Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 Review

Lenovo are releasing some great desktop computers at the moment and non more so that the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 (3011-4BU). The Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 is receiving rave reviews from leading review companies including pcmag.com. Read what they have to say about this award winning Lenovo desktop computer.

If you’re in the market for an all-in-one PC with Blu-ray, the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 (3011-4BU) is the way to go, even over touch-screen-equipped rivals.

Pros

Large-screen all-in-one. VeriFace log-on software. “Healthcare” software protects user from eyestrain. Lenovo OneKey Recovery. Full 1080p HD. Good value for the dollar. Can actually perform 3D graphics tests. Remote has motion control, Media Center, VoIP, and air mouse functions.

Cons

Bottom edge is a finger crusher. Limited tilt. Has a “Jay Leno chin.” Only 90-day Trend Micro Internet Security subscription.

We were impressed enough with the $699 Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 we reviewed earlier this year for it to become our Editors’ Choice for value all-in-one PCs. The Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 (3011-4BU) is the upgraded $1,399 model, complete with Blu-ray playback, TV tuner, wireless everything, and a neat four-in-one remote control that may actually be useful for once. It trumps anything that HP and Dell have put out in the all-in-one space, but falls just short of unseating our current mainstream all-in-one PC champion, the Apple iMac .

The IdeaCentre A600 (3011-4BU) comes in the same chassis as the previous A600, with very few visual cues that this is a different unit. There’s the coaxial TV antenna connector in the back, the wireless keyboard and mouse, and that’s about it. You’ll find the same subwoofer in the back, connectors on the side, and “watch your hands” warning sticker on the front (because people could catch a finger in between the base and the chassis, ouch!). I like the way the A600 looks—it’s one of the most distinctive-looking desktops out there. When the media controls (Play/FF/REW, volume, and so forth) are backlit on the wireless keyboard, the system wouldn’t look out of place somewhere on the new version of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
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Speaking of the keyboard, it is a little cheaper-feeling than the keyboard included with the Dell XPS One, but the Lenovo’s keyboard certainly looks nice and fits in with the A600’s design themes. The trackpad on its right-hand side and left mouse button on the left-hand side of make the keyboard easy to use on a lap (there are two mouse buttons below the trackpad as well). The separate wireless laser mouse tracks quickly and has forward and back buttons.

The Bluetooth four-in-one remote is perhaps the neatest new feature. It performs quadruple duty: as a run-of-the-mill MCE (Media Center) remote, as a handset for VoIP applications, as an air mouse (like Gyration mice), and as a game motion controller (like a Wiimote). The air-mouse functions are neat and easy to learn. The game motion controller works with the bundled FlingPC games, which include Tennis, Bowling, Table Tennis, and Snowball (throwing). The games aren’t quite as refined as the Wii’s versions, but they shouldn’t be hard to pick up, even if you haven’t played Wii Sports or WiiPlay. (I’m hoping that someone will develop additional games for the system.) There are even very similar graphics to what you see on the Wii warning you to use the wrist strap and make sure nothing is around you when you play.

The A600 comes with useful Lenovo utilities like the recovery utility, VeriFace (biometric security), and Healthcare (which dims the screen and makes sure you don’t sit too close). Lenovo’s pack-in utilities are some of the more welcome preinstalled apps from any manufacturer, and you can disable VeriFace and Healthcare if you don’t want to use them. The one example of crapware on the system is the ubiquitous Microsoft Office 60-day trial; there’s also a disappointingly short (90-day) Trend Micro Anti-Virus subscription, but otherwise there isn’t much extra software.

Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 (3011-4BU)The most significant improvement is the inclusion of a Blu-ray player. Blu-ray movies look great when played on the A600, and since the screen has a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution, you’re seeing all the pixels you paid for (unlike with the Dell Studio One 19, which has a smaller, lower-resolution screen). Likewise, digital TV broadcasts looked great in Media Center using the system’s built-in ATSC/HDTV tuner, especially when the stations are broadcasting HDTV signals (remember, not all DTV is HDTV). You can see the weave pattern on newscasters’ suits, for example. I could see a user replacing a laptop, a DVR, and the TV in their bedroom with the A600. It might make a great replacement for a 17-to-20-inch TV that you have in your den or bedroom, though the 21.5-inch screen is just a bit too small for a living room situation

Dell Inspiron 580s

Dell Computers have released a new desktop computer. The Dell Inspiron 580s is a slimline version of the much more powerful XPS versions. Sleek and easier to fit on a desk, this version is a sure fire hit for the office.The Inspiron 580s follows the design of previous Dell SFF (small form factor) PCs, like the Inspiron 537s ($658 – $858 direct, ) I looked at last year. This time around, the desktop’s design has been altered to sport a glossy black faceplate with a hexagonal motif etched under the surface. The system’s two optical drive bays are filled with a DVD burner and a multi-card reader. The front of the system is uncluttered and clean with the power button and a pair of USB ports as the only other adornments on the front of the system. This is also because the optical drive and card reader, which are normally on the front of the chassis, hide behind hinged doors. The doors hide the ugly drive trays while they’re not being used, keeping the system’s sleek design intact. Other I/O ports include four more USB ports in the back, connectors for VGA and HDMI monitors, Ethernet, and audio. All-in-all, it’s a neatly-designed system. Although I would’ve liked to have seen eSATA and at least one FireWire port, their absence isn’t a deal breaker.
The system is free of the bloatware that seems to plague retail systems, such as those from Gateway and HP. No bloatware is one of the benefits of buying a configured-to-order PC direct from a PC maker like Dell. The system comes with a full version of Microsoft Works 9, as opposed to the ad-supported version found on some Gateway systems. The computer initially boots up into a setup wizard, which has prompts to set up recovery and Dell’s DataSafe online backup, as well as links to Dell’s support center and other Windows 7 help. I applaud the fact that Dell provides links to the bloatware I complain about, rather than pre-installing the software. A browser link is easier to ignore and doesn’t affect your system, while pre-installed bloatware programs are at best a nuisance and at worst a tech support nightmare.

Performance
 The Inspiron 580s is a good upgrade for people who are still using a single core (Pentium 4, Pentium M) or a Core 2 Duo system. Multimedia tasks like Adobe Photoshop CS4 (1 minute 35 seconds) and Windows Media Encoder (42 seconds) finish in far less time than it used to take. The Core i3-530 is a dual-core processor with HyperThreading, rather than a true four-core system, but it performs as well as systems with the Core 2 Quad and AMD Athlon II X4 processor like the Gateway SX2802-01 ($499.99 List, ) and HP Pavilion p6347c-b ($800 List, ).

The Inspiron 580s has Intel Integrated GMA graphics (equivalent to GMA X4500HD) embedded in the Core i3 processor, which is more for HD video processing, rather than 3D gaming—the single-digit game scores bear this out. Sure, you can load World in Conflict or Crysis, but it won’t be a pleasant experience. Get something more powerful (like the Gateway FX6831-01 ) if you want to play newer 3D games.

The Dell Inspiron 580s is a good compact system for the home user. The 580s could be your primary system, with enough power for multimedia tasks in Photoshop. Nonetheless, my advice is to go with the Dell Computers Inspiron i570-6939PBK ($599.98 List, ) a slightly better choice, because it has most of the same performance for about $20 less with a much larger hard drive (640GB) and a 20-inch monitor packed in.

Read more at pcmag.com