Lenovo A600: the perfect desktop
Desktop computers were finally outpace by laptops recently showing that most users want a small, portable machine rather than a bulky desktop. Still some users want desktop computers, yet many don’t want a bulky multi-piece traditional PC. For this type of user, Lenovo has announced its new IdeaCenter A600 all-in-one desktop computer. Lenovo claims that the A600 is one of the thinnest all-in-one machines to ever ship at only 1-inch thick at its thinnest point. The machine offers a 21.5-inch frameless screen that has a resolution of 1920×1080 with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The integrated sound system offers Dolby Home Theater sound and has a built-in sub-woofer. The high screen resolution is ideal for the available Blu-ray player option and an optional digital TV tuner is available for watching TV.
Lenovo includes an interesting remote control that not only controls media functions from across the room, but it doubles as a motion sensitive game controller allowing gamers to play from the couch with the remote only. The remote also functions as a VOIP handset and an air mouse. The machine offers Intel Pentium Dual Core and Core 2 Duo mobile processors and uses DDR 3 RAM form 1GB to 4GB. Storage space is up to 1TB and the integrated graphics support DX10. Buyers can option the machine with discrete ATI graphics cards as well. Lenovo says the machine will start at $999, but if you option the rig with Blu-ray, discrete graphics and lots of storage the price will go north of starting price very quickly.
Source: DailyTech
Comments(52)
the word "perfect" for this PC is a bit of an overstatement IMHO.
It's basically an iMac, except they've pushed all the components down so they can "brag" about a 1 inch thickness and also makes it look ugly.
The 'perfect' desktop for users whom value style over performance.
Apple: waiting for the new ones…with the new intel processor and the led screen this will be interesting.
yeah i agree, in my opinion it's just an iMac as #2 says..
APPLE SUCKS!
But can you play Peggle on it?
"only 1-inch thick at its thinnest point."
My computer is a few millimetres thick at its thinnest point.
Obviously I understand language better.
If a component fails it will be quite difficult to remove it I imagine. And if the Display fails, well…
small computers for home use suck. you will always have better hardware the more room your tower has. if you want small buy a keychain that comes with linux installed and a vga out.
so they basically offer the downside of notebooks (no easy, or cheap replacement or upgrade), with the downside of stationary desktop pcs (too clumsy to take it with you everywhere you want, to your bed, to another room or appartment). THATS THE WAY TO GO!
Awesome computer it will revolutionize they way we intergrade PCs and Laptops and I will buy one for sure.
Intergraded dolby, intergraded subwoofer and HiDef 1080p= win for gamers.
1 inch thick means thinner than any other PC on the market.
Will be using this for gaming PC and will destroy all other PC performance at the same price range.
Everyone hating on this is just poor, jealous, or own an Imac that is not the thinnest anymore and are mad, or just all 3 combined.
>>12
>>Awesome computer it will revolutionize they way we intergrade PCs and Laptops and I will buy one for sure.
Intergraded dolby, intergraded subwoofer and HiDef 1080p= win for gamers.
1 inch thick means thinner than any other PC on the market.
Will be using this for gaming PC and will destroy all other PC performance at the same price range.
Everyone hating on this is just poor, jealous, or own an Imac that is not the thinnest anymore and are mad, or just all 3 combined.
8/10, would flame again.
@12 Before you go smackin' your gums about who's doing what, why don't you first make sure you know what hating actually is? Ppl here offered pretty realistic reasons why the Lenovo "desktop" in this (paid?) review is impractical in a number of ways.
Also, "[...]showing that most users want a small, portable machine rather than a bulky desktop[...]".
Ummm, no. Who is this idi.ot and what makes him think he can speak on behalf of everyone?
With such success with the more expensive Imac's it figures we'd see this with the PC. These are PC's for people who dont devote much of their free time to their pc and would rather a sleek smaller passively cooled almost invisible less powerful pc over an overclocked big open cased fan whirring setup.
But a lot of people on this site i imagine would prefer the latter, i know i do. Rather then this sleek small low fan noise pc i would rather a motherboard screwed to a wooden board with separate boards for each component and a square floor fan aimed directly at the liquid cooled radiator.
But as we see with the Macbooks, power isnt everything… even though some of those imacs equipped with new core2duo's score some of the highest performance of any laptop and theyre easily moddable to run XP natively. It was smart of Apple to just give in and use pc tech, have Asus make their laptops and charge a premium for a clean easy os and good support. I dont think i'll ever go that route but it is very helpful to people with lives not devoted to their pcs:)
Their will be a split as were seeing now in the pc area. We'll have mostly sleek smaller pcs fit into more stylish cases that are integrated into more things as pc tech becomes cheaper. We'll still see the pc geeks who would rather an open case and would never sacrifice performance or heat dissipation for a sleek small stylish case. But with pc tech getting much faster and cheaper it'll start appearing in more things.
i prefer a bulky one i can tinker around with.
and replace parts.
and upgrade.
this is like the dvd/tv combo which was fail.
