Labs

The huge 24 inch screen that Mesh have bundled with this PC is an ideal companion to the Blu-ray drive that's built in. These make it the only full HD PC on test - but it's capable of a lot more than playing movies.

The core specification is enough to handle almost everything you could throw at it. True, it lags slightly behind some of the systems in this group, but only because their builders haven't spent their money on giant screens and HD drives. An Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 processor is one of the better chips around - remember only certain tasks and programs will benefit from moving up to quad core - and helped drive the Pulse to a worthy 2D (general)

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benchmark score of 196%.

By coincidence, this figure was exactly matched in the 3D test by the brand new GeForce 9600GT graphics card. While it may not be able to scale the heights reached by this month's SLI systems, a single 9600GT is still an immensely capable card that can play the latest games. It also won't have any problems powering Blu-ray on that commodious screen, as our testing proved: playback was smooth and judder-free.

The screen itself is impressive, with a slight darkening around the edges not being enough to distract from movies or games. There's also a tiny hint of green in lighter tones but, again, it's not enough to interfere.

The inside of the case will also please those who like to tinker. Empty bays provide the option of adding more storage or optical drives, and a decent variety of expansion slots provide opportunities for adding a dedicated sound card or TV tuner - further taking advantage of that screen.

As capable as the supplied Logitech speakers are, they don't take advantage of the 5.1 audio to its fullest extent. This is a minor issue in the face of many positives: the still unusual treat of Blu-ray, great graphics, and fine all-round performance - all for under £900. Bargain.