Lenovo ThinkCentre M71z

Lenovo ThinkCentre M71z. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M71z is a reasonably priced all-in-one desktop PC that has the pricing and the capabilities needed to outfit the majority of your workforce. It's middle of the road, that's true, but it does middle of the road so well we give it our highest recommendation. The M71z is an excellent choice for your mainline workers: the ones that manage projects, file and search data, or deal with your clients on a day-to-day basis. Sure, there are faster, more powerful PCs and workstations out there for your top earners, but for the majority, the M71z is the ride they can use to move your business forward. This bang-for-the-buck proposition leads us to name the ThinkCentre M71z our latest Editor's Choice for all-in-one business desktops.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M71z is the touch-screen all-in-one desktop for the majority of your workers. It combines a nice price, decent design, and corporate cred in a package that will satisfy the rank and file. Touch screen. Nice Price. Durable build quality. Webcam Lens cover. Uses standard power cables (no power adapter brick). Wi-Fi. No USB 3.0. Only DisplayPort-Out.

Design and Features
The ThinkCentre M71z is a pretty standard looking all-in-one PC with a 20-inch widescreen that has two-point multitouch functionality. Not surprisingly, it's has a close familial resemblance to other Lenovo all-in-one PCs like the Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 91z and the Lenovo IdeaCentre B520. All three Lenovos are easel-style systems, distinct from PCs like the HP Compaq 8200 Elite All-in-one PC that take their styling cues from the iconic Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Thunderbolt). The M71z's more sedate styling may forestall envious co-worker baiting, however, since the system is a lot less flashy.

The desktop blends into offices where you already have Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops deployed. The M71z doesn't have a huge screen (1,600 by 900 resolution), but it's sufficient for mainline office workers. It's certainly got a larger size screen than even the largest 17-inch desktop replacement laptops (though the 17-inch laptop may have a higher resolution screen). Lenovo saves a little money by using older-style CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent) screen backlighting rather than the LED backlights found on thinner all in ones. The screen had evenly bright lighting and a decent field of view: in other words you could sit to the sides of the screen at an angle and still see it clearly. The two-point multitouch lets you zoom in and out of photos, rotate online interfaces, and use swipe commands to browse the Internet. Since the screen is vertical with not too much recline, you'll likely use the included wired keyboard and mouse for most of your typing needs. If you try to type with the on-screen keyboard, your arm will tire after a few minutes. This is fine for this system, since it's aimed at the mainline clerical worker and not for digital artists using their fingers as digital paintbrushes.

The sides of the M71z are relatively unadorned: two USB 2.0 ports, a media card reader, and audio jacks are on the left side; a tray-loading DVD drive on the right side; and a power button, drive light, and +/- on screen controls (brightness, etc.) on the front. The system's forward-firing speakers are below the screen on the front panel as well. In the back, there are four more USB 2.0 ports, a standard 3-pin power jack, Ethernet, serial port (for older peripherals like bar code scanners), a DisplayPort-out port, a Kensington lock port, and a handle. The handle and power jack make things easier for your IT workers: the handle makes the system easy to transport, and the standard power port means that you don't have to keep track of external power supplies (aka power bricks): you can just use the standard power cables used by tower desktops. If you have a 802.11 b/g/n wireless network, the M71z will connect to it easily. We would've like to have seen a DisplayPort-in or HDMI-in port, so you can reuse the M71z's monitor with a future laptop or desktop when the M71z's internal finally become too slow, but the DisplayPort-out is still useful: The DisplayPort-out port lets you use the system in a dual-monitor setup. The system comes with a built-in webcam above the screen, but Lenovo thinks ahead: you can manually close a shutter over the lens, so you're assured of your privacy. This assuages the concerns of security-conscious IT policy enforcers while still giving users access to video conferencing.

The M71z has a few pre-installed programs, including Microsoft Office 2010 Starter, Skype, and Microsoft Touch Pack. Thankfully, the 30-day trial verson of Norton Internet Security isn't pre-installed (you have to run an installer from the Start menu. That way you can choose to either run Norton (and upgrade later) or start fresh with another anti-virus/anti-malware utility. Lenovo's usual ThinkVantage utilities are also present.

Posted in: Desktop,Lenovo