"integrated Dolby, integrated sub woofer…"
Yea, cuz my combo TV/DVD/VHS was the best f*cking component I have ever owned..*Smirk*
LMAO…This POS should appeal to the same idiots that love BOSE!
This needs to be said here this pc is HORRIBLE for gaming, if youre a pc gamer do not buy this. If that isnt already well known by just looking at the price and specs.
This definetly seems like a paid advert and #12 that responded seemed like a corporate guy. This pc is HORRIBLE for Gamers or performance minded people as the price to performance ratio is 2x as much as what you could get if you shopped on your own. The pc is great for people who arent absolutely performance minded as the new Core Duo's used run Vista and most videos very well but if you game DO NOT BUY THIS PC. The "discrete" ati graphics wont run even todays games at med settings at native resolution and tommorrows games wont be possible at all on the native resolution.
The high res monitor hurts the appearance of the games in this case, their is no way possible you will be able to run ANY game in its native 1920×1080 resolution with anything but the lowest settings if at all which means you'll need to scale down which if youre a gamer you know you dont want to scale down the graphics ever the game ends up looking jagged and artificial and like crap. Having a high res monitor with a low power card is a horrible combination for a gamer.
This pc is meant for people who dont game. Its a great pc for desktop use especially for people in a cramped area or who like a nice neat setup. Although for this to be a true-future pc that lcd needs to be equipped with the new duo-touchscreens.
Those things a variant of them are the future the performance keeps going up but the keyboard and mouse is over 30years old interaction between pcs hasnt been marginally improved at best. ive seen the touch screens are getting cheap and reliable enough were they will be used as keyboards and mice soon which could be the next step for pc interaction.
If you wanna surf the net and work in office then sure, for gaming, it just won't do, anyone who wanna play games would pick the older model when setting up a pc, vastly superior performance at a much lower cost.
Also, you could get a Wii, DS, PS3, 360 and a PSP, for the price you have to shell out for a good gaming laptop nowadays, no way i'm going for a laptop for gaming, it's just stupid.
I think that most people who prefer laptops are the same people who don't incorporate the PC with their Home Media system/Home Theater. Plus, as #19 pointed out, I can build a tower that can handle 1080p games at its highest resolution for a lot cheaper than a gaming laptop.
Again, any "all in one" components are usually a bad idea,i.e;cooling issues,no upgrading,etc…
# 20
you CAN use this as a home theater setup, it will run better and look better than any other in store PC at the moment too. What do you think the integraded dolby is for? pc speakers? its for dolby surround system mor0n. Add with the built in subwoofer you just saved yourself $1200 that you would normally pay for a receiver and woofer.
I will be using this as HTPC also, and cannot wait to use its built in functions that cost extra on an iMac.
Lenovo laptops suck. They don't sell. So Lenovo uses left over parts to create an inbred PC/LAPTOP machine thats only gonna last you just as long as it's laptop does.
# 17 says:
"This POS should appeal to the same idiots that love BOSE!"
You are seriously saying BOSE are bad speakers? lol have fun with your coby® 4.2 "surround" setup while bose has 7.1 True HD audio. If you can name one sound/speaker company better than bose Id like to hear it.
ya i dont know about anyone else here but ill stick to my standard desktop pc.
just build it yourself and dnt worry about buying all in one computers cuz theres always something about them that you dont like.
itll save you a headache cuz then you can make sure its exactly what you want
BUY APPLE NOT SOME GENERIC WANNABE. I HAVE A POWERBOOK G4 1.76GHZ, A MAC MINI 2GHZ INTEL DUO & AN IMAC 2.4 GHZ IN MY RECORDING STUDIO. TRUST ME I HAVE PC & MAC…..BUY A MAC!
@23, ONKYO, Some Samsung, Some Boston Acoustics and some Harman Kardon…it takes research. BOSE just puts it all together for you and charges 300%.
PS: Klipsche would blow you away too.
XFPS one from DELL is way better than anything that looks like it.
More perfect would be a 32 or 42 inch affordable tv plus pc.
In one box.
23 "If you can name one sound/speaker company better than bose Id like to hear it."
Bang and Olufsen.
If it can run Duke Nukem 3D and Photoshop then it's good enough for me. But I've already got an iMac anyway.
#20 said:
"I think that most people who prefer laptops are the same people who don't incorporate the PC with their Home Media system/Home Theater."
