a local service
center or ship it directly to the company itself. If the warranty
offers the latter, be sure to find out who pays for shipping. Also,
check whether you need to save the original boxes for shipping; some
warranties require this.
Many companies will offer extensions up to three
additional years for an added cost. Whether it's worth it to tack on
another year or two depends on your comfort level with making repairs
yourself (or letting a friend or relative inside the case) and how much
you spent on the system. For an experienced user buying a budget
system, an additional $149 for a second year of coverage probably isn't
money well spent.
Many problems can be fixed simply by looking at the
included manual or by skimming a company's online-support pages. In our
reviews, we try to give you an idea of how extensive the help
information is with both printed and online resources.
For basic audio, you'll need to choose a monitor with integrated stereo
speakers or a cheap two-piece set. If you have any appreciation for
music, look for a 2.1 set at the very least. The number 2.1
refers to the two satellite speakers and the one subwoofer. If DVDs are
your thing, a 5.1 (or better) set will give you surround sound. For more more information about your speaker options, head to CNET's surround-sound buying guide.
