Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 92z
Lenovo has been in the all-in-one market
for a while now, but we were unable to get hold of a review sample in time for
our February roundup. This month we got our hands on the ThinkCentre Edge 92z,
a 21.5-inch all-in- one workstation running Windows 8.
The Edge defies Lenovo's usual matte- black
aesthetic in favor of a piano-black bezel and dinky little matching feet. The
glossy surface may be a necessity of the multi-touch screen, but it still looks
just a little tacky - especially with its rough plastic outer edge and those
feet sticking out from the bottom. A picture-frame stand at the rear gives
reasonable angle adjustment, from 50-80 degrees.
The base configuration includes a wired
keyboard and mouse that annoyingly take up two USB ports of the available six,
and create the sort of cable clutter that all-in- ones exist to avoid. A
wireless keyboard and mouse are strongly recommended accessories - the Edge
supports Bluetooth 4.0 if you’d like to keep all of the USB ports free.
The
base configuration includes a wired keyboard and mouse that annoyingly take up
two USB ports of the available six, and create the sort of cable clutter that
all-in ones exist to avoid.
The 21.5-inch screen is a good size for the
office, and looks appropriately sharp with its 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution.
Image quality is reasonable, with great color accuracy, tone, and contrast.
However, luminance uniformity (consistency of backlight brightness across the
screen) is very weak, as was the display's match to our calibrated white point.
In short, we wouldn't recommend the Edge for graphic design work or
professional photo editing. In other fields, it's still sharp and clear to look
at, and does the job.
Far more impressive is the Edge's Intel
Core i7-3770S quad-core CPU. Combined with its 8GB of RAM (though our test
model had only 4GB), it offers serious 'desktop-level' computing power for
tasks like video transcoding, data compression, encryption and software-based
rendering. It's a pity about the screen, because the Edge would make a great
machine for serious Photoshop, InDesign and Flash work.
Far
more impressive is the Edge's Intel Core i7-3770S quad-core CPU.
In areas like 3D modelling, CAD and architecture,
less dependent on perfect color, the Edge is a good larger-screen alternative
to a chunky 'desktop replacement' laptop. It's also good for cutting together
video, as long as you have another screen or PC to do your color-correction on.
The AMD Radeon HD 7650A graphics card offers similar entry-level gaming
performance to the Acer Aspire 5600U (also tested this issue), and good
hardware acceleration for compatible CAD and photo/video editing suites.
There's plenty of storage with a ITB
7200RPM hard drive. It doesn't perform as well as SSD or SSD/HDD hybrid storage
setups, but it clearly beats the slower 5400RPM drives found in some competing
models and many laptops.
Connectivity is good, with two USB 3.0
ports, four USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader, gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI input/
output ports. While the USB 3.0 ports, headphone and mic sockets, and care
reader are placed 'accessibly' on the left-hand edge, they're tucked back 45mm
behind the screen, making them inconvenient to access regularly. The same is
true of the DVD rewriter on the right-hand edge. On the upside, power buttons
and brightness controls are readily accessible at the bottom edge of the front
panel.
On
the upside, power buttons and brightness controls are readily accessible at the
bottom edge of the front panel.
Altogether, the Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 92z
is an all-in-one with real workstation performance. Despite that, it's priced
quite attractively. Yes, you could build a much more powerful desktop for the
same price, but the Edge works well as a slim and single-piece alternative for
CAD, data analysis or other CPU-heavy work. Two factors disappoint, though -
the screen's unsuitability to image editing or graphic design, and the Edge's
own somewhat lackluster design with its dorky little feet and poor port
positioning.
We'd recommend it to those who want the
computer power, but not for those who work primarily with images or production
video.
At a glance
·
21.5-inch 1920 x 1080-pixel display
·
Intel Core 17-37705 quad-core CPU
·
8GB RAM (our test model had 4GB)
·
AMD Radeon HD7650A graphics (2GB)
·
1TB 7200RPM hard drive
Lenovo Thinkcentre Edge 92z (3414CUM)
·
RRP incI GST: $2,207
·
Contact: lenovo.com/nz
·
Rating: 3.5/5
Undeniably powerful, but could benefit
greatly from a revised chassis design and improved display technology.
