PC Specialist Apollo Q9400 GT review

Once upon a time, a really decent PC always cost £999.

As the years went by and prices fluctuated, that might or might not include the VAT. Over time, you'd get more power for your money, but to keep up with the current state of the art, you always had to shell out a grand.

More recently, of course, things have changed. As PCs have moved from being a specialist tool to an everyday commodity, prices have been falling dramatically. Today, you can get a perfectly serviceable desktop system for around £500. And vendors aren't sticking there. The recent swarm of 'netbooks' have brought the price of a usable laptop down to £200-odd, and who knows, super-low-cost desktops could be the next big thing.

This is all very well for people who just need a basic machine for basic tasks. It's also pretty handy for those of us who can't live with just one computer, and would rather not spend a fortune on the second or third. But the bargain basement isn't the right place for everyone to shop. If you've ever tried to load up a couple of applications at the same time on an ultra-budget laptop, or struggled to persuade an underpowered PC that displaying a few hundred photos shouldn't give you time to go and make a cup of tea, you'll know what we're talking about. Low-cost systems may suffice for email, web browsing and other light tasks, but a lot of us need more than that from our PCs.

Playing the latest games, editing high resolution photos and high definition video, ploughing through big documents, and even processing web pages full of Flash and Java as fast as your broadband connection can deliver them - these are challenges that a cheap computer can't meet.

So this month we decided to shun the sale rail and test some systems at the other end of the price range. They're not cheap, but they certainly ought to make you cheerful. We started with PC Specialist's Apollo, which as luck would have it costs a good old-fashioned £999, though sadly the Chancellor of the Exchequer will take an extra £175 off you for the privilege of buying it.

The Apollo is not what you'd call subtle. Its enormous case would dominate even the biggest of desks, with styling that doesn't attempt to blend into its surroundings. The sleek black finish is highlighted with three chrome-effect discs on the front, lit by blue LEDs. These conceal the fact that the front of the case is hinged, giving access to the optical drive hidden behind, and giving a clean look to the large and well built chassis.

Disappointingly for Dr Who fans, the case is exactly as big on the inside as it is on the outside. Even though there's a 500GB hard disk in there, and a Blu-ray drive, there are still two more internal SATA connectors free for extra drives, should you feel the need for them in the future. The power supply is more than adequate to run a full case, so you could easily add two further hard disks to the already cavernous storage space; a pair of the same capacity as the original would give you 1.5 terabytes, enough to house even the biggest collections of music and video files, or to give you professional options like RAID configuration for disaster-proof backup of your data.

The included Blu-ray drive also lets you play the latest HD movie discs, as well as acting as a DVD writer if you want to store your own videos or archive any other kind of data. The only omission is the ability to burn Blu-ray discs, which are currently too expensive to be practical but will soon come down. The Apollo has an HDMI video output, always a useful addition to HD-equipped machines, so you can hook the PC up to an HDTV or a high-end monitor for movie viewing. Another advantage is that audio and video are handled by the same cable, reducing clutter and making your setup less complicated.