Lenovo Strikes Again with New Small ThinkCentre PC
About a year ago I reviewed the Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Tiny ($580), which was a small, full-featured PC you could attach to the back of your monitor.
Enter stage left the new Lenovo IdeaCentre Q190 ($399), which, like the Tiny, measures about 1.4 inches in height and only about seven inches wide, but it’s a bit heavier, weighing in at about seven pounds. Also, like the Tiny, it can handle anything a full-size PC can. It also still has a 5400 RPM 500 GB hard drive, which can be a downer for hardcore gamers.
But there are a few improvements:
· You can install up to eight GB of RAM.
· Integrated Wi-Fi compatibility.
· They’ve added more ports. There are four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, a gigabit Ethernet port, S/PDIF, a Kensington Security Slot, a 6-in-1 multicard reader, a headphone/microphone port, an optical audio port and a VGA port. For some reason they don’t have a DVI video port.
- You can opt for an Intel HD 3000 display card.
- It delivers 7.1 channel surround sound using the HDMI port.
- You can get a dual-layer DVD burner or opt for a Blu-Ray optical drive.
- It comes with a three-year warrantee.
- You can opt for an Intel i3 processor or a Celeron 887 dual core processor.
- You have a choice between Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.
The Q190 also comes with a handheld wireless keyboard and mouse, which takes a bit of time to get used to. Operating the mouse can be a bit of a challenge at first and the buttons that control it can stick, making it basically unusable. The keyboard is a bit bigger than one you would find on a Blackberry or old smartphone that has a built-in keyboard. My advice here is to use a standard wired or wireless keyboard and mouse to ease the aggravation factor.
Lenovo is marketing this machine as a home theater PC, which can deliver high-end sound and HD video to your TV, but I see it as a lot more than that. The Q190 is a small, high-powered PC that can replace that clunky desktop and run everything your old computer does.
More information can be found on Lenovo's website at http://shop.lenovo.com.
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