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Desktop Reviews

A reliable spot for honest desktop reviews by Digital Trends’ expert reviewers. Compare desktop machines based on their form factor, rating, operating system, and more.

Senior Editor, Computing
Apple Mac Studio 2025 front view showing ports and sides.

Apple Mac Studio (2025) review: pure — if confusing — performance magic

The 2025 Apple Mac Studio ups the performance and the price, with M4 Max and M3 Ultra options that make for a complex decision-making process.
Lenovo Loq Tower 17IRR9.

Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 review: a great family gaming PC

corsair i5100 review 09

Corsair Vengeance i5100 review: falling short of its potential

The Corsair i5100 has all the hallmarks of a top-tier gaming PC, but it doesn't quite match the pace of the competition.
The ports on the back of the Mac mini M4 Pro.

Apple Mac mini (M4 Pro) review: a silver box of magic

The Mac mini, now with the M4 or M4 Pro, has finally gotten the redesign it's always deserved.
The Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti sitting on a coffee table.

Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti review: smaller and more powerful than a PS5

The AtomMan G7 Ti achieves the impossible. It's very performant, impossibly small, and best of all, reasonably priced. That all makes it easy to recommend.
The Tecno Megamini G1 sitting on a table.

Tecno Megamini G1 review: a beautiful mini PC

Through a collaboration between Tecno and Geekom, the Megamini G1 delivers performance far above what its specs would suggest.
Alienware Aurora R16 sitting on a coffee table.

Alienware Aurora R16 review: almost the final form

Alienware has totally redesigned its Aurora desktop with the R16, making it a much more competitive gaming PC in 2023.
Ghost of Tsushima running on the Asus ROG Ally X.

Asus ROG Ally X review: better in every way

The ROG Ally X is a massive improvement over the original, even if its price tag is a bit hard to swallow given the competition.
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i sitting on a coffee table.

This is the gaming PC you should buy under $1,000

It seemed like the era of gaming desktops under $1,000 was behind us, but the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i proves that sweet spot gaming desktops are alive and well.
The Asus ROG NUC 970 sitting on a table.

Asus ROG NUC 970 review: an impossibly small PC

The Asus ROG NUC 970 is an impossibly small desktop, but looking closer at the performance reveals why it's so tiny.
The Corsair One i500 sitting on a coffee table.

I hate prebuilt gaming PCs — but the Corsair One i500 changed my mind

The Corsair One i500 is an expensive gaming PC, but it still manages to feel worth every penny.
The HP Omen 40L desktop sitting on a coffee table.

HP Omen 40L desktop review: missing what counts the most

HP has the pricing and specs nailed with the Omen 40L, but it falls short of expectations when it comes to performance.
The Falcon NW Talon on a table in front of a window.

Falcon Northwest Talon review: you get what you pay for

Falcon Northwest's Talon is a boutique gaming PC, now complete with the very latest and greatest PC parts.
The Starforge Navigator PC sitting on a coffee table.

The biggest Twitch streamers swear by this gaming PC. Is it any good?

Starforge Systems has resounding endorsements from some of Twitch's largest streamers, but are the company's PCs any good?
Ayaneo

I tested the cutest mini PC in the world, and it completely won me over

The Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM01 not only boasts an appealing design but also delivers the performance you need for everyday computing and light gaming.
Apple Mac Studio front view showing ports.

Mac Studio review: can it replace my Windows PC?

Apple's Mac Studio is its most powerful desktop PC for almost all users. It's small, elegant, and fast. But the price is high when fully configured.
HP Envy Move front view showing AiO and keyboard.

HP Envy Move review: a PC unlike any you’ve seen

The HP Envy Move is a well-executed design, offering an AiO that's easy to carry around. It has some compromises, though, to hit an affordable price.
Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i desktop showing an HDR demo.

Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i review: an iMac killer in the making

With its price and features, Lenovo's Yoga AIO 9i is squarely targeted at the iMac, but it still stumbles in a few areas.
The back of the Blue iMac on a desk in an office.

Apple iMac (M3) review: When enough is enough

There's a new iMac, now using the M3 chip. It's not the iMac you want, but it might be the one you need.
Apple iMac 24 inch placed on a desk in a sunny context.

Apple iMac (24-inch) M1 review: Seeing is believing

Reinvented as the iMac for a new generation. It has to be seen in person to truly appreciate its design.
Dell XPS Desktop sitting on a coffee table.

Dell XPS Desktop (8960) review: a new performance class

The Dell XPS Desktop 8960 reaches a new level of performance, but it comes at the cost of flexibility that made last-gen's model so attractive.
The HP Chromebase All in One 22 sitting on a desk.

HP Chromebase All-in-One 22 review: Taking ChromeOS to new places

The HP Chromebase All-in-One 22 is all about twisting ChromeOS to a new place and giving you new ways to enjoy the OS on a desktop
Dell XPS Desktop placed outdoors near some trees.

