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.
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The ThinkCentre A Series desktops released by Lenovo in 2011 were the A700 and the A320.
Released in March 2011, the A700 all-in-one desktop was equipped with an Intel i-720QM 1.60 GHz processor, 8GB DDR3 SDRAM, a 23 inch display with a maximum resolution of 1920x1080 and multitouch features, 1TB SATA II 7200 RPM hard disk drive, and AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 discrete graphics.[1] The A700 also came with Dolby stereo sound and JBL speakers, had dimensions of 16.9 x 22.4 x 2.8 inches and weighed 32.6 pounds.[1] The pros of the desktop were listed as the large screen with multitouch capabilities, the TV tuner and the HDMI IN port.[1] The cons were listed as the ‘quirky’ touchscreen and the speakers.[1]
The A320 was the successor to the A310 and Lenovo’s slimmest AIO at the time.[2] The desktop was 18mm thick at its thinnest point.[2] The desktop also offered a 1080p 21.5 inch display, options for an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor.[2] Other specifications on the desktop included up to 8GB of RAM, a 750GB hard disk drive, and a built-in TV tuner.[2] Users could watch TV without booting the operating system.[2]
The IdeaCentre A Series desktops released in 2010 were the A300 and the A310.
Released in June 2010, the IdeaCentre A300 desktop was described by Engadget as “gorgeous” and “attention-grabbing”.[3] The desktop included an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB hard disk drive, Intel GMA X4500 integrated HD graphics.[4] The desktop was described by PCMag as being appropriate for digital entertainment requirements (like movies and audio) but not 3D games.[4] The desktop did not include an optical drive, or a remote for the Media Center and TV features.[4] The IdeaCentre A310 was awarded four of five stars by PCMag.[4]
Released in November 2010, the IdeaCentre A310 desktop represented an update to the A300.[5] The chassis was the same as the A300, with a slim screen and components contained in the base.[5] To compensate for the lack of a built-in optical drive, an external optical drive was included with the desktop.[5] However, the external optical drive did not support reading/writing Blu-ray discs.[5] Also, unlike the A300, a remote was included for the ATSC/HDTV tuner.[5] The IR receiver was not built into the AIO, however, and required a USB dongle to function correctly.[5]
The IdeaCentre A Series desktop released in 2009 was the A600.
The first desktop in Lenovo’s IdeaCentre A Series was the A600. It was an all-in-one (AIO). Engadget indicated that the launch was expected in late March or early April 2009,[6] since the AIOs were made available for orders on Lenovo’s Web site on March 25, 2009.[7] However, the actual launch occurred in May 2009.[6] Engadget reported that different reviewers agreed on the fact that the desktop offered good value for its price.[6] Two features indicated to be especially good value were the TV tuner and the remote that could be used as a controller and a VoIP handset.[6]
In its review of the A600 desktop, PCMag indicated that the desktop was better than large screen notebooks, offering a 16:9 21.5 inch widescreen, with a maximum resolution of 1920x1080.[8] The chassis thickness varied between 1 inch and 2.4 inches – the thickest area was below the screen, which contained the system components.[8] The desktop incorporated processors up to Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, and Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics.[8]
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