There's not a particularly wide range of VFM scores in this chart, reflecting the fact that paying more for these systems generally gives you correspondingly better performance and features. One glaring exception is the Toshiba Equium 3000, which is far too expensive for the level of performance and features offered. Due an unfortunate technical hiccup, the Budget Home PC VFM chart as printed in the May issue of PC Magazine on Page 143 is incorrect, with the bottom three bars not corresponding to the correct systems. The VFM chart here is the correct version, and PC Magazine would like to apologise for any confusion this error may have caused to readers of the print version. This chart shows our assessment of the relative value for money for each of the products in this review.
Longer bars represent better value for money.
Products are sorted by price, with the highest price at the top. Where products have the same price, they are shown in alphabetical order. The resulting raw VFM scores are then made relative to the lowest-scoring product. To use the graph, first see which products fall within your chosen price range, by looking at the column of prices on the right. The best value product within that range is then the one with the longest bar.