A step up for Dell (DELL): Its new super-small Studio Hybrid PC actually looks great and has a few more living room-friendly features than Apple's (AAPL) comparable Mac mini, including a HDMI port for flat-panel TVs and optional Blu-ray drive. And it's cheaper, starting at $499.
The downside, for some: It runs Vista. (Partial recantation: As I note in the comments below, that's not a bad thing for streaming media -- I can't think of any Mac-only Web video, but there is plenty of Windows-only Internet video, like Netflix streaming and Amazon Unbox.)
See Also:
New Apple Pricing Strategy Bad News For RIM, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard
Apple's Mac Continues Growth Streak, Beats HP In Unit Growth
Why Michael Dell Is Still No Steve Jobs