Lenovo IdeaCentre A600

Sharp, angular, and ultrathin, the 21.5-inch IdeaCentre A600 Elsa Peretti Starfish necklace out. At $1149, it's seriously competitive, especially since it's so upgradable.

Its score of 87 in WorldBench 6 puts it in good company, but 28 percent shy of the leader, Apple's 24-inch iMac.

Though lacking in touch functionality, the display is strong, delivering powerful saturation and good contrast for gaming and Blu-ray viewing. Rivals produced slightly more contrast and richer black levels. Elsa Peretti Starfish earrings scenes on the A600 seemed brighter than they should be.

The system has six USB ports, a FireWire 400 miniport, a six-in-one card reader, and an HDTV tuner input. We would have liked to see some kind of next-generation connectivity. At least files will stream quickly over the PC's gigabit ethernet or 802.1 lb/g/n Wi-Fi.

The useful Bright Vision utility employs the 2-Tiffany Signature ring Webcam to gauge your surroundings and adjust the display for optimal, no-eye strain conditions.

The keyboard and mouse (a laptop-style touchpad) are integrated into a single device. Also bundled is a combo VoIP handset, air mouse, motion game controller, and media-center remote that's awesome in its functionality.