Pint-sized Lenovo workstations tip up

CHINESE PC MAKER Lenovo has released two desktops aimed at businesses.

Given the firm's insistence to stick with designs that were created by IBM years ago, it is surprising that its Thinkcentre M90z picked up a TCO Certified Edge designation. Apparently the firm was given that particular rosette because the M90z uses consumer recycled materials, which we hope doesn't mean its been put together with parts bought off Ebay.

The all-in-one machine will come with a choice of Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors and a choice between traditional hard disk and SSD hard drives. The whole shebang is shoved into a 23-inch monitor. The M90z will be available by the end of June with a price tag of £820.

The far more meaty Thinkstation C20 and C20x workstations are being pitched at City of London boys needing to be fed more information in order to figure out new ways of bankrupting nations. The workstations are powered by Intel Xeon 5600 processors and have up to 96GB of DDR3 memory. Lenovo has also given customers the option of fitting two Nvidia Quadro FX4800 cards, if their power bill allows, supporting up to a total of eight monitors.

Interestingly, instead of comparing the C20's computational performance against similar units from Dell and HP, Lenovo thought it would be best to compare size, touting the C20 as a pint-sized machine able to punch above its weight. Apparently a smaller machine will allow analysts to do more work with the workspace they are given, or something. With the C20 costing £1,700, small patches of desktop real-estate have never been more dear.

To use the extra space, Lenovo will also release a couple of 21.5-inch monitors, the Thinkvision L2230x Wide and L2321x Wide, priced at £210 and £240, respectively. Both the smallish workstations and their companion displays are scheduled be available at the end of July. µ