May I speak for all those people who are the exception to every rule: I prefer to work on my laptop around/outside the house, while my PC (used as server/storage/player) is indeed connected to my TV and HiFi and controlled by a media remote. But my laptop is my sexy workstation.
Next.
I have designed and built recording studios, custom home theaters and commercial systems for over 30 years, Bose is 100% marketing and they are overpriced. Good product but not a good value for money at all, just like Sony.
You can't even find a REAl high end audio dealer selling Bose, just low to mid end retailers (Future Shop, Best Buy etc)that sell to unsuspecting consumers from custom built Bose soundrooms.
For the money, there is much better than BOSE; Boston Acoustics, RBH, Mordaunt Short, Klipsch (getting worse these days though), Axiom, Status Acoustics. Bose isnt what its said to be at all.
@23,
LMAO…Yea how 'bout Jamo,Martin Logan,B&W,Thiel,Krell,Rotel,NAD,McIntosh.
BOSE = Better Off w/ Something Else…
@21,
"Add with the built in subwoofer you just saved yourself $1200 that you would normally pay for a receiver and woofer."
Yea & good luck with any kind of bass response built in a Monitor case. What ya gonna do, rumble the LCD right off the desk…Jackass!
@30,
Yes,You are the exception and I think I said "most" people not everyone…sorry.
I have the Bose Companion 5's. Got them off Craigslist for 250. I actually love them. People were telling me to get the Logitech Z-7700(?) with the "real" surround sound. Well, I live in a small apartment so I don't have all that space to spare, so Bose does a fairly good job as my desktop speakers.
I cannot wait until I se one in the store. I rather die for a throbbing bass boom banging me at the store's wall and rolling the nails off my toes. The integrated Subwoofer certainly cannot be matched with any 18" solid woofer, like a fostex, infinity, survnvega, bose or whatsoever, completely impossible, I believe. It must be run with antimatter!
So will this ship with Vista or Windows 7?
@ 32
is ONKYO better than bose? someone told me they were but I say no way. Im asking because I might buy ONKYO but heard is was a cheap knockoff brand.
I say the best speakers in order are:
BOSE
SONY
and then HK
@38,
Funny enough, I remember hearing how great Onkyo was from the BOSE guys. I believe they made a decent receiver but they weren't anything high end & they weren't known for their speakers back when they were popular.
"I say the best speakers in order are:
BOSE
SONY
and then HK"
I'd say, unfortunately, you are sorely mistaken.
Is movie about computer? Where can i download this film? Better yet, can i download computer on my lep top?
this is just happening now?
in other news: most people are idiots
…or at least not tech savvy
It's definitely an overstatement and over exaggeration, Those packaged models are still inferior compared to what you yourself can assemble to your rig. I trust my own judgment over some crappy Branded rig.
thanks again for more useless info.
@38
I say the best speakers in order are:
BOSE
SONY
and then HK
…..
Thats funny. If you are buying speakers, do not buy the brand but the speakers. Several brands have both good and bad ones available, try find the best for the price your willing to pay, search the net (or read hifi magazines if theres still such around)
Bose isnt meant to be a good bang for buck theyre just meant to be a really good setup for people who love music but dont love setup and have lotsa money. It was never meant to be the best bang for the buck especially when the home theater market is mainly people who want to set it and forget it.
But will it run Crysis?
@45,
YES… BOSE is a f*cking gimmick and a successful one at that. My point was that they charge high end prices for a low end product. Why do you think Cambridge Soundworks & JBL got so popular? Similar sound, lower price.
meh….
It sure looks good, but is it worth it? I bet the price on this PC will be a killer and the preformance ? Is it worth it. I think not
If you're limited on space and don't want a laptop, don't want complete integration and don't care about gaming then a Shuttle Xpc is a great choice. They only measure 7"(H)x7"(W)x12"(D). I have one set up by my 46" LCD in my family room to watch movies and browse the internet. The model I have has HDMI out so that I can watch Hi Def media either by Blu-Ray or movies I've downloaded. It's small, quiet and not that expensive. After choosing all my components (CPU, RAM, Hard Drive)the system cost me about $600 CAD. I use it as a media device but you can still use it as a regular desktop. If your a gamer this unit is not for you although I have seen gaming units designed with the same specs in pc magazines. If you really can't be bothered with building your own pc system then I guess this unit is good but I know HP has come out with something similar already and it has a touch screen.
Is this the new Amiga 600 redux?
hmm..
i would go for an good laptop on a docking station and dual monitors before i would go for this piece and i think its in price value comparison also the better deal
and we get less and less games on pc so it makes more sence to go for a console than an a600 stylo pc for gaming or a good desktop for gaming but thats already discussed enough here