Lenovo gets official with IdeaCentre K210 desktop

We heard that Lenovo was shuffling its lineup a bit earlier this month, and sure enough, that IdeaCentre brand is getting its 15 minutes today courtesy of a fresh press release. Hailed as the outfit's "global entry into the consumer desktop market outside of China," the IdeaCentre K210 comes with a variety of hardware choices including Intel's Core 2 Quad processors, up to 3GB of DDR2 RAM, a GMA X3100 integrated graphics set (or a 512MB ATI Radeon 2600 XT), optional Blu-ray drive, gigabit Ethernet, a 16-in-1 multicard reader and an anti-microbial keyboard that comically stands out more than it was likely intended to. Nevertheless, the tower also includes VeriFace facial recognition technology that enables users to log in by simply gazing into the webcam; if it performs anywhere nearly as poorly as it did on our U110 review unit, however, we'd recommend switching the feature off and logging in as usual. Units are available now from a variety of e-tailers starting at $379 (after mail-in rebate).

[Alexander @ Jun 30th 2008 10:49AM]

At least it's not as hideous as the 3000 K100 tower...

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 30th 2008 10:50AM]

It looks aesthetically pleasing witch I cant say much for most PC's. I don't trust Lenovo though but It looks very tempting. The specs are drool worthy but whats up with the 3GB of ram? If I install another more competent OS I can actually use all 4 Gigs.

[DefPo3t @ Jun 30th 2008 10:53AM]

3gb = due to them installing either xp or vista in 32bit variates more than likely

[zargon @ Jun 30th 2008 12:21PM]

We formally used IBM at work and one of my jobs is picking the systems we use. I was apprehensive about Lenovo taking over the IBM lineup, but since we have been using them for some time now. I must say that all my fears and worries are gone. Lenovo has done an outstanding job of keep the quality that IBM strived for.

We have seen no major changes in units arriving DOA (In fact, I don't think we have had a DOA unit in over a year now) or units failing during their warranty time (I could count our failed units over the past year on one hand).

Take it for what it is worth, but I seen no reason to be worried about Lenovo.

[DefPo3t @ Jun 30th 2008 10:52AM]

Dear Lenovo,

Mounting an ugly a## camera on top of a nice looking monitor WTF

Signed,
Thanks for a decent price finally

[Alexander @ Jun 30th 2008 10:54AM]

I'm assuming like on the Gateway all-in-one unit that the camera is plugged into a usb slot on the top of the monitor so that some families/employers can take it off...

[xstream @ Jun 30th 2008 10:55AM]

since they have to leave the name ibm and thinkpad/thinkcenter now, cause that was part of the buying, i think ideacentre is a good replacement

[zargon @ Jun 30th 2008 12:16PM]

I am not exactually sure what Lenovo paths are for names, I probably could check with our Lenovo rep to find out. But, from what I have seen, the IdeaCentre/Pad is geared more towards the home users with more features that would appeal to them, while the ThinkCentre/Pad are geared more towards business applications.

[Striker @ Jun 30th 2008 6:46PM]

Thinkpad is staying, fool, and the Thinkcentre is being refreshed into the Thinkstation, read up before you say that they are ditching their most popular lines, idiot.

[Danakin @ Jun 30th 2008 10:56AM]

...facial recognition you say...what if I were to take a picture of myself and hold it up to the camera...

[Nihility @ Jun 30th 2008 3:15PM]

or a twin brother, or just an older brother who looks like you. You make a good point, this is worthless.

OTOH with direct access to the machine you pretty much own it anyway it's all just the illusion of security.

[derX @ Jun 30th 2008 3:15PM]

Hopefully the software is good enough to differentiate between a 2D picture and your 3D head.

[Bill @ Jun 30th 2008 11:03AM]

That's one of the nicest looking black-box Personal Comptuers I've seen in awhile.

[Chris Macdonald @ Jun 30th 2008 11:13AM]

With the face recognition, couldn't you get on someone's account by holding up a picture of them?

[Sasha S. @ Jun 30th 2008 11:18AM]

dear god - that thing is UGLY!

[cesium @ Jun 30th 2008 11:42AM]

the monitor is HOT

[z0phi3l @ Jun 30th 2008 11:54AM]

If those prices hold up for the US, they just might be worth looking into

[spimoles @ Jun 30th 2008 12:48PM]

I'm a big fan of IBM/Lenovo products and am really impressed by this system. Monitor is nice, the unit's case looks great and it has great specs to boot. The unit is very nicely priced at $379 and while I prefer to build my own machines, I could definitely see myself picking this thing up and just upgrading it later. Props Lenovo, keep it up

[Nihility @ Jun 30th 2008 3:26PM]

Why do I get the feeling that the price is just for the computer, not the monitor + keyboard + mouse + camera?

[spimoles @ Jul 1st 2008 1:17AM]

Well it all seemed a little too good to be true. I went to lenovo's website and everyone of the retailers they suggested either had drastically different prices or the specs were nowhere close what was advertised. this was what I was afraid of... $379 for a base model without the lcd/camera. This is why I don't buy per-built PCs

[Darren @ Jun 30th 2008 6:47PM]

It looks like they've resurrected the IBM PCjr Chiclet Keyboard.

[Bill @ Jul 1st 2008 4:21AM]

Regarding Lenovo going the retailer route, I think it would better if they chose Dell's model of online sells, and enabled buyers to configure systems directly from their site.

I usually don't buy pre-built systems either. However, this time around I got a system from Dell and couldn't be happier with it.

I looked at other PC vendors prior to my most recent purchase; such as HP and NEC, and they all had nice stuff. But, when I saw that I couldn't configure a system online with them, and had to rely of some third party retailer that may or may not have had the exact configuration I was after, I dropped them all in favor of Dell.

[Bright Vision @ Jul 1st 2008 5:40PM]

I also heard that with this machine, lenovo also incorporated the Bright Vision technology, that can automatically adjust the monitor’s brightness, depending on how far away the user is from it; this can be done if Lenovo Bright Eye Camera hardware is connected to the system.

[HC @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:00PM]

i can only find the gray, has anyone seen the all black for sale?