Digital Home Thoughts: Lenovo's ThinkCentre M75e + Two L1951P 19' Monitors: Enterprise Computing Bliss?

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Lenovo's ThinkCentre M75e + Two L1951P 19" Monitors: Enterprise Computing Bliss?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 09:00 AM

What's Under The Hood?

The M75e can be configured with a variety of hardware options; with a starting price tag of $484 USD, the entry level M75e comes equipped with a 2.8 Ghz AMD Sempron 145 AM3 Processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 250 GB hard drive, and no optical drive. On the other end of the spectrum is the M75e that I was sent, which rings in at $763 USD:

  • CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 CPU @ 3 Ghz
  • Chipset: AMD 760G + SB710
  • RAM: 4 GB DDR3 1066 (2 x 2 GB chips, four slots)
  • Audio: HD Audio (Realtek)
  • Graphics: ATI Radeon 3000
  • Networking: Marvell Yukon 88E8057 (10M/100M/1000M Gigabit Ethernet)
  • Hard Drive: 500 GB 7200 RPM (unknown brand)
  • Optical Drive: CD/DVD burner (unknown speed)
  • Power Supply: 240 watt, 85% efficient
  • Ports: (4) SATA II, (2) Serial (1 standard, 1 optional), (2) PS/2 (standard), (1) VGA + DVI, (8) USB ports (2 front, 4 rear, 2 internal)
  • Slots: (1) PCI slot, (2) PCI-e x1 slot, (1) PCI-e x16 slot (Graphics slot)
  • Internal Bays: (1) Internal 3.5", (1) External 5.25", (1) Slim Bay (for Memory Card Reader)
  • Size: 335mm x 99mm x 382mm (13.2 inch19es x 3.9 inches x 15 inches)

Figure 3: You're looking at 38 inches of monitor workspace.

The 500 GB hard drive is partitioned into two pieces; the 454 GB Windows 7 partition has 19.5 GB used up when initially booted into Windows 7. The other partition, 9.76 GB in size, has 6.07 GB used up for the system recovery image. The drive, when benchmarked by HD Tune Pro 4.5, clocked in at 60.2 MB/s minimum read speeds, 125.9 MB/s maximum read speeds, and an average read speed of 102.3 MB/s - along with an access time if 14.1 ms. It's no SSD, but it's a reasonably fast hard drive.

Worth noting is that the motherboard has four RAM slots; it's rare to find a system at this price point capable of rocking 16 GB of RAM - most have two slots and top out at 8 GB. If you're a business running RAM-intensive application, having a 16 GB ceiling is a big plus.

Figure 4: The back of the M75e has the ports and connectors you'd expect for an enterprise workstation.

The M75e relies upon the AMD Phenom II X4 CPU, clocking in at 3 Ghz. This 45nm CPU is no slouch; it rates a 7.3 in the Windows Experience Index. By way of comparison, my main workstation uses an Intel Core i5 760 CPU running at an overclocked 3.4 Ghz and it rates a 7.5. It's not going to measure up to the heaviest-hitting Core i7 CPUs, but for an office computer, the AMD CPU will shred through the largest spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks with ease.

Figure 5: The Windows Experience Index rating.

I'm not an enterprise guy - my skillset and knowledge-base tap out once you get beyond a dozen deployed systems. So in light of that, I'll simply quote the Lenovo spec sheet when it comes to the enterprise-focused features that come with the M75e:

"To reduce your dependency on IT support and to lower maintenance costs, this desktop comes with essential manageability and data security features. Apart from the ThinkVantage® Technologies suite, the ThinkCentre M75e also features the latest easy-to-use Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) remote management tool, helping you considerably reduce costly desk-side support visits. The DASH feature is even compatible with Intel® vProTM PCs. The embedded Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, Hardware Password Manager tool, onboard PS/2 port and the individual USB enable/disable capability optimize data security, providing you with complete peace of mind."

Sounds impressive, right?

What About Those Two 19" Monitors?

Figure 6: That, right there, is a corporate monitor.

The Lenovo L1951P monitors are about what you'd expect. These are corporate monitors through and through: one DVI port, one VGA port, and a small cable management clip on the back. The monitors have a matte screen, so they're easy to read and don't pick up glare from overhead lights. Lenovo doesn't specify what kind of panel they use, but at this price point and based on the viewing angles, it's not an IPS panel - it's some form of TN panel. At 19" across, they're only 1440 x 900 in resolution, which feels somewhat low - 1440 x 900 is my ideal resolution for a 13" laptop screen, not a 19" desktop monitor. I'm used to 1920 x 1200 and higher on desktop monitors, so things felt a little "oversized", but this is likely an ideal resolution for your typical office worker. No complaints about things being "too small" with these monitors. The quality of the display itself is what I'd call "middle of the road". Not particularly impressive, but nothing much to complain about either.

Figure 7: The back of the Lenovo L1951P monitors.

The bigger problem I had with the monitors is the lack of height adjustment - these monitors feel a little low in their stance. You can change the vertical angle of the screens, but once you do that, you eliminate any sort of harmonious dual-monitor set-up where both monitors are bumping bezels and tilted inward in a "V" formation. Given the relatively small size of these monitors, I was disappointed that a dual-panel on a single stand accessory wasn't standard - it looks like you have to spend $269 for the solution. Given the option to put the M75e horizontal, and the lack of adjustable height on the monitors, I'd have loved to have seen a dual-screen mount that attached to the M75e in some way - that would be a great set-up.

A three year warranty is standard on the L1951P monitors, and they qualify for a number of green standards.


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