COMPANY                            MODEL          PRICE

FOR THOSE WHO CRAVE POWER

DELL                               XPS T700       $2,520

HEWLETT-PACKARD                    Pavilion       $1,899
                                   8575c
GATEWAY                            Essential      $1,399
                                   450SE


FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SCRIMP

APPLE                              iMac           $999

COMPAQ                             Presario       $699
                                   5460


FOR THE NO-FRILLS CROWD

EMACHINES                          eTower 400i3   $399

GATEWAY                            Astro          $799


NO MONEY DOWN AT ALL

PEOPLEPC                                          $24.95
                                                  a month,
                                                  for PC
                                                  and ISP
                                                  service.


COMPANY                            FEATURES

FOR THOSE WHO CRAVE POWER

DELL                               700-MHz Pentium III micro-
                                   processor, 128 MB of memory,
                                   20.5-GB disk drive, 17-in. monitor.

HEWLETT-PACKARD                    550-MHz Pentium III micro-
                                   processor, 128 MB of memory,
                                   20-GB disk drive, 17-in. monitor.

GATEWAY                            450-MHz Pentium III micro-
                                   processor, 64 MB of memory,
                                   10-GB disk drive, 17-in. monitor.


FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SCRIMP

APPLE                              350-MHz G3 microprocessor,
                                   64 MB of memory, 6-GB disk
                                   drive, 15-in. monitor.

COMPAQ                             475-MHz AMD K6-2 micro-
                                   processor, 96 MB of memory,
                                   8-GB disk drive. No monitor
                                   included.


FOR THE NO-FRILLS CROWD

EMACHINES                          400-MHz Celeron micro-
                                   processor, 32 MB of memory,
                                   4.3-GB disk drive. No monitor
                                   included.

GATEWAY                            400-MHz Celeron chip, 64 MB
                                   of memory, 4.3-GB disk drive,
                                   15-in. monitor.


NO MONEY DOWN AT ALL

PEOPLEPC                           366-MHz Celeron micro-
                                   processor, 64 MB of memory,
                                   6-GB disk drive, 15-in. monitor.


COMPANY     THE SKINNY

FOR THOSE WHO CRAVE POWER

DELL        If you're willing to pay for the latest and greatest,
            this is a good choice. It gives a lot of speed and
            storage for the buck. One caveat: Analysts expect
            Intel to drop the price of the new 700-MHz processor
            by early next year. It might pay to wait.

HEWLETT-    A great choice for music lovers. Has a CD-rewriteable
PACKARD     drive, a play-only CD/DVD drive, and recording soft-
            ware. It's a snap to mix your own CDs, either from your
            collection or from songs downloaded off the Net.

GATEWAY     A solid machine, especially for game players. It's got
            great audio and whizzy graphics. Gateway's friendly
            online support is a big plus.


FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SCRIMP

APPLE       This machine's all-in-one design and friendly soft-
            ware guides make it easy to get online--where its
            Sherlock search engine makes it easy to find answers.
            Five lollipop colors make the iMac the best-looking PC
            in the bunch.

COMPAQ      What sets off this plain-vanilla offering is Compaq's
            bundling deal. Buy a Compaq printer and monitor, and
            Compaq's $200 rebate brings the total price to just
            $797.


FOR THE NO-FRILLS CROWD

eMACHINES   It isn't pretty, and it's slower than other models. But
            it has a $400 rebate offered by Internet service
            providers, which locks you into three years of monthly
            fees--and makes the PC free. But beware: eMachines
            offers only 15 days of free phone support.

GATEWAY     It's no screamer, but it has an appealing design that
            keeps cables to a minimum.


NO MONEY DOWN AT ALL

PEOPLEPC    You get Internet service, a basic PC made by Toshiba
            or Compaq, and deals from some e-commerce com-
            panies, including 5% discounts from Amazon.com.
            PeoplePC promises to replace the PC every three
            years.


DATA: BUSINESS WEEK, COMPANY REPORTS