The Mediagate MG-350HD is an excellent all-in-one home media solution -- as long as you're not timid about installing a hard drive.

Supports multiple file formats, Simple interface, Can stream media wirelessly, Can read direct from USB, Variety of video connections

No HDMI, Slow boot cycle, Fiddly wireless setup, Can't copy directly from USB drives, Ordinary remote

Early adopters will love the Pro 2's excellent media centre features, but the current dearth of Blu-ray content will deter many.

Decent optical mouse, Good speakerphone mode

Have to download drivers, Sometimes won't switch modes, Only works with Skype, Handheld mode looks quite ridiculous, Local pricing is a bit costly

The Yappermouse delivers on its promise of being a mouse that talks, although it'll only talk to the Skype network. It's not without its flaws, and we'd like to see a slightly lower local pricing model, but if you need a speakerphone for travelling and ca...

The Enspire AVR-200 is an attractive, entry-level home theatre PC that boasts a seven-day EPG, the intuitive Windows MCE recording interface and dual TV tuners.

Highly affordable, Intuitive Windows MCE interface, Great remote, Copious connectivity options

Core package lacks the cabling required to interface with a display, No user manual included as yet, Lacks a card reader, Not powerful enough for gaming or intense content creation

An attractive, entry-level home theatre PC that boasts a seven-day EPG, the intuitive Windows MCE recording interface and dual TV tuners.

Despite bearing an uncanny resemblance to a regular PC, the HP m7199a's feature-set makes it more than worthy of a place in most living rooms.

Extremely powerful �- capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously with little slow-down, Intuitive Windows MCE interface, Hot-swappable hard drive bay, Dual TV tuner, Copious connectivity options, 9-in-1 card reader enables speedy photo transfer...

Tower chassis design, No EPG, Bundled LCD monitor lacks a DVI connector, External speakers and Personal Media Drive cost extra

Claritas' 3500MCE comes closest to realising the ideal Australian Media Centre ? and they even get the spelling right.

Integrated ICE Guide, It's media center that doesn't look like a PC, Opus can actually spell "Media Centre? -- unlike Microsoft.

Physically large, More than a few trailing cables

Opus' 3500MCE comes closest to realising the ideal Australian Media Centre ? and they even get the spelling right.

The best digital media centre yet. Has all the features you could want, and is easy to use.

Easy to setup up and use, Does everything a media centre should

Still a bit large for a living room appliance, Noisy internal fans

As well as running regular Windows apps, this Media Center PCs allows you to manage digital pictures, music files, TV, and video via remote control.

Decent specification for a mid-range home PC, Strong application performance

Inappropriate for the Media Center's intended environment, the living room, Lacking in audio and video outputs

A reasonable PC, but totally misses the point of Media Center. As such, it's essentially a PC that happens to be running Media Center rather than the other way around.

HP includes lots of nifty extras in their Media Center PCs, including Media Card slots and optional storage bays.

Supports a removable, hot-swappable hard drive, Media Center OS has a great interface for outputting to TV, Wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control provide freedom, 9-in-1 media card reader for quick tranfer of photos

Still looks like a traditional PC, The optional hard drive costs extra

HP's Media Center PC is a great entertainment PC for displaying photos, watching movies and playing games in your bedroom or home office, but the form factor isn't suited for a spot in your living room.