Advantages: The case dosn't look too bad Disadvantages: Addequate but outdated CPU
significantly lower than Lenovo is 3Ghz upwards. Quite how the ThinkCentreA55 hopes to even try to compete with other manufacturers offering 3-4Ghz CPU's with a price tag of around £50 less is somewhat of a mystery. Having said that, as my mate has proven with flying colours.."there is one born every minute"
The memory installed is on a par with most budget PC's and is supplied with 512Mb DDR II SDRAM. Thankfully memory these days is a relatively cheap upgrade option.
The hard drive installed again is somewhat below acceptable for the price tag. The A55 is supplied with an 80Gb hard drive. Although this size of drive is acceptable, for £400 you would expect something around 100 -120Gb in size.
The graphics card is on-board as is the norm with all budget PC's. The graphics memory is shared with the PC's RAM and is adjustable via the PC ...
Advantages: Slimline, Well Featured, Looks Good Disadvantages: No Firewire, Not thought out properly
ThinkCentre... Think Smarter
IBM?s range of workstations have always been backed up with a long history, after all shouldn?t IBM be the experts, they did ?invent? the PC after all! IBM?s ThinkCentre range represents IBM?s mid-range business workstations, enough power and multimedia capabilities to run the top end office and productivity, whilst keeping costs down to make the systems as affordable as possible. A hidden but equally important part of the ThinkCentres resides inside the computer and installed on the hard drives, these discrete design decisions and software packages that are shipped with the machines. I have recently installed 86 IBM ThinkCentre S50?s at work; this review is my attempt to distil my experiences into words.
WHATS IN THE BOX?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the box arrives at your door, or in my case three ...
1 x 320 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm, 1 x 160 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm - vibration dampening, 1 x 160 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm, 1 x 250 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm - vibration dampening
Monitor
Monitor Type
None
Graphics controller
Type
Integrated
Graphics Processor / Vendor
ATI Radeon 3100 Shared Video Memory (UMA), ATI Radeon 3100
Digital Video Standard
Digital Visual Interface (DVI)
Max Monitors Supported
2
Max Allocated RAM Size
512 MB
Audio output
Type
Sound card - integrated
Compliant Standards
High Definition Audio
Input device
Type
Mouse, keyboard
Keyboard
Keyboard Name
Preferred Pro USB
Interface
USB
Mouse
Technology
Optical
Interface
USB
Features
Scroll
Networking
Networking
Network adapter - integrated
Ethernet Controller(s)
Marvell Yukon 88E8070
Data Link Protocol
Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Remote Management Protocol
DMI 2.0, DMI 2.0, ASF 2.0
Features
ACPI support, Wake on LAN (WoL), ACPI support
Compliant Standards
IEEE 802.3
Operating system / software
OS Provided
Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Business / XP Professional downgrade
Microsoft Office Ready
Includes a preinstalled image of select 2007 Microsoft Office suites. Purchase a Medialess License Kit (MLK) to activate the software.
OS Certified
TurboLinux Desktop 10, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Vista Starter, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
Software
ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery, ThinkVantage Productivity Center, Windows XP Professional recovery DVD
OS Preinstalled
Windows Vista
Manufacturer's product description
ThinkCentre A Series is packed with power and expandability; it offers a great blend of essential features and technology at an affordable price. Provide your business with the technology today to keep ahead of tomorrow. Small businesses rely on their PCs to get things done, but most don't have an IT staff. They need a PC that delivers high quality and reliability, so they can concentrate on running the company. ThinkCentre A series desktops are put through a series of rigorous voltage, shock, vibration, and drop tests before they ever reach your desk. ThinkCentre A series desktops have the rock solid quality, reliability, and durability to help SMB customers succeed. ThinkCentre A Series desktops are the ultimate small business tool and provide the technology to help your business grow. You can own a ThinkCentre desktop that is engineered and designed to address your business and personal needs. ThinkCentre A series desktops are thoughtfully designed, remaining true to its Think heritage while also displaying an edgier, more personalized look.
