IT Pro Verdict

Despite its neat all-in-one design, the A70z won’t set hearts a flutter. It is, in many senses, thoroughly unremarkable, but it is also an effective office machine with headroom for slightly more demanding uses. The display isn’t the best we’ve ever seen but as long as the tasks are modest this is certainly a machine worth considering for space and power saving reasons. Though we’d recommend at least adding more RAM, changing the keyboard and upping the warranty.

By Benny Har-Even

published 30 December 2009

in Reviews

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.

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Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.