Top 10 Home computers
01 Apple iMac 27in 2010
Stuff says
A beautiful body and a stunning screen, the 27in iMac remains the best all-in-one around
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02
Acer Aspire Z5610
A winning combination of performance and price, the Aspire Z5610 would be good without multitouch – it's great with it
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03
Asus EeeBox 1501
An awesome little media centre that comes in at exactly the right price
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04
Asus EeeTop ET2010
Not the most powerful all-in-one, but it's got all you need packed into an incredible thin and attractive package
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05
Scan 3XS Chameleon C
Bespoke innards in a package that employs heat-sensitive paint, cartoon chameleon vent cut-out and reptilian footprint transfers to get attention. This is one desktop PC you wouldn’t be afraid to show off
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06
Apple Mac Mini 2010
The mini's makeover has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait
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07
Commodore XX
Proving that mega-PCs don’t have to be ugly brutes, the XX also has specs to please the most demanding gamer
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08
Sony VAIO L
A clear performance winner, but the mark-up is just a bit much
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09
Samsung U250
Not quite as good as an iMac, but another excellent all-in-one and one of the best multitouch models around
Instant Expert
Until recently, those in the market for a nettop computer have had only one decent family of processors to choose from: Intel’s Atoms (ding-dong-dang-ding). Not any more. AMD (amd.com) has introduced Fusion ‘APUs’ or ‘accelerated processing units’, which combine the power of discrete AMD Radeon 6310 graphics chips with frugal CPUs, all on one slice of silicon. With DirectX 11 support and 1080p hardware video decoding, Fusion should form the cornerstone of some rather special, ultra-efficient home entertainment PCs. One contender is Zotac’s ZBox AD03 (£tba, zotac.com): due this spring, it’s an update of the HD-ID34, with an AMD E-350 chip heading up proceedings. Let us at it.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
1. Processor speed Still the defining component of a PC’s raw power. Look for one of Intel’s Core i5 or i7 CPUs, or AMD’s Phenom II X6, if you want the best. Remember, a fast processor may also need a lot of cooling, which could be noisy.
2. Graphics chip If you want to game on your computer, look for a graphics chip by Nvidia or ATI, and ensure that it has discrete memory. A sign that it’s fast enough for fragging is if it supports DirectX 11. Powerful graphics also speed up tasks such as video encoding.
3. Screen quality Don’t buy an all-in-one unless you’re sure its screen is one you can look at all day. Ideally you’ll want a colour-rich IPS or MVA panel for accurate photo editing.
4. Storage The fastest computers combine solid-state drives and hard disks for raw speed. Media centre? Get at least a 1TB hard disk for recording TV, and look out for Blu-ray drives.
