Small Business Desktop Meets Style and Substance

Tired of sacrificing good looks for performance? Now your business can have both with Lenovo’s all-in-one ThinkCentre A70z desktop PC. HardwareCentral.com puts it to the test.

Which is prettier, a one-piece or a two-piece? The answer might be different in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, but in IT management it's clearly the former: An all-in-one PC and LCD monitor a la Apple's iMac is far more elegant than a conventional desktop plus monitor -- which, if you add peripherals such as a webcam, microphone, and speakers, can easily become an unwieldy four- or five-piece setup with a spaghetti plateful of cables connecting the parts.

The drawback is that stylish, space-saving one-piece PCs have been restricted to the consumer rather than business segment, except for some executive-status-symbol models like the Dell Studio One, but that's changing -- affordable all-in-ones are on the verge of becoming a full-fledged trend.

Earlier this month HardwareCentral checked out the HP Pro All-in-One MS218, an office-ready version of an HP Pavilion consumer combo. And now Lenovo steps up with the ThinkCentre A70z, an all-in-one office desktop available at CDW and PC Connection for $729.

The matte black A70z resembles a large digital picture frame, or maybe Darth Vader's shaving mirror: It's a big-bezeled 19-inch monitor, some 2.4 inches thick, with an easel or prop behind that stands it at an adjustable tilt angle. Counting the easel but not counting the keyboard and mouse, it takes up some 18.5 by 7.5 inches of desk space and stands 14 inches tall. A protruding handle or handgrip at the rear lets you carry the 18-pound computer, slightly awkwardly, from room to room.

Read the complete Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z Review