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Lenovo's line of Essential desktops is a collection of budget-conscious machines designed for consumers, and advertised as being "affordable, space saving, and energy efficient". [1] The Essential desktop line is different from both Lenovo's ThinkCentre line and Lenovo's IdeaCentre line. [1] Lenovo defines its ThinkCentre desktops as business-oriented computers, while the IdeaCentre desktops are meant primarily for entertainment. [1] The Essential range of desktops can be categorized as being between the two – meant more for ordinary everyday use. [1]
The Essential desktops are frequently (and erroneously) referred to as IdeaCentre desktops. For example, Desktop Review indicated that the C300 was an IdeaCentre. [2] However, the Lenovo U.S. Web site indicates that the C300 is part of their value line, or 'Essential' line. [3] The only brand associated with these desktops is 'Lenovo' – 'Essential' represents a range of products and is not a brand in itself.
There are two lines of Lenovo-branded desktops sold under the 'Essential' banner. These are:
The Lenovo C Series desktops launched by Lenovo are the C100, C200, C300, and C315.
The Lenovo C Series desktops launched in 2010 were the C200 and C315.
The C200 was an All-in-one (AIO) desktop launched by Lenovo in April 2010. [4] Hardware Bistro indicated that the desktop had entry-level specifications, making it more affordable than the B500. [4] The review also indicated that the desktop's unique selling point was its 18.5 inch Touchscreen display. [4]
The desktop was made available with the Intel Atom D510 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and could be configured for up to 500 GB storage capacity. [4] The desktop offered options for both integrated and discrete graphics. [4] The integrated graphics option on offer was Intel GMA 3150, while the discrete graphics option was the Nvidia Ion graphics card with 256 MB of video RAM. [4] Additional features on the desktop included a DVD multiburner, an integrated Web camera, integrated stereo speakers, LAN, and WiFi. [4]
The C315 was released in 2010 by Lenovo. [1] In its review, silentpcreview said that the "C315 is one of the more interesting all-in-one PCs with which we've crossed paths." [1] The C315 was equipped with an AMD Athlon II X2 250u processor – a low voltage processor with a speed of 1.6 GHz. [1] The hard disk storage capacity on the desktop was 500 GB. [1] The desktop also offered discrete graphics, with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD4530 graphics card. [1] The desktop also offered 4 GB of DDR2 RAM and a slim dual-layer DVD writer. [1]
Detailed specifications of the desktop are given below: [1]
The Lenovo C Series desktops launched in 2009 by Lenovo were the C100 and C300.
Announced in September 2009, the C100 was an All-in-one (AIO) desktop designed for consumer use. [5] The 18.5 inch display was 2 inches deep, with an aspect ratio of 16:9. [5] The desktop also included software such as Lenovo's OneKey Antivirus and OneKey Recovery that allowed one-button system scanning and restoration. [5] The dimensions of the desktop were 18.5 x 14.5 x 4 inches. [5] The desktop also was made available with options for either Intel Atom 230 single core processors, or Intel Atom 330 dual core processors. [5] In addition, the desktop also included a DVD reader/writer and four USB ports. [5]
The C300 was an AIO launched in 2009 as part of Lenovo's Essential product line. [2] Desktop Review listed the pros of the desktop as the good 20-inch display with a resolution of 1600x900, the 3.5 inch hard disk drive, and the optional discrete graphics. [2] The cons were listed as the keyboard, and the standard single core Intel Atom 230 1.6 GHz processor. [2] The desktop's dimensions were 19.05 x 14.12 x 3.28 inches. [2]
Additional specifications of the desktop are as follows: [2]
The Lenovo H Series desktops launched by Lenovo are the H200, H210, H215, H230, H320, and H405.
The Lenovo H Series desktops released in 2011 were the H215, H220, and H320.
The H215 offered AMD Athlon II X2 dual core processors, 2 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 320 GB hard disk drive. [6] Additional, detailed specifications for the H215 are given below: [6]
The specifications of the H220 desktop are as follows: [7]
The H320 was a small form factor desktop in the Lenovo H Series desktop line released in 2011. [8] Desktop review called the H320 "a little - but not too little - box that does it all". [8] Desktop Review listed the pros of the desktop as the Blu-ray drive, the Intel Core i5 processor, and the small form factor. [8] The cons were indicated to be the low graphics capabilities, few USB ports, and the lack of wireless networking. [8]
Detailed specifications of the desktop are given below: [8]
The Lenovo H Series desktop launched in 2010 was the H230.
