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All posts tagged "lenovo"


Thursday, July 26, 2012

When Bigger Is Not Better: Review Of Four Nettops

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 02:00 PM

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...-q180,3231.html

"Today, we have four machines from as many different vendors. Our focus this time around is more on the products themselves, particularly now that we know how the hardware inside each performs (don't worry, we're running plenty of benchmarks here, too). Each box has its own unique focus. Some aim to squeeze desktop-like performance into a diminutive enclosure, and others minimize physical dimensions while pushing performance a notch higher compared to previous-generation models."

Laptops, tablets and smartphones are all the craze. Who wants a big boxy computer that stubs your toes when you are surfing the Internet fantastic? For those of us who still like a desktop kind of setup, these mini-pcs can provide a lot of benefits. Whether they act as an HTPC, office computer, a computer for the kids, or whatever else, space can often be at a premium. Historically, I have seen many of these small machines compromise performance in many ways, however, its impressive to see one of them sport a Core i5. It will not boost your bitcoin mining operation, but for regular use, and possibly even some light gaming, it's great to see these tiny wonders pack a punch!


Monday, December 13, 2010

Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z Giveaway Contest Ends Soon!

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 02:06 PM

http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/...h-1308-usd.html

Just a quick reminder that the giveaway contest for a Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z is ending in roughly three hours - this all-in-one desktop computer worth $1308 USD is a fast, capable computer that would be perfect for a variety of scenarios and locations - check out my full review here. Enter the contest now!


Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Review of the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z: A Powerful, Capable Office Computer

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 03:35 PM

This is my review video of the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z all-in-one desktop computer. The M90z features a 23 inch, 16:9, 1920 x 1080 touch screen display, 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, a DVD burner, uses the Intel GMA HD GPU, and is powered by an Intel Core i5 650 running at 3.2 Ghz (with turbo boost up to 3.46 Ghz). The i5 CPU has two cores, and supports hyperthreading, so up to four threads of processing can occur. The M90z I'm reviewing now has 64-bit Windows 7 Professional on it, unlike when it was first unboxed. Being able to access the full 4 GB of RAM instead of only 2.8 GB helped me gain a bit over a 10% improvement in the PC Mark Vantage score; details are in the video.

Other features on the M90z include gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, a 2 megapixel Webcam with a physical privacy screen and dual microphones, six USB ports, DisplayPort out for running a second monitor, VGA input for using the M90z as a display (laptop, gaming console, etc.), an SDHC memory card reader, and audio in/out. It has a three year warranty. Read more...


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Lenovo and AMD Bring Low Cost and Office-Focused Performance Together in the ThinkCentre M75e

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 05:47 PM

I took part in a conference call last week about a new product coming out from Lenovo - the ThinkCentre M75e - and while looking at business-focused desktop computers isn't something we tend to do much here at Digital Home Thoughts, it looks like a solid product for business users - including small business/home business types. Oh, and we'll be giving one away in a contest next month - keep an eye out for that! After the break, some details about what the Lenovo ThinkCentre M75e brings to the table. Read more...


Thursday, August 12, 2010

Lenovo M90z: Got Any Questions?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 03:30 PM

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/landing_p...entre/2010/m90z

I've been asked to take part in a reviewers' program for the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z - you might think of the M90z as the bigger brother to the A70z (which I've unboxed and reviewed); it has a bigger screen (23.5 inches) that's optionally touch-enabled (my review unit is), 2 GB to 4 GB RAM, a 320 or 500 GB hard drive, a variety of CPU options ranging from the lowly 2.8 Ghz Intel Pentium G6950 up to an Intel Core i5-650 clocking in at 3.2 Ghz. There's also an HD webcam, a chassis that's easier to open and upgrade, and a few other features that the A70z lacked.

My plan is to implement the M90z in a slightly different way than usual: I want to set it up as a kitchen computer. The touch screen is a key component for that scenario, but without any special touch screen software (a la HP TouchSmart) I'm curious to know how well it will work.

Before I get started with the unboxing and first impressions video, are there any things you want to make sure I cover in the first video, or the subsequent review video?


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z All-in-One Desktop Computer Review

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

This is my review video of the Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z, an all-in-one desktop computer designed for the SOHO market (small office/home office). If you haven't already watched my unboxing and first impressions video, check that out first.

This is a corporate-looking machine, so it doesn't win any awards in the looks department, but it gets the job done in a compact, power-efficient manner. Prices start at $499 USD; the model I was sent for long-term review costs $729 USD. The A70z I was sent has an Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 CPU running at 2.93 Ghz, 2 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4GB), a 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, an Intel GMA X4500 GPU, built-in 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 19" 16:10 matte screen (1440 x 900 resolution), built-in 1.3 megapixel Webcam and microphone, a CD/DVD drive, and built-in speakers. Read more...


Monday, June 28, 2010

The $15,000 Lenovo Think Centre Giveaway Starts Today

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 03:10 PM

Just a reminder that today the Lenovo Think Centre A70z giveaway has started, and it runs until July 24th. Today, the site kicking off the contest is The Gadgeteer. Their content is quite simple to enter, so jump over and check it out!


