Review: Lenovo's All-in-One Worth A Try

The desktop PC world isn't the be-all and end-all it used to be, as the form factor now gives way in growing numbers to laptops and netbooks -- with forecasts that the mobile devices will continue to grow.

However, we've long believed that the desktop form factor has been undervalued and that it's often an area where important but little-heralded innovations are taking place. Lenovo, Raleigh, N.C., has been one of the industry's leaders in delivering innovation through desktop PCs, and its IdeaCentre A600, an all-in-one device, is a case in point.

Unveiled earlier this year by the company better known for its ThinkPad lineup than its desktops, a review unit of the IdeaCentre A600 came to our lab built with an Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 at 2.13GHz, 4 GB of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card. The PC is probably the most simple desktop the CRN Test Center has ever had to set up. Out of the box, it was only a matter of unwrapping the PC/monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse, plugging in the power cord and plugging in the Ethernet cable.

The PC was preloaded with Windows Vista Home Premium, 64-bit, and using Primate Labs' Geekbench 2.1, the system ran up a score of 2,499 -- making it an average-performing system. From an aesthetic point of view, the A600 is beautiful.

Let's start with its 21-and-a-half inch, glossy LCD. It's bright and self-adjusts based on the ambient light in the room. With high-definition capability, it's also fine for viewing video in a robust fashion. On the side panel, the A600 houses a microphone and earphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, a 1394 port and an SD card reader. It was built with almost a TB of HDD storage.

There are three standout talking points to the A600 that make it a must-consider:

Its price: Lenovo lists it now at $679. For the quality of the monitor, the baseline performance of the PC and its ease of deployment, it's a fraction of the cost of competing all-in-ones from Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

Multimedia integration: The built-in Dolby Home Theater Audio and HD video capability make it a wonderful multimedia device.

Its design: At 14 inches deep and 20.5 inches wide, you get an awful lot in a small amount of real estate.

While Lenovo has positioned the A600 as a consumer PC, for which it's well-suited, we do believe it could make a good fit for a small business, as well. Complexity is the big enemy of small business, and the A600 is about as simple and straightforward to use as any PC in this class.

The bottom line: We recommend the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 because it's a terrific, simple multimedia PC at a very competitive price point. It works. And it's not difficult to find good value here in a very manageable package.