The H230 was launched at the same time as the Lenovo IdeaCentre K300 desktop. [9] The desktop offered an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel GMA integrated graphics, 4 GB of RAM, a 640 GB hard disk drive, and a DVD reader/writer. [9]
The Lenovo H Series desktops released in 2009 were the H200 and the H210.
The H200 was announced by Lenovo at CES 2009. [10] It offered the Intel Atom 230 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a 160 GB hard disk drive. [10] It was Lenovo's first desktop with the low power Intel Atom processor. [11] The CPU incorporated a fanless design, minimizing desktop noise and, according to tech2, made the H200 Lenovo's quietest desktop. [11] The display was 15.4 inch Thin-film Transistor (TFT) screen. [11]
The Lenovo H210 was also released in 2009 as part of the Essential range of desktops. [12] PCWorld listed the pros of the desktop as above average performance for a desktop that cost less than US$500. [12] The cons were listed as average expandability. Although PCWorld reported that the desktop was "one of the better sub-$500 systems", it was reported not to handle games well. [12] The inability to handle games came from the integrated graphics – Intel GMA 3100 graphics. [12] The H210 could not run PCWorld's Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark and offered only 24 frames per second on Far Cry (at a resolution of 1280x1024 with no antialiasing). [12]
Additional specifications of the H210 include: [12]
The Lenovo H Series desktop released in 2008 was the H215.
The H215, released in October 2008, was an entry-level addition to Lenovo's Essential line of budget PCs. [13] It was praised for its large storage capacity - a total of 1 TB. [13] While performance was reported by About.com to be "decent", it was indicated that options to upgrade the desktop were limited. [13] This was due to the low-wattage power supply commonly used in small form factor PCs as opposed to traditional tower PCs. [13] Another point not in the desktop's favor was the recessed optical drive. [13] This was described by About.com as being difficult to open and appearing out of place. [13]
Detailed specification of the desktop are as follows: [13]
Dell Vostro is a line of business-oriented laptop and desktop computers manufactured by Dell aimed at small to medium range businesses. From 2013–2015, the line was temporarily discontinued on some Dell websites but continued to be offered in other markets, such as Malaysia and India.
Acer Aspire is a series of personal computers by Acer Inc. aimed at casual household users. The Aspire series covers both desktop computers and laptops. Acer developed the series to range from essentials to high performance. The Aspire mainly competes against computers such as Asus' Transformer Book Flip, VivoBook and Zenbook, Dell's Inspiron and XPS, HP's Pavilion, Spectre, Stream and Envy, Lenovo's IdeaPad, Samsung's Sens and Toshiba's Satellite.
Dell Studio was a range of laptops and desktops targeted at the mainstream consumer market, produced by Dell. The computers sat above Dell's Inspiron and below the XPS consumer lines in terms of price and specifications. They differed from Dell's lower-end Inspiron models by offering slot-loading optical drives, media keys, more cover design options, faster processor options, HDMI and eSATA ports, LED-backlit screens, and backlit keyboards.
The ThinkPad X series is a line of notebook computers and convertible tablets produced by Lenovo as part of the ThinkPad family. The ThinkPad X series is traditionally the range best designed for mobile use, with ultraportable sizes and less power compared to the flagship ThinkPad T series. It was initially produced by IBM until 2005.
The ThinkPad W series laptops from Lenovo were described by the manufacturer as being "mobile workstations", and suit that description by being physically on the larger side of the laptop spectrum, with screens ranging from 15.6" to 17.3" in size. Most W series laptops offered high-end quad-core Intel Core processors with an integrated GPU as well as an Nvidia Quadro discrete GPU, utilizing Nvidia Optimus to switch between the two GPUs as required. Notable exceptions are the W500, which has ATI Mobility FireGL integrated workstation-class graphics, and the W550s, which is an Ultrabook-specification laptop with only a dual-core processor. The W series laptops offered independent software vendor (ISV) certifications from various vendors such as Adobe Systems and Autodesk for computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling software.
The IdeaPad S Series is a series of notebook computers launched by Lenovo in October 2008. The IdeaPad S10 was initially scheduled for launch in September, but its release was delayed in the United States until October.
