Desktop PC Review: Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z

iPhones and iPads aren't the only things sneaking into the enterprise by way of the home consumer. There's the all-in-one desktop PC -- a computer built into an LCD monitor, familiar from the likes of Apple's iMac and HP's TouchSmart and increasingly showing up in the corporate world as well.

Lenovo has staked quite a claim in the clutter-free category. Back in January we reviewed and liked the ThinkCentre A70z, a Core 2 Duo desktop concealed in a 19-inch flat-panel display, and today we're testing that machine's bigger, faster, touchscreened sibling, the ThinkCentre M90z.

Bigger: The M90z has a gorgeous 23-inch, full HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) display. Glossed to a mirror finish, it provides bright, rich colors and sharp details, making the machine a pleasure to work with.

Faster: While base models begin with a humble Pentium G6950 processor, our test unit flaunted Intel's Core i5-650, a 3.2GHz dual-core with Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost plus 4MB of cache. The result is the snappiest performance we've seen from an all-in-one, with programs loading in a snap and benchmarks falling like ninepins. Throw in an ample 500GB, 7,200-rpm Seagate hard drive, and we have only two gripes: a 4GB memory ceiling (we'd have loved to see 6GB or 8GB) and a DVD±RW instead of Blu-ray drive.

Touchscreened: The business-focused ThinkCentre doesn't come with any of the touch-interface applications, such as music and photo managers, found on consumer touchscreen PCs from the likes of HP, Gateway, and Dell -- just a customizable program launcher called SimpleTap, with on-screen icons for loading apps, muting or unmuting audio, and other functions. But Mahjong and Solitaire are finger-tapping fun, and pan, zoom, and drag gestures work on the screen as they do on many notebook touchpads.

The only drawback to all this largesse? The M90z is almost twice the price of the A70z: Configuring a unit like our test model came to $1,363 on Lenovo's site. (Our specific test model, 0870-A4U, lists for $1,300 at CDW and PC Connection but was in stock at neither retailer.)

Realistically, that's too rich for companywide deployment, restricting the ThinkCentre to status-symbol duty on executives' desks. But if you're one of the lucky execs, you'll get a machine that'll spoil you for any ordinary PC -- and if you're not, you can try begging IT for a less expensive configuration (see below).

Two Extra Cords

One of the appeals of one-piece PCs is their quick setup; indeed, Lenovo claims you can deploy the ThinkCentre M90z in as little as three minutes per desktop with as little as one cable to connect -- the power cord.

Our test unit lacked that minimalist elegance because it lacked a cordless keyboard and mouse (a $49 option), relying on generic USB input devices instead. Both worked smoothly, though the keyboard's stiff typing feel gave our finger muscles a workout. And even with keyboard and mouse cords, the M90z makes for a tidy desk compared to the cable clutter of PCs with external monitors, speakers and webcams and wired instead of wireless Ethernet.

Not counting the keyboard and mouse, the M90z takes about 22 by 8 inches of desk space, a thick-bezeled black slab propped up by a chrome easel. The latter lets you adjust the display's tilt but not its height; Lenovo sells a $50 height-adjustable stand for non-touchscreen models of the M90z but, disappointingly, says the touchscreen versions are too heavy for it.

On the right side of the screen, a bit too recessed or far back for easy access when seated, are two USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, an ExpressCard slot, and the DVD burner. The webcam is centered above the display -- and, in a security- and privacy-minded touch, accompanied by a switch that slides a shutter across the lens to disable the camera even if it's accidentally switched on by software.

Around back are four more USB ports, a wired Ethernet jack, and two video ports -- one DisplayPort output for connecting a second screen to the ThinkCentre (we know, DisplayPort monitors are still relatively rare, but Lenovo sells a DisplayPort/DVI adapter for $15), and one VGA input for using the ThinkCentre as a second screen with your laptop.

It doesn't require serious surgery to get inside the M90z: Two plastic tabs on the back let you lift off the rear cover to get tool-free access to the hard and optical drives. The notebook-style SO-DIMM memory modules are readily accessible, too.

Potent Performance

The Core i5's integrated graphics are adequate for productivity and PowerPoint, but they keep the Lenovo from being a suitable workstation for video editors or CAD professionals, let alone satisfying serious gamers. The system puttered through the Heaven benchmark at 2.3 frames per second and Cinebench R11.5's OpenGL animation at 1.9 fps, with a 3DMark06 score of 1,376 at its native 1,920 by 1,080 resolution.

But the quasi-quad-core capability of the CPU's Hyper-Threading helped the ThinkCentre trot through non-graphics benchmarks in thoroughly respectable style, rendering Cinebench R10's sample scene in 87 seconds and posting PCMark Vantage and Geekbench scores of 6,668 and 5,975, respectively.

Those numbers are toward the top of those we've collected for mainstream PCs lately, making the M90z a first-rate choice for even demanding office work. In fact, it's overkill for run-of-the-mill word processing, email and spreadsheets, bringing us back to the question of price: Once you've enjoyed the panoramic view of the 23-inch ThinkCentre, it's hard to settle for a 19-inch or other smaller-screened all-in-one, but it's hard to justify the Core i5 for low-octane applications, and it's hard to justify the touchscreen option if you use the latter just occasionally.

Unless your company has touch-enabled in-house applications, you can save over $200 by skipping the touchscreen -- the nontouch model starts at $860 with the Pentium CPU and 2GB of RAM. Matching our test unit's configuration except for subtracting touch and choosing an adequate Core i3 instead of the sizzling Core i5 processor would have trimmed its price to $1,045.

That's far from cheap, but it's a bit more palatable for more than lucky-executives-only deployment. And we can't imagine a better way to boost employees' morale than to give them the glamorous, admirable M90z.