When IBM gave up on making regular computers back in 2005, some computer purists worried that the magic of the ThinkCentre and ThinkPad brands was gone and that the legendary solidity and build quality would also disappear.

They would be wrong though, as since then Lenovo has actually produced quite a number of impressive machines in both laptop and desktop form, with the X300 laptop and the ThinkCentre A58 desktop being just two examples.

With the ThinkCentre A70z Lenovo hopes to keep this up. In what is something of a departure, instead of a conventional desktop or tower chassis, the A70z is a neat, compact all-in-one machine. Think of it as an iMac, but in a suit.

In style terms the Lenovo offers that consistent IBM/Lenovo look of squared off edges and matt black plastic, which, alas, is visually not that interesting. This is clearly not a machine for the home, unless it’s a home study. And a very dour one at that.

But the idea of an all-in-one machine certainly does make a lot of business sense. It frees up desk space and reduces clutter. The all-in-one also saves on power, as you’re only running off a single power supply, instead of two. What's more it’s also more eco friendly in terms of packaging with one box, instead of two. A laptop would make for an even more space friendly computer, but they are usually generally more expensive options and unless you need the mobility of a laptop there’s a lot to be said for the improved ergonomics of a standard keyboard mouse and display.

The ThinkCentre A70z sports a 19in display with a 1,440x900 pixels resolution. The reason for this size and resolution is clearly one of cost. Standalone monitors of this size and resolution have all but died out and been replaced with more pleasing 20in 1,680x1,050 panels, but such luxuries are not going to be lavished on a relatively low-end business machine. As it turns out, 1,440 is an awkward shape as it actually provides fewer pixels than the old square 1,280x1,024 screens of yesteryear despite it having a wide aspect ratio. However, for the everyday tasks this machine is aimed at it’s not too much of an issue.

More of a concern is the slight graininess in the image that we detected and close inspection revealed an oily mottled effect on the display, noticeable mostly on white backgrounds such as when running Microsoft Word. There’s also colour shift when you move off axis from the centre so it’s not ideal for sharing information.

When it comes to vertical viewing, the whole PC can at least be placed at the correct angle thanks to the sturdy metal stand at the back. At the sides of the machine there are two buttons for adjusting the brightness – press the lower one first and then use both to set the brightness. We needed to turn this down to make it comfortable for use in the office so found no issues there. Overall, it’s by no means a disaster of a display, but it’s certainly not first rate.

The stark black bezel surrounding the display co...

Author: Benny Har-Even

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