PC Specialist Apollo Q8200 GTX+ review

We can see why PC Specialist chose this unit - it's one of the best built cases we've seen on a mid-range PC. There are also practical benefits, with four USB ports at the front of the machine complemented by plenty more on the rear. There's also an eSATA port, which lets you add external hard disks with much faster transfer speeds than you could achieve with a USB connection.

Inside, however, things look a bit cramped. The inclusion of a large graphics card, monster processor heatsink, and the TV tuner and wireless card, which occupy a PCI slot each, leaves limited upgrade potential. There's one spare PCI Express slot, for instance, that would take a second graphics card, but it's almost impossible to get at. Upgrades could also be difficult because of the sheer number of cables that have been left trailing across the inside of the machine; if you were to add another hard disk or optical drive, you'd have to re-route all those wires somewhere else. Still, with so much already built in, and eSATA available for external storage, upgrades may not be a major concern, at least for a while.

As well as impressive performance, the Apollo is outfitted with a decent set of peripherals. Now that huge 22 inch LCDs are commonplace, PC Specialist has seen the need to go further to impress buyers, and the 24 inch LG W2452T is bigger still, with a native resolution of 1920x1200 - enough to show a full 1080p HD movie and have room to spare. Large monitors at modest prices can be disappointing, but this one offered bright and accurate colour reproduction in our tests alongside a reasonably good level of detail. Viewing angles were a little limited, but that's a minor issue: this panel is more than good enough for general work and web surfing, and shouldn't disappoint in games and video either. It doesn't have an HDMI port, the preferred way to connect monitors for HD viewing, but its DVI interface provides the HDCP copy protection support that you need to play commercial Blu-ray movies.

The speakers are more basic: you just get a pair of Logitech S220 satellites with a large subwoofer, and while this setup is adequate, it can't compete with the 5.1 and 7.1 surround systems that would really do this PC justice. Budget for your own set if movies and games are important to you. The keyboard and mouse are also average; the Logitech units are comfortable to use and good enough for extended typing sessions, but aren't wireless and don't have any handy media control buttons or extra features.

Not much of your money has gone into these components, and the rest has been spent very wisely on the Apollo's core specs, so these gripes aren't serious enough to curb our enthusiasm. With great performance across the board, lovely extras and a monitor so big you can practically bathe in it, this is one of our favourite desktop PC deals at the moment.