Dell XPS 8940 SE Desktop review: The do-it-all PC

Don’t let Dell’s XPS Desktop compact size and unassuming good looks fool you -- this home PC punches above its weight class, both literally and metaphorically.
iMac close up on logo.

iMac 5K 27-inch (2020) review: An old dog learns a few new tricks

Apple Silicon Macs are coming, which puts the new Intel 5K iMac in a strange position. It may be one of the last of its kind, but is it worth buying anyway?
microsoft surface hub 2s review surfacehub2 handson feat

Microsoft Surface Hub 2S hands-on review

Slim, light, and intuitive, the new Microsoft Surface Hub 2S wants to change the way you collaborate at work. That’s a lofty goal, but as our Surface Hub 2S hands-on review details, it’s one this device seems well equipped to achieve. Just don’t hope to buy one for your home.
Origin Chronos (2015)

Origin Chronos (2015) review

Can a Titan X fit comfortably in a small gaming rig? Origin seems to think so, and has set out to prove it with the latest Chronos, a system that can even tackle 4K gaming – for the most part.
Intel NUC Core i5 NUCi5RYK mini PC review front

Intel NUC (early 2015 model) review

Want a computer the size of a Roku that can compete with a $1,000 laptop, and costs half as much? Last year we'd call you crazy, but Intel's NUC makes this dream a reality.
falcon northwest mach v late 2014 review nw desktop front angle

Falcon Northwest Mach V (late 2014) review

Falcon Northwest has put over two decades of experience into its latest Mach V, a flagship desktop that melds outstanding performance, attractive aesthetics and quiet operation into a perfectly balanced PC.
AVAdirect Z97 front angle

AVADirect Z97 Quiet Gaming review

Gaming computers have become outlandishly powerful, but they're also loud. AVADirect has built a computer for those looking to play in peace, but has eliminating noise also hurt performance?
Digital Storm Bolt II lower front

Digital Storm Bolt II review

The Bolt II is Digital Storm's latest attempt at building a high-powered small form factor rig, but is it enough to beat Maingear's liquid-cooled Torq?
Maingear Torq

Maingear Torq review

Maingear's futuristic-looking Torq looks like a prop from a sci-fi movie, is heavy and powerful, and is the most expensive desktop Digital Trends has ever reviewed.
Apple-iMac-2014-front-angle

Apple iMac 21.5-inch (2014) review

Apple’s 21.5-inch iMac now sells for as little as $1,099, making the lauded all-in-one more accessible than ever.
Origin Genesis gaming desktop review front face angle 2

Origin Millennium (2014) review

The previous Origin Millennium, which we reviewed last year, still holds several of our records for best processor performance, best 3DMark scores, and fastest SSD. Now a new model has emerged with customizable, proprietary hardware, and Nvidia’s latest hardware. Can it defeat its predecessor and push performance to new heights?

Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition Review

Collegiate gamers will get plenty of bang for the buck from Velocity Micro’s Vector Campus Edition, a compact gaming PC that delivers impressive performance at a surprisingly reasonable price.

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Senior Editor, Computing

Luke Larsen is a Senior Editor at Digital Trends and manages all content covering laptops, Macs, monitors, PC hardware, and peripherals. Around here we call it “computing,” but here’s a good rule of thumb: If it’s a computer or something that plugs into a computer, you found your guy. Oh, and these days, AI too. So much AI.

After getting a degree in music from the University of Oregon, Luke started his career in media hoping to get into music journalism. But when the opportunity arose, he landed in tech and hasn’t looked back since. He has over a decade of tech journalism experience, first joining Digital Trends in 2017 as a native Portlander, happy to join a tech media company that called his city home. Before working at DT, he worked as Tech Editor at Paste Magazine for over four years and has bylines at publications such as IGN, TouchArcade (RIP), and The Oregonian.

In his years at Digital Trends so far, Luke has covered high-profile industry events such as CES, IFA, and Microsoft Build, delivering on-the-ground coverage, breaking news, and first-hand reporting. He’s hosted countless YouTube videos, made podcast appearances, and written over 600 articles.

Some of his earliest tech memories include learning HTML through his MySpace account and trying to play Baldur’s Gate II on his parents’ dusty old beige box. These days, his obsession with technology is in telling stories with tech — in finding the narratives that ebb and flow through both technological advancement and product design, trickling right on down to our day-to-day experience of it. He is convinced that we all spend too much of our time using technology and not enough time thinking about it — cue a healthy dose of navel-gazing and philosophizing.

When he’s not endlessly debating what the best laptop is, Luke spends his days being a dad and a husband. Oh, and when there’s time (which there isn’t), he’s an avid fiction writer, player of designer board games, and still occasionally makes some music.