By Tan Mae Lynn
EARLIER this month I made a wish in this column. I wished that the all-in-one PC we reviewed could be a TV as well.
Lo and behold, my wish was granted.
The Lenovo IdeaCentre B320 arrived in our newsroom for a review.
And one of its biggest selling points is that it can also function as a television set.
There's even a default screen saver on the unit highlighting the B320 as a PC + TV device. How cool is that?
Or so I thought.
But alas, the TV feature on the B320 is optional and the review unit did not have it. So, moving on. Out of the box, the B320 is easy to set up.
It isn't the best looking though. On the front, it looks decent in black, with front-facing speakers at the bottom.
What makes it look somewhat old-fashioned is the levered stand.
Also, the monitor is a bit thick at about 9cm without the stand.
Add the stand, and the monitor takes up a bit more space than I would have liked.
The B320 comes with a 21.5-inch screen, which is a comfortable desktop size and which would be a decent size to double as a TV in the spare room or home office.
There's something about the design which gives the impression that it is smaller than it really is. This, for some, would be considered a plus point.
The B320's accompanying keyboard and mouse appeared to be accessories that may have been designed separately.
The keyboard looks more modern with a matte textured finish. The mouse was strangely, very heavy.
The B320 has full HD capability. Viewing the desktop is certainly quite pleasant with crisp images. However, when you watch a video, you'll notice quality isn't as great.
This was the case whether we watched a YouTube clip, a DVD or video shot in HD.
This Lenovo all-in-one PC may not be of cutting-edge design, but it has more than enough to function as a fairly good desktop PC.
LENOVO IDEACENTRE B320
PRICE: $1,549
This Lenovo entry into the all-in-one PC category gives me a whole bunch of mixed feelings. On the one hand, the IdeaCentre B320 sports solid speakers, lots of hard disk space, is touch-screen enabled and can be used as an HD TV.
Most importantly, it is highly (and easily) customisable, selling at a range of prices starting from as low as $1,199 (our review set features an Intel i5 processor and sells at $1,549).
However, the screen doesn't quite deliver the crisp and smooth video that I came to expect from a PC being touted as a TV as well - it felt a tad grainy and unpolished when I tried out a few HD trailers (1080p MOV files).
The B320's 21.5-inch screen isn't shoddy (photos, pictures and games look good on it) - I just didn't feel that mind-blowing oomph of sharpness and clarity when I watched my videos.
That said, the review set we got to look at came with a very generous 1TB hard drive - lots of space for videos, applications and games. Speaking about gaming, this PC isn't a slouch in that department either.
Although the AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB graphics card pulls down the PC's overall Windows Experience Index score to 5.1, the B320 should be able to play most games - if you don't push it to the highest graphical settings, of course. For all you DIY upgraders, the B320 looks like it'll be a breeze to upgrade compared with ancient tower PCs.
While I didn't take the review set apart myself to have a look, the hardware appears to be laid out neatly underneath the computer's back panels.
Plus, a handy manual comes in the box which will guide you in the replacement process. The B320 also comes with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, although a PS/2 keyboard port exists alongside multiple USB ports if you'd rather use other input devices you're comfortable with.
All in all, I can't help but feel a little let down a little by the grainy video. Yet, the price tag is attractive - if you can overlook that little bugbear.