Sony VAIO RB-series

We're a little puzzled why Sony offers single-core 64-bit CPUs in its midrange home PC line; it seems that a low-end dual-core chip would be much better suited to the task. But if you're looking for a Windows Media Center starter system, the RB44G has...

Clean appearance; versatile set of video inputs and outputs; strong core PC components; room for more hard drives; worthy support.

With no front-panel audio ports and no sound card, audio goes neglected; a dual-core CPU would handle multimedia better than the included single-core 64-bit chip.

This is a solid home-theater PC with basic features, but if you're finicky about audio, you'll want a more configurable system.