Stories by: David Murphy

Looking at the Lenovo IdeaCentre C315 is "a bit like staring into the sun"--that's a direct quote from our notes in reference to the bright, vibrant display on this 20-inch all-in-one desktop.

Case mods: Few may do them, but many gawk at the crazy creations coming out of enthusiasts' basements, garages, factories, and laboratories. These mad scientists of the PC world strive to find new ways to present a common computer in a unique--and often awesome--light.

When you're shopping for a new PC, don't meekly settle for the default processor recommended by the configurator. Picking the right CPU is a personal decision that you shouldn't enter into lightly. And with so many options to choose from, you need to know what you're getting into when you settle on a chip for your system. We've rounded up eight of the leading processors on the market and put them through a battery of rigorous tests to help you shop with confidence.

How do you change the look of a laptop? I mean really change its look--just shifting around the wallpaper, screensaver, or Windows color theme doesn't count.

It's official. Intel CEO Paul Otellini launched a volley of 32-nanometer cannonballs at rival AMD with the official release of the company's latest dual- and quad-core Clarkdale and dual-core Arrandale processors. The launch -- spanning 27 different chips and seven individual chipsets -- marks the first time Intel has opted to stash a graphics processing unit alongside the CPU on consumer platforms. What does that mean? Smaller motherboard form factors, lower power consumption, and better cooling for the integrated chips. Expect to be able to get your hands these new CPUs as early as late January.

Clarkdale to Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad (and the North Bridge): Hasta la Vista, baby.

It's a tough market for inexpensive all-in-one desktops. Limitations on applicable system components tend to average out these systems' general performance. That's what makes even the smallest of features critical to a system's success--or in the ViewSonic VPC100's case, its mediocrity.

Windows 7 comes as a significant performance improvement over its predecessor, Windows Vista.

The speed of your network affects nearly every device on your home network, whether it be a home-theater PC, an external storage device, or a gaming console. For most networks, the transfer rate of a faster ethernet connection (roughly 12.5 megabits per second) is the typical speed limit. That may be okay for transferring ordinary files, but it's painfully slow if you're trying to back up a PC to a network device, for example, or to stream a high-definition movie to your living room.

PC World will soon be publishing WorldBench 6, the latest version of our PC benchmarking suite. What does that mean to you? WorldBench is the core set of applications that PC World uses to test all kinds of desktop PCs and laptop PCs. The results generated from this comprehensive suite of real-world test scenarios are a significant component of our reviews of the systems that pass through PC World's door. And because these tests all use actual programs and involve tasks that you might perform in real life, they're an excellent barometer for determining how PCs might perform outside of the lab and on your desk.