Friday, June 18, 2010

Win a Lenovo A70z All-in-One Desktop PC in the Big $15,000 Giveaway

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 06:00 AM

You've probably already watched my unboxing and first impressions videos of the Lenovo A70z, an all-in-one desktop computer aimed at the small office/home office market. What's that? You haven't watched them yet? Go ahead and watch them, I'll wait.

OK, now that you've checked out my initial videos on what the A70z has to offer, you might be thinking "Hey, that's a pretty cool computer, I can think of a few interesting uses for it!". Well, lucky you, Digital Home Thoughts is one of 21 different Web sites that are each giving away a brand new A70z! That's 21 different opportunities to win, and over $15,000 worth of sweet Lenovo hardware up for grabs! Each site will have their own type of contest, so you'll want to check out each one on the opening day of the contest and see what you have to do to enter. Below is a list of all of the sites, and the start/end dates of their contest:

Digital Home Thoughts will be kicking off our contest bright and early on Thursday the 8th of July, and wrapping it up at the end of the day on Monday the 12th of July. This contest is open to anyone in the USA or Canada, largely because this PC is only being sold in the USA and Canada. Sorry rest-of-world, I didn't make that rule. Anyone that wins one of the contests is disqualified from winning in any of the others.

So what will the Digital Home Thoughts contest be? I'm not sure - I'm thinking this contest might be a bit different than some of the others I've run in the past...I might ask you to actually do something more than just post a message. ;-) We'll see though!

*The Lenovo above has a wireless mouse and keyboard, but the ones in this contest do not.


Friday, May 28, 2010

Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z All-in-One Desktop Computer Unboxing and First Impressions

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

Above is part one of an unboxing and first impressions video of the Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z, an all-in-one desktop computer designed for the SOHO market (small office/home office). This is a corporate-looking machine, so it doesn't win any awards in the looks department, but it gets the job done in a compact, power-efficient manner. Read more...


Friday, April 16, 2010

Lenovo Gets Creative Promoting the ThinkCentre A70z

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 03:00 PM

I haven't had much time to spend with the Lenovo A70z I was sent for review yet, but in discussions with Lenovo learning more about this product, they let us know about this video they had made - it put a smile on my face! I think it's great when companies get creative about promoting their products, and it certainly drives home the "no clutter" part of what this product offers.

Have a great weekend everyone!


Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Slow, Slow Evolution of All-In-Ones With the C200

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 12:00 PM

http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...ion-2-graphics/

"The C200 will be available in a variety of configurations, with up to an Intel Atom Dual Core D510 processor and Nvidia Ion 2 graphics…meaning the system may not be able to keep up with gaming rigs, but it should offer considerably better computing and media performance than a typical Atom-based desktop system."

Well, it looks pretty, but aside from the improved graphics capability, there is nothing that really stands out about the C200 to me, compared to many other all-in-ones. Much like a large portion of the computing industry today, there is little, from a specification view, that differentiates one computer from another. Each category seems to have specific tiers. There are the basic all in ones, that use an Atom CPU or something similarly performing, or something like the high end HP Touchsmart PCs. Even the IdeaPad S10-3s that was also announced shows nothing interesting. Perhaps that is why all the interest is in slates now. Netbooks and all-in-ones have already turned into commodity devices.


Monday, April 5, 2010

Look What Showed Up Today...

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 06:00 PM

What's in the box? A Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z - it's an all-in-one PC focused on the SOHO/small business market. While it lacks the slick design of the IdeaCentre A-series all-in-one, it packs a lot of features in a slim chassis. I'll be reviewing it in the upcoming weeks - it's the first all-in-one system I've looked at, since I tend to prefer the flexibility of a stand-alone tower and monitor. It's easier to get best-of-breed components that way, but there's no denying the space and cost-saving factors that are present in a design like this. Watch for more on this product after I open that box.


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lenovo Offering Hard Drive/Solid State Drive Hybrid

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 04:52 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/20/...oes-66-percent/

"You know, making that jump from HDD to SSD still costs an arm and a leg, so how about somewhere in between that gap? That's what Lenovo's offering as an option for the IdeaPad Y460 and Y560 coming in March. The idea with this RapidDrive technology is that you can have a 32GB or 64GB PCI-E SSD installed alongside your regular HDD (up to 500GB option), and the two drives will effectively be combined into one."

I was just complaining about the cost of SSDs today on Twitter, so this news is welcome - assuming that it's something that other manufacturers do with their laptops and it's not some sort of Lenovo exclusive. Let's hope we see this technology everywhere in 2010!


Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Lenovo Ideapad U1 Hybrid Out In June?

Posted by Andy Dixon in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 06:00 AM

http://gizmodo.com/5440054/lenovos-...optablet-hybrid

"Lenovo's IdeaPad U1 is quite the clever combination of multi-touch tablet and laptop. When you ditch everything but the screen for the slate-like tablet section, the device is to switch processors and operating systems. Oh, and it's gorgeous, too."

