Lenovo IdeaCentre A7 All-in-One Review: Starting to Get The Balance Right
by Dustin Sklavos on September 26, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- Lenovo
- Ivy Bridge
- all-in-one
- NVIDIA
Conclusion: Everything's There, It Just Needs Touching Up
At its core, the Lenovo IdeaCentre A7 is a fairly strong all-in-one offering. I may sound like a broken record, but the sentiment is vital: by focusing on notebook-class hardware and putting it in the base, Lenovo was able to tighten up the thermals and keep noise from becoming a serious issue. The aluminum shell of the A7 is classy and the smart cooling system helps keep the whole thing from becoming too hot or too noisy.
What we have with the A7 is a baseline that needs some tweaking. The majority of my complaints about the software are going to get basically wiped away with Windows 8, so it doesn't merit too much discussion. Including a decent IPS display is appreciated, but the calibration from the factory is horrible and should've been corrected before the system shipped. That's an easy enough fix, too. On the hardware side, the GeForce GT 630M is tired and should probably be taken out behind the barn; an all-in-one shouldn't be caught dead running any GPU that isn't powered by GDDR5 unless it's an Intel IGP. Worse, electing not to use Optimus actually robs the IdeaCentre of features it could've enjoyed at virtually no cost. I'm also disappointed in Lenovo cheaping out on the networking hardware and the hard drive, especially for a system that starts at $1,450. For shame.
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That said, as much as I want to ding Lenovo on the price (and I always do on the notebook side), the IdeaCentre A7 is actually competitive on that front. 27" all-in-ones start at $1,299, so a starting price that's $150 above the curve for an IPS multitouch display and an aluminum shell is justifiable. You have to keep in mind that all-in-ones can't be compared strictly on hardware like desktops; noise and build quality are both factors. So while yes, you can visit NewEgg and grab a generic 27" AIO with slightly better specs for less, you risk getting a potentially noisier, less well-designed machine.
Ultimately the IdeaCentre A7 is a strong contender that gets a lot right. There are a few things I think they could do better, and it's not the homerun I was hoping for, but depending on your needs I feel like it's a reasonable choice and probably something I'd shortlist. The graphics hardware is in dire need of a generational upgrade, the hard disk can be slow, and the port placement is a bit bizarre, but everything else is basically there, and the price is at least competitive if not the mind-blowing deal we're hoping for. If you're shopping for an all-in-one, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.
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ananduser - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
Add the windows license on top and you're at least 350$ more. That coupled with the inability to install windows without that shoddy bios emulation bootcamp does. In essence, not a good deal.tim851 - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
Both the iMac and the Lenovo come with an OS - why would I add a Windows licence to the iMac? I'd reckon most people buying AIOs couldn't care less what OS they run.ananduser - Thursday, September 27, 2012 - link
If you put it that way you're correct. People completely OS agnostic could get the imac for 250$ more. But I could also say that the same OS agnostic crowd could top 250$ more over the imac and get something better like the HP Z1.royalcrown - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
Wow...You obviously don't own an Imac. The "Shoddy" bios emulation you speak of runs windows perfectly, Ubuntu, linux mint, BSD etc..; It also boots from usb drives and external usb and firewire.Im writing this on an imac running Windows 7 x64 right now. How is it shoddy when it runs for days without crashing ?
Juddog - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
The idea itself is actually pretty nifty; a nice big 27" touch screen with Windows 8 sounds pretty cool.This isn't a machine to play games on, it's a machine you'd put in the kitchen or the kids room, so the graphics really doesn't have to be that fast. You can upgrade the graphics card to a GT630 2 GB from a GT630M 1 GB on the website, along with getting an SSD boot drive at the high end.
That being said, I agree with some of the points above; a faster hard drive and a repositioning of the ports would be fairly cheap to implement and the graphics card options are pretty limited. This is one of those products that I feel would be great in a lobby somewhere, or combined with an in-home entertainment solution. For example having something like this in your kitchen linked up to the lighting in your house, or to the temperature control, or to music devices placed throughout the house etc..
Conficio - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
I like the looks of this and finally an IPS panel. While I'd love to have an option for higher resolution, it would be fine with me for a dorm or single room apartment.I'd love to see some price reducing options:
* Ditch the extra GPU hardware. As many don't game at all. For seniors and many more it is a waste of money and energy.
* Offer i5 dual core processor. There is plenty of people that don't need a quad core for reading e-mail and watching the picures/videos of the grand kids. (Just make sure it is HD4000, so the graphics are not degrading too much).
Other improvement suggestions:
* Put headphone plugs in front
* Put USB in front two at least for keyboard + mouse or side (more of them)
* Improved Wifi with 2x2 or 3x3 streams(most home users are fine with Realtek NIC for wired)
* make the core PC upgradable, so that it can be replaced and the monitor re-used
* faster/better hard drives SSD options
OBLAMA2009 - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
$1500 is a lot for notebook performance and a low resolution monitorThe_Kristoffer - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
When are you going to publish the rundown of Haswell? I've been waiting for, what feels like, forever!tukkas - Thursday, September 27, 2012 - link
Dustin, what is you preferred 27 inch aio at this point? lenovo, dell, hp? anything else?thank you
royalcrown - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
I don't really see the point of this Imac clone; If they are gonna do it at least give people a COMPELLING reason to buy like dual 7xxx gpus or something. Buyers who wanted a mac but want better gaming performance could go for this. Till then it's a so so knock off.