• PC World
• » Computers
• » Desktops

Midrange systems offer a balance of price and performance. They cost between $1200 and $1999 and won't empty your bank account, but they probably won't set any speed records either. Midrange systems include low-end, Celeron-based PCs like the Gateway GPC-466c, as well as speedy Pentium III PCs like Dell's Dimension XPS T450 that come with premium features.

New Category: Midrange PCs

What's a "midrange PC"? We define a midrange PC as a computer costing between $1200 and $1999, whose price includes a monitor.

Your old chart covered some of these PCs. Why make a new chart? Until this month, we featured 20 budget desktops and 20 power desktops. As a result of your feedback and our own research, we've introduced the midrange category so we can cover the systems at the far ends of the price and performance spectrum without neglecting middle-of-the-road computers--those that are neither ultracheap nor superpowerful. PCs on the midrange chart offer an appealing balance of price and performance.

What's different about the new charts? Our revised Top 10 Budget PCs chart now covers truly budget systems--those priced below $1200. These PCs, which make up the fastest-growing segment of the computer market, don't have the muscle or the luxuries to compete with the more expensive systems that appeared on our old Top 20 Budget Desktops chart. The new Top 10 Midrange PCs includes feature-rich systems that cost too much to be considered budget machines. The Top 10 Power PCs section provides buying advice on the fastest, most cutting-edge computers available--those costing more than $2000.