I absolutely love the idea of this possible laptop from Lenovo. While the screen is mounted in the body it has the power of a Core 2 Duo running Windows 7 via the base, and when you disconnect the screen to use it as a tablet, it switches to using a lower power Arm Snapdragon processor running Linux behind the screen. It will be interesting to see if this actually does come out in June as Gizmodo are suggesting, but if it does, then this is one I might just have my eye on. There are more pictures and hardware specs over at Gizmodo.


Monday, October 26, 2009

Lenovo Announces New Windows 7-Equipped IdeaPad U150 And Lots of Other Stuff

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 04:00 PM

http://hothardware.com/News/Lenovo-...deaCentre-Rigs/

"The U150 is just 13.5mm thick and weighs only 1.35kg2, yet under the textured red or black cover lies a range of features designed to strike the right balance between mobility and functionality. The ultraportable U150 with an energy-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processor offers up to 8GB DDR3 memory, 11.6in HD widescreen display and long battery life. The Active Protection System on the U150 helps protect the hard drive if the laptop is dropped or gets bumped. A new version of OneKey Rescue System, Version 7.0, performs data backups up to twice as fast and includes more powerful antivirus scanning that can be run even before loading the operating system."

Lenovo has released a bunch of new Windows 7-based hardware, and Hot Hardware has the full breakdown - pictured above is the IdeaPad U150 - a slim laptop with enough power to handle most tasks. I dig that finish - HP, take notes on how to make a unisex design that doesn't repulse your male buyers.


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Hands-On With The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 with NVIDIA ION

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 03:00 AM

http://www.notebooks.com/2009/05/25...ok-wnvidia-ion/

"Lenovo’s officially introduced the first notebook to feature NVIDIA ION graphics. This new graphics platform offers outstanding graphics performance without sacrificing too much battery life. The IdeaPad S12 will be available in the U.S. soon for $449. I got a chance to play with a pre-production IdeaPad S12 and shot a quick video."

To answer your major question, yes it appears to be able to handle high-def content without an issue. There is also a demo of them playing Call of Duty 4. Total price is expected to be around $450 US. In the video they also state that the Ion chip adds about $50 to the total price of a netbook.


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Lenovo Unveils The Ideapad S12

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 07:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/25/...dias-ion-chips/

"We've seen NVIDIA's Ion placed within a nettop, a motherboard, and now (at long last), a laptop. Yep, the machine you're inevitably peering at above (Lenovo's S12) is both the company's first 12.1-inch netbook and the planet's first netbook with Ion baked in, and it's likely just a snippet of the kind of material we can expect to see at Computex."

I have recently been of two minds about netbooks, nettops and their kin. One the one hand, I'm thrilled to see ultra-portables sell for a friendly price point despite what it did to the resale value of my Fujitsu P1610. Then on the other hand, with the sheer popularity of netbooks, it has set the expected computing and graphics horsepower for a typical computer pretty low to the point of stagnation. While it does not boost the CPU itself, NVIDIA ION at least puts a respectable amount of graphics capabilities in a netbook. The Lenovo Ideapad S12 looks pretty nice and includes a lot of the regular netbook connectors. Notable is the 12 inch screen, which seems to push it out of netbook country as 10 inch screens seems to be the sweet spot. The attraction for me is that this is the first netbook to have the ION setup, which makes this a far more well rounded portable, and my netbook of choice. Anyone else disappointed with the graphics performance of netbooks?


Monday, March 16, 2009

Lenovo Pocket Yoga is Like Splenda

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 04:00 PM

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/03/l...vo_pocket_y.php

"There's not much info on this sexy little devil yet, but it looks to have a nice wide screen that can be flipped around and act as a touchscreen tablet, and it's very close to being small enough to fit in a pocket comfortably, but not quite. It looks slick and is sure to be expensive, as is the way with things moving towards the space between two types of device."

I say it is like Splenda because while sweet it is also a fake. OK, fake may be a bit harsh, but according to some other postings I've seen, this was a Lenovo concept design from a few years back that went nowhere. Too bad though, I like this better than Sony's similar offering.


Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Lenovo Showscases Dual Screen Laptop

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 07:00 AM

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/1...ts-two-screens/

"This really doesn’t look like something that will catch on, but it’s certainly momentous. The Lenovo W700DS has one 17-inch display like its predecessor, and another 10-inch one that slides out from behind. Madness, you say? Yeah, I agree."

I've always found that the extra screen real estate of a second monitor adds considerably to productivity and it has always frustrated me that laptops have always lacked an effective option to have a second monitor. Yes, many laptops do offer secondary displays, but hooking up an extra monitor, and positioning it to compliment the main display is quirky at best. While some my balk, I'm finding this new laptop from Lenovo deliciously tempting. While the 10 inch display is a bit small, it can still be useful for showing handy supporting information on whatever I'm working at.


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