What's a versatile PC that will last?
November 16, 2005

Submitted by: Steven F., via e-mail
Help! I'm trying to find a new PC for my 12-year-old son. We're looking for something well rounded that's good for homework and for some games. It doesn't need to be blazingly fast, but it would be nice to find him a system he can grow with. What do you recommend?

Rich Brown, Senior associate editor
Well, Steven, we've reviewed a number of versatile PCs recently, so depending on how much you're willing to spend, here are a few options. The "room to grow" question is an important one, because with Windows Vista on the horizon, you may find that you'll need to make an upgrade or two.

The Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge T1300 is an extremely capable, forward-looking system. You can opt for a model with AMD's dual-core Athlon 64 X2 4400+ CPU, 1GB of memory, and an Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT graphics card for around $2,000, and its motherboard is SLI ready, so you and your son can even add a second graphics card if you want one.

If you're looking to get the most bang for your buck, you might check in on Dell's XPS 400 or Dimension E510 systems. Both are well-built PCs, and while you can't add a second graphics card to either, both offer dual-core Intel Pentium D CPUs, and you can also configure them with Windows Media Center 2005. Better, though, Dell nearly always has at least one hardware bundle and/or rebate deal going, so if you time it right, you could make out with a steal.

Finally, it's not designed for gaming nor is it particularly expandable, but we have to plug the recently updated Apple iMac G5 for anyone looking for a solid home PC. We recently gave it a CNET Editors' Choice award because not only did Apple add more features, such as PCI Express graphics, Front Row media software, and an integrated iSight camera, you get all that at a lower price than the previous model. It looks cool, too.

• Editors' top desktops
• Entertainment PC resource center

• New desktop reviews
• Desktops forum

• Back to countdown index

Got a holiday shopping question for our editors?

Send it to us!