Acer Desktops

The Bottom Line: You could say that the Acer Aspire Z5610 has a few flaws, but it might be more accurate to call them sacrifices. After all, we don't expect that Acer could sell a 23-inch all-in-one for less than $1,000 without trimming a few costs. Fortunately, Acer chose its trade-offs wisely. You can find faster, better-looking all-in-ones out there, but none that offer this much screen real estate for such an aggressive price.

Specs: Intel Pentium E5300 (2.6 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, EPA Energy Star, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Acer's Aspire Revo 1600 might be the first Nettop we don't actively dislike. We'd rather have an Xbox 360 in the living room, but the Aspire Revo 1600 would be suitable as a PC for young kids or as a low-profile cloud kiosk. Thanks to its $199 price tag, you won't feel too much remorse if it breaks or you outgrow it.

Specs: Intel Atom N230 (1.6 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB Standard, NVIDIA ION LE, EPA Energy Star, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Acer's Aspire M5800-U5802A could use some visual polish, but get past its appearance and you'll find a fast, affordable computer that will handle any task you care to throw at it. It's even a decent low-end gaming box. We'd only recommend against this desktop if you demand a computer's appearance match its capabilities.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 (2.66 GHz), 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 750 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce GT 230, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

The Bottom Line: Despite its quirky case design, Acer's Aspire M3800-U3802A is an affordable, feature-competitive midtower that you might find appealing if you're in the market for a cost-effective desktop to use for upgrading. If you want the best PC for your dollar, you can spend just a bit more on another system and get much faster performance.

Specs: Intel Pentium E5200 (2.5 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 640 GB Standard, Intel GMA X4500, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

Specs: Intel Atom 330 (1.6 GHz), 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 9400, EPA Energy Star, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Personal computer

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 (2.5 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 750 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 7100, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 (2.5 GHz), 8 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 1 TB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce GT 220, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Personal computer

Specs: AMD Athlon II X2 215 (2.7 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, ATI Radeon 9200, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, Personal computer

Specs: AMD Athlon X2 7450 (2.4 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, NVIDIA GeForce 8200, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Personal computer

Specs: AMD Athlon LE-1640 (2.6 GHz), 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB Standard, ATI Radeon 2100, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Personal computer