Lenovo is expanding its all-in-one computer offerings, introducing its first all-in-one system catering to business users, the ThinkCentre A70z. Although the A70z doesn’t carry the same oomph of the consumer-oriented B500 all-in-one Lenovo introduced last month, the company is offering a variety of configuration options and promises the A70z will easily slide into businesses budgets, and save time with rapid start-ups and shutdowns.
“We’ve heard from a number of IT managers in a variety of industries, from education, to finance to healthcare, and they’ve all told us they need desktops that conserve space, save on energy consumption, and are easy to maintain and service,” said Lenovo’s executive director for worldwide desktop marketing Dilip Bhatia, in a statement. “The new ThinkCentre A70z exceeds these needs—not only is it compact, super energy efficient, and quick to service, but it’s also high performance and extremely affordable.”
The A70z comes with Windows 7 will be available with wither Intel Celeron Dual Core or Intel COre 2 Duo processors, and sports a 19-inch 16:10 widescreen display—although Lenovo hasn’t published the native resolution. and will support DirectX 10 graphics for 3D applications and (gasp) even games. The system sports a DVD burner for backups and data transfer, six USB 2.0 ports, up to 500 GB of hard drive storage, and an optional webcam and Wi-Fi. Lenovo says the A70z can start up in as little as 35 seconds and shut down 28 percent faster than a typical PC—and the system is Energy Star 5.0 rated so it saved power even when it’s running. The A70z should be available toward the end of the month, with prices starting at $499.
Lenovo also introduced its new ThinkCentre A58e desktop, a traditional tower design that sports either Intel Celeron or Core 2 Duo processors, up to 320 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM, and a DVD burner; the system also features Lenovo’s Power Manager which the company claims can reduce eletricity costs by up to 69 percent per year. The A58e will start at $349.