The latest Mac mini models have made some impressive gains in terms of performance, without gaining bulk or higher price tags. Still a great bargain, especially for those who already own a mouse, keyboard and display, the Mac mini's size and price allow it to fit into spaces and budgets that other Macs cannot. With its faster performance and DVD-burning capabilities, the 2GHz Mac mini is worth it, but if DVD burning isn't something you need, the 1.83GHz Mac mini still gives a lot of bang for the buck. If space is not an issue and you don't have a spare keyboard, mouse, and display hanging around, you may be better off with an iMac, whose superior graphics and hard disk performance may be worth the extra money.

The Dell C521 is a reasonable performer for the price. On top of the 17in LCD, keyboard and mouse, the inclusion of a media card reader accommodates the growing use of digital cameras with home computers. Test results indicate it will work well for most office or home tasks and any performance shortcomings could at least be improved by a RAM upgrade down the track.

The Pacstar Budget Gaming PC is a good performer and an indication that you don't need to blow the budget just to get a reasonable PC that has some upgrade potential.

The Altech Sputnik X2 is a good budget PC, or a good starting point for upgrading to a more powerful configuration in the future. We're disappointed at the lack of even a cheap graphics card, but the DVI output of the ASRock motherboard at least offers a digital output. We found it to be a little noisy for such a bare system, but overall it offers fairly good value.

Not contented to be just another typical business PC the Lenovo ThinkCentre A61e is an environmentally friendly, compact business PC solution with a lot of potential. It's not a hugely powerful performer, but we like the small form factor and quiet operation, plus the optional solar panel sounds promising.

The Hybrid represents a new wave of small PCs that are actually small yet functional and quite affordable. If you're after a small PC, we think the Hybrid is the one to go for.

Although the AlsoTech OfficeMate will get you by with a ready-to-go system that includes a monitor, there's very little room for upgrading. Buying this budget PC might suffice now, but in a year's time, you'll find yourself looking at a whole new system.

Although the ThinkCentre A55 system didn't perform quite as well as the Core 2 Duo M55, it remains reasonably priced and is well suited for business environments.

This business PC has an enticing price tag and is useful for multitasking, but it needs much better graphics capabilities.

The HP DX2710_03 (FH071PA) is a very capable business PC that is stylish enough to suit any home environment. Featuring a very effective processor, a wide array of expandability options and a sub-$1000 price tag, its only let-downs are the relatively small hard drive and the lack of DVI outputs.

The HP Compaq Presario SR5040AN may not be the most powerful machine around, but it comes with some useful features and plenty of upgrade potential.