Up-to-date specifications can be found on mini systems by AOpen. Like Shuttle, it's in essence an OEM company that offers a range of fascias and upgrade options to its Penryn-based PC base units.

Models such as the MP965 DR come with a remote control, making them a good bet for entertainment use. A slide-in optical bay and hidden ports combined with the shiny casing make them a good alternative to Apple's derivative Mac mini.

Ever-decreasing circuit boards

Even smaller motherboards and PC cases can be bought. For example, DIY fans can build themselves an entire desktop system based on a laptop motherboard. However, this can be an expensive exercise, given the higher cost of laptop-sized components. And keeping laptops cool requires some skill.

World's Smallest PC sells fanless mini PCs designed for use as discreet entertainment systems. The benefit of going fanless is the lack of operational sound interfering with music and video playback. For a setup that suits the home, either a fanless machine or one acoustically dampened to quell the whirr of fans and busy hard drives will make a real difference.

Silent nights

Another company that specializes in such systems is QuietPC. A reseller of PC and audio components as well as a manufacturer of its own silent PC parts, QuietPC deals in sound-proof cases for towers and horizontal PC cabinets. The latter are a popular choice for consumer electronics for the living room, where their horizontal design fits more naturally.

Finally, for some tasks, it's questionable whether you need a PC at all. Media extenders and music servers are good alternatives to having a PC destroy the minimalism of your lounge. Your hulking great PC can serve up songs, photos and films from the depths of your study, while you enjoy them in comfort on your sofa.

And now for something completely different

Most of the options we've looked at here are unusual takes on fairly standard PC designs, with various elements hidden, miniaturized or proudly shown off, depending on its purpose and its owner's personality.

More radical designs are in the offing too, however. Most notably, there are efforts to open up computing to the developing world and the less able -- hence the appearance of Linux-based machines and systems such as the OLPC XO, Gateway's ONE and the Intel Classmate.

Last year, Dixons Store Group showed off a carbon-neutral wooden PC while some distinctively non PC-like designs resulted from Microsoft's Next Gen PC design competition, including a modular tree design.

Finally, if your thirst for quirky computing has yet to be sated, we urge you to take a look at our feature on the future of the PC and our quirky predictions for computing's evolution over the next two decades.