PC World editors

Greatest PCs: 16-14

Greatest PCs: 13-11

Greatest PCs: 10-8

Greatest PCs: 7-5

Greatest PCs: 4-2

The IBM PC is 25. And here are the top PCs ever, from machines you owned and loved to systems you've never heard of.rnIBM's first PC, announced on August 12, 1981, was far from the first personal computer-but, when it arrived, there was near-universal agreement that it was likely to be a landmark machine. It was. And 25 years later, it still ranks among the most significant computers ever.

These days, when you're shopping for a new lightning-fast computer or a slick DVD recorder, you probably don't look to just one source for information. You read PC World (naturally!), but you also see what other tech pundits have to say, and you read reviews at Web sites dedicated to the equipment you want.