Not as user-friendly - While we’ve come a long way since the days of home PCs being the reserve of the technologically minded, if you’re skittish around tech, you might be slightly put off by the concept of a connecting up a desktop or custom-choosing its inner workings, compared to the ‘plug and play’ nature of an all-in-one. As should be expected, the Mac Studio with Apple's latest M2 Ultra processor is the company's most powerful small-form-factor Mac desktop to date. In fact, it uses much of the same silicon and supporting hardware that the brand-new Mac Pro has, albeit in a far smaller case, which limits thermals as well as expansion comparatively. Regardless, our review unit tore through all of our benchmarks, proving to be well worth its steep but relatively competitive price, earning an Editors' Choice award. Who It's For Ergonomic mouse - You’ll be using you mouse a lot, so it’s important that it feels comfortable. Ergonomic mouse designs pay special attention to the contours of your hand, with natural button placement. They’re not for everyone, and can feel a bit strange initially, but can be useful for eliminating some conditions, such as RSI.

The latest Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing) is another entry in Intel's long line of mini PCs, and another that comes highly recommended. Leveraging laptop components to create a truly compact desktop experience, the Intel NUC 12 Pro is surprisingly powerful, and ready for everything from media streaming to professional work. With plenty of ports and a design that encourages add-ons and novel uses, this tiny PC is excellent for everything shy of gaming and heavy media editing. It's also offered as either a preconfigured system, or a bare-bones kit (you provide the RAM, solid-state drive, and Windows license), making it a fine choice for hobbyists looking to tinker. Who It's For If you're looking for a computer to use primarily at home or in the office, the choice will come down to either a traditional desktop PC or an all-in-one PC.Screen resolution is key when buying a monitor, and should be your primary concern. Anything that is less than Full High Definition (1920 x 1080 pixels) should be rejected, but you’re unlikely to find a modern day monitor with lower resolution. With Apple taking its 27-inch Retina Display iMac off the market, you'll find a dearth of premium all-in-one PCs, and the Envy 34 fills the niche nicely. Though not cheap, it's not prohibitively expensive, and its 21:9 aspect ratio widescreen is as effective as a dual-monitor setup for arranging multiple app windows for max productivity. One of PCMag's staffers bought one and edited this writeup on it. Ergonomic keyboards - Ergonomic keyboards are designed to feel more natural to type on, and can be a boon if you spend hours at a time typing. They tend to put less stress on the wrists and forearms, helping to cut down on chronic pain and repetitive strain. They take some getting used to, as the button placement is slightly different to a traditional keyboard. If possible, try one out before buying.

Media keys - For those using their PCs to play music and movies, a keyboard with dedicated media buttons can be extremely convenient. The inclusion of play, pause and volume buttons saves having to navigate to the program with the mouse. How to buy a PC mouse Wired or wireless - Most of us tend to use a keyboard in the same position, so it may not matter if you’re tethered by a wire. However, it’s always nice to cut out clutter, so one fewer wire can help keep your work station tidy. A good wireless keyboard can be more expensive than a wired option, but gives a freedom that you won’t get with a wired one. On all but the absolute tiniest mini PCs, you should look for at least three USB 3.0 (or higher) ports, at least one of which should be the newer, oval-shaped Type-C variety if you have any compatible peripherals that plug directly into that kind of port. Future-proofers will want to seek out USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 options, which both use the Type-C standard with increased speeds and bandwidth.If you use Macs for high-end multimedia or 3D asset manipulation and rendering, this is the Mac desktop you've probably been holding out for. While we weren't able to directly test many uses cases for the Mac Studio, such as machine learning performance, we did note promising accuracy between most our test results and many of Apple's M2 Ultra performance gains. If you don't necessarily need the huge expansion available in the Mac Pro, then save yourself tens of thousands with the Mac Studio. Wired or wireless - A wireless mouse is arguably more useful if it’s being used with a laptop, but if you want a wire-free work surface, then they can be a great choice for a desktop, too. As the power drain on a wireless mouse is low, you’ll find that the battery life is excellent, with one set lasting you for months. Some models are rechargeable too. Less powerful - as mentioned above, they often use laptop-grade components instead of more powerful desktop-grade ones. This is fine, but if absolute performance is a must, you should opt for a big tower instead.