The two Millennia Creative Studio models MicronPC submitted are nearly identical, which let us really compare CPU performance for the dollar. The 910a is based on the AMD Athlon XP 2800+ and the 910i employs the 3.06-GHz Intel P4.

While these machines are more affordable than the Dell, Gateway, and Falcon Northwest entries, neither system did as well as the pricier models on our tests. As with the HP the less-expensive components that hold down the price also hold back performance. With the Millennia models, we blame the choice of video card (the very good but no longer class-leading nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4600).

Still, one of the best tasks you could put either of these systems to, right out of the box, is video editing. While all machines in this review group have FireWire, the 910 systems take it a step further, including the excellent Pinnacle Studio 8 software, our favorite midlevel video-editing and DVD-authoring package. You can burn the files to the DVD-R drive (there's also a CD-RW drive). Playback on either system will be decent but not amazing on the included 19-inch CM900 CRT. The audio will sound great, though, coming out of a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and going into an Altec Lansing 5100 5.1 speaker system.

Regular office tasks will be fine for this system, too, as it comes with Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition. Most buyers will want to up the one-year on-site warranty to three years. These aren't the fastest machines, but for buyers on a budget, they should do.