Lenovo’s IdeaCenter A600 looks good but is there any substance?

Continuing the ‘thin’ theme of upcoming CES products Lenovo has debuted their latest, ‘thinnest’ all-in-one desktop PC. It does look pretty good with its rakish profile iMac-inspired frameless black bezel but don’t expect this to act as a home entertainment hub the way its competition can.

Unlike other devices in this segment the IdeaCenter places most of it components in the lower part of the computer giving the screen a slim appearance and allowing Lenovo to claim that the A600 is the ‘thinnest all-in-one computer’. It comes with a keyboard with a built-in touchpad,

The A600 has a 21.5 inch screen (1920 x 1080 resolution) so its on the small side. It comes with a choice of Intel Core 2 duo CPUs, an optional ATI Radeon GPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM hard drives up to 1TB.

The most interesting feature of the A600 is probably the ‘Motion Drive’ remote which comes as an option. It not only operates the machine’s multi-media features but also acts as a game controller and an air-mouse. It also acts as a VOIP handset that can make and receive calls.

The multi-use controller would be great in combination with HDMI input which the spec sheet unfortunately lacks so it won’t be replacing any desktop TVs after all.

Specifications

• 21.5″ Display, 1920×1080 pixels, 16:9 ratio
• Digital TV Tuner (Media Center compatible)
• Motion Drive Remote with an accelerometer.
• Intel Core Duo
• Up to 4GB DDR3
• Up to 1TB of storage
• 6x USB 2.0
• 1x Firewire (1394)
• Up to 2MP cam
• From $999

Prices will start at $999 but doesn’t include Blu-ray or a lot of other extras so expect to pay up to $2000 for a really useful one.

Tags: a600, all-in-one, hdmi, ideacenter, lenovo, motion drive, pc, remote,