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Desktop digest: 13 things you need to know to buy the perfect desktop

Despite the laptop gaining strength as the PC du jour in recent times, the desktop still has a place in the home. Here are our top 25 things to consider before buying or building your own desktop.

Sony Vaio W

Attempting to create a premium-priced version of a netbook, Sony has added an HD display to the Vaio W. It's an attractive step-up package, but the internal components are the same as are in cheaper models.

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Reviews

  • iLife '09

    Apple iLife '09 is a great application suite for simple media organising and editing, and the addition of features like face recognition, geotagging and music lessons makes it worth the update.

  • Apple Time Capsule (1TB) Network Storage

    Apple's hybrid 802.11n wireless router/networked hard drive offers some powerful data backup features for Mac owners, but Windows users and those who demand speed from their 802.11n network will be disappointed.

  • Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard

    If you're a home theatre PC owner looking for the perfect input device, look no further. Logitech has melded the keyboard of a BlackBerry with a flexible cursor control pad into an attractive, coffee-table-ready package.

  • Altech Maestro Fusion

    The Altech Maestro Fusion is a beautiful system, but you'll need a TV and sound system to complete the picture (literally).

  • Enspire Vitesse XPS

    The Enspire Vitesse XPS is a good, all-round performer that should please the whole family, but we'd put it in the study instead of the lounge.

  • Sony Handycam HDR-SR1

    A very attractive high-end consumer camcorder, this is easy to use out-of-the-box, offering great features even if video quality could be better.

  • BenQ Joybook S61

    There's a lot to love about BenQ's ultra-portable media centre notebook, even if battery life isn't ideal.

  • Apple Mac Mini Core Solo

    It looks great, it's easy to use, and it executes the home-theatre PC concept better than perhaps any other vendor's product.

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Features

  • Five things still missing from Apple MacBooks

    We like the new MacBook Pro range, but that doesn't stop us from asking for more. Here are some items still on our MacBook wish list.

  • Format wars: the tech that should have won

    Did you love Laserdisc? Were you bonkers over Betamax? Do you cry yourself to sleep because BeOS never hit the big time? Fret no more -- superdork Captain Tech is here to travel back in time and save the format losers that should have triumphed.

  • Desktop shopping checklist

    Home PCs still have their place in the sun, thanks to falling prices and ease of upgradeability.

  • Top 10 mobile phones of November

    Nokia's cute clamshell, O2's mini PDA and Sony Ericsson's Walkman phone are what CNET.com.au readers have been researching the most in the weeks leading up to Christmas, with Samsung's 2-megapixel D600 and Motorola's RAZR also featuring in the top 10.

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DIYs and How-to

  • DIY: Desktop buying guide

    What you need to know -- from finding the type of PC that fits your lifestyle to catching up on all of the latest trends.

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Downloads

  • Brideshead Revisited

    If you loved the mini-series starring Jeremy Irons, now you can read Evelyn Waugh''s classic tale of Edwardian England''s upper classes.

  • Brideshead Revisited

    If you loved the mini-series starring Jeremy Irons, now you can read Evelyn Waugh's classic tale of Edwardian England's upper classes.

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The Explain Series