The IdeaPad Y series was a consumer range of laptops produced by Lenovo, first announced in 2008. They were marketed as premium high performance laptops for multimedia and gaming, as part of the IdeaPad line.
The A Series desktops are part of Lenovo’s ThinkCentre product line. Formerly an IBM brand, Lenovo acquired the ThinkCentre desktop brand following its purchase of IBM’s Personal Computing Division (PCD) in 2005. The first desktop in the A Series was the ThinkCentre A50p. Lenovo has released A Series desktops in multiple form factors, ranging from traditional tower, to small form factor, and all-in-ones (AIOs).
The M-series of desktops are part of Lenovo's ThinkCentre product line. Formerly an IBM brand, Lenovo acquired the ThinkCentre desktop brand following its purchase of IBM's Personal Computing Division (PCD) in 2005. Following its acquisition of IBM's PCD, Lenovo has released M-series desktops in multiple form factors, ranging from traditional tower, small form factor, to ultra small form factor, and all-in-ones (AIOs).
Lenovo's IdeaCentre A Series is a line of all-in-one desktops designed primarily for home use and the consumer PC segment. The sections below describe the IdeaCentre A Series desktops, categorized by their year of release.
The IdeaCentre B Series all-in-one desktops from Lenovo were first launched in 2010. Like other desktops in the IdeaCentre product line, the B Series desktops were designed for home users, with a focus on the consumer PC segment. The first model in the series was the B500.
The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q series are a line of nettop computers meant primarily for home and personal use. The Q Series nettops are described by the manufacturer as being multimedia-oriented nettops. Comparing the size to a typical paperback book, Lenovo describes the Q Series nettops as the smallest desktops in production. The general features of the Q Series desktops are the small size, low energy requirements, ability to play HD video, and low noise levels.
The Lenovo IdeaCentre is a line of consumer-oriented desktop computers designed, developed and marketed by Lenovo. The first IdeaCentre desktop, the IdeaCentre K210, was announced by Lenovo on June 30, 2008 as a consumer-focussed alternative to the business-oriented ThinkCentre and ThinkStation brandnames acquired from IBM. While the IdeaCentre line consists entirely of desktops, they share a common design language with the IdeaPad line of laptops and hybrids. One such feature is Veriface facial recognition technology.
IdeaCentre K series is a family of gaming-oriented desktops manufactured by Lenovo. Typical features on the desktops include mid-range to high-end processors, discrete graphics cards, multiple hard disk drives, multiple RAM DIMMS, multiple USB ports, and multiple optical disk drives. The K Series desktops also come with a physical switch on the CPU that allows users to shift between different levels of processing power. For example, the K330 offered red for high performance, blue for moderate performance, and green for less processing- and resource-intensive tasks.
In addition to the ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops, Lenovo also offers a value-priced series of laptops. Called ‘Essential’ on the Lenovo website, the products available in this line include the G Series, B Series, and V Series. Launched in 2009, the first laptop in the Essential range was the G530.
ThinkStation is a brand of professional workstations from Lenovo announced in November 2007 and then released in January 2008. They are designed to be used for high-end computing and computer-aided design (CAD) tasks and primarily compete with other enterprise workstation lines, such as Dell's Precision, HP's Z line, Acer's Veriton K series, and Apple's Mac Pro line.
ThinkSystem is a family of Intel and AMD servers from Lenovo. The line began as the ThinkServer with the TS100 in 2008. The ThinkServer family has been discontinued in 2019, and the new family of Intel servers is named ThinkSystem.
The ThinkCentre Edge is a series of desktop computers from Lenovo, designed primarily for home offices and small businesses. The product series features desktops in both tower and All-in-One form factors, designed to save up to 70% desk space as compared to traditional tower desktop PCs.
The HP Envy is a line of consumer-oriented high-end laptops, desktop computers and printers manufactured and sold by HP Inc. since 2009. It originally started as a high-end version of the HP Pavilion line before becoming its own separate line years later.
The Dell Inspiron series is a line of laptop computers made by American company Dell under the Dell Inspiron branding. The first Inspiron laptop model was introduced before 1999. Unlike the Dell Latitude line, which is aimed mostly at business/enterprise markets, Inspiron is a consumer-oriented line, often marketed towards individual customers as computers for everyday use.