Group test: What's the best media centre PC?

5. Arbico eXcel A2540 Media Centre

• Reviewed on: 11 December 12
• RRP: £699 inc VAT & Delivery
• Rating:

The Arbico eXcel offers some great features such as a Blu-ray writer, capacious 2GB disk storage, and a 120GB SSD for real responsiveness. However, processor performance is lacklustre and audible fans make it undesirable when quiet systems are available.

4. CyberPower Ultra HTPC

• Reviewed on: 11 December 12
• RRP: £749 inc. VAT
• Rating:

The CyberPower Ultra HTPC is an all-round system with clean, tidy looks and a Blu-ray writer that may prove useful. Sadly it's also far from quiet and only standard-definition TV facilities are included, although its AMD processor gives it a decent boost in 3D graphics performance allowing it to double up as a gaming PC.

3. Quiet PC FC8 Fanless Mini P

• Reviewed on: 11 December 12
• RRP: £1198 inc. VAT
• Rating:

The Quiet PC FC8 Fanless Mini PC is compact, looks good and performs well while operating silently in most situations. However it does look expensive against Chillblast's very similar Vacuum Mini 2 which may lack Quiet PC's hard disk storage but usefully adds Blu-ray support.

2. Apple Mac mini (Mid-2011) Core i5 2.3GHz

• Reviewed on: 30 March 12
• RRP: £529 inc VAT
• Rating:

At £529, the Apple Mac mini is the cheapest Mac out of Apple’s complete line of desktop and portable computers. But its superb build quality and feature set puts it ahead of any other compact PC. While it’s measurable a little slower than the 2.5GHz version, it will never be found wanting in most home and office applications. With an end-to-end computing experience this delightful, it must come highly recommended.

1. Chillblast Vacuum Mini 2 review

• Reviewed on: 11 December 12
• RRP: £999 inc VAT and delivery
• Rating:

This silent and compact PC manages to perform well and look good while providing premium features such as Blu-ray support and dual Freeview HD tuners. Its compact size makes it easy to fit on a bookshelf or more cramped environments.