Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 520 Review: Is It Worth It?

In the world of all-in-one (AIO) PCs, manufacturers need to effigy out how to fit a lot of hardware into something that's unremarkably no larger than a standard monitor. Prices tin can creep upwards speedily as hardware shrinks, similar to what we see with laptops, and if information technology's not done properly, you may get a large, heavy device that suffers from performance bug.

Lenovo's IdeaCentre 520, part of its AIO lineup that as well includes the 900 series, is positioned every bit an upper mid-range PC meant for abode utilise. Information technology doesn't have the hardware within for specialized tasks, just it can hands handle everyday ones, like word processing, video watching, spider web browsing, and some light to medium gaming.

Do the IdeaCentre 520's functioning and design warrant the starting price of about $990? I used this AIO for about a calendar week to come up with an answer.

Does heavy equal premium?

Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 520

Starts at $990

Lesser Line: The IdeaCentre AIO is certainly a looker, and it has the performance to dorsum information technology up. As long as you have room and don't programme on whatever specialized tasks, it should serve you lot well.

Pros:

• Pop-upwardly IR camera.
• Brilliant bear upon brandish with great color.
• Decent port selection.
• Optical drive.

Cons:

• Heavy!
• Slow hard-disk drive (HDD).
• No display rotation.

What y'all'll love nearly the IdeaCentre AIO 520

There'due south no fashion around it — the IdeaCentre AIO 520 looks like a premium device. The back has a gentle curve, and the sides are thick only take ample venting to keep the bear on display and performance hardware cool.

Information technology'southward sturdy and well put together, with no seams sticking out or unsightly gaps between components. The big display sits at the same depth as the speaker row beneath information technology, giving it a complete await your optics kind of glide over. In the top of the PC is a popular-up 1080p webcam that's neat for video conferencing, and yous as well get an IR sensor for logging in through Windows Hello.

Category	Specs
Grade factor	All-in-one
Display	27-inch 1440p (QHD) IPS touch
Processor	Seventh-gen Intel Core i7-7700T (upwards to three.80GHz)
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 630
RAM	16GB DDR4-2400MHz
Camera	1080p pop-up, IR for Windows Howdy
Storage	1TB HDD and 16GB Optane retention
Ports	USB-C, 2x USB-A 3.0, 2x USB-A two.0, HDMI in, HDMI out, RJ45 Ethernet, SD card reader, iii.5mm audio jack
Size	24.6 in x xviii.nine in 10 2.7 in (624.35 mm x 479.four mm ten 68 mm)
Weight	23.15 pounds (10.5 kg)

The display is brighter than a lot of devices Lenovo puts out, striking somewhere around 350 nits of brightness when maxed out. If you're planning on using this PC in a room with lots of light, it shouldn't exist a problem, fifty-fifty if the glossy end picks up fingerprints. As for color, testing gave me 100 percent sRGB and 79 percent AdobeRGB, both excellent results that give a deep picture.

I benchmarked the 7th-gen, quad-cadre processor (CPU), integrated Intel graphics (GPU), and seven,200RPM HDD, and all merely the HDD gave satisfactory results. A PCMark Home Conventional test gave a score of 3,180 (right where loftier-end laptops sit), a Geekbench four CPU exam gave a single-core score of iv,285 and quad-core score of 12,576 (right where seventh-gen CPUs should be), and the Geekbench 4 GPU test gave a score of xviii,982, high enough to be useful for some light to medium gaming.

The ports are all nestled in a group on the back — except 1 USB-A iii.0 port on the left side — next to the power supply. There'due south a good selection of erstwhile and new ports, but in that location's no Thunderbolt three, something that could be used to hook upward an external GPU if you desire to use the AIO for some heavy gaming. However, in that location are both HDMI in and out, significant you can use the display with some other PC.

Finally, what looks similar a long row of speakers beneath the display really houses two 3W speakers that go respectably loud. Sound is clear no matter the volume, and since it'southward directed directly at you lot, information technology is quite enjoyable, even while listening in a relatively large open infinite.

What y'all'll dislike about the IdeaCentre AIO 520

While the IdeaCentre AIO 520 has a premium look and feels well-congenital, it is beefy compared to some other AIOs on the marketplace. It as well weighs just over 23 pounds, and so when it'southward in place, you'll probably want to go out it there. This isn't meant to be carried effectually, but you'll nevertheless need a decent amount of space on your desk-bound to fit its 27-inch display comfortably. Complicating things a bit is the display'due south inability to rotate on its stand up. For this much coin, a stand up that lets you turn the display a few different ways would be appreciated.

Where performance is otherwise quite good, the 7,200RPM HDD striking a read speed of 926 MB/s while merely hitting an abysmal 152.i MB/due south write speed. In that location is 16GB of Intel Optane memory between the CPU and HDD, but yous're nevertheless going to see some performance problems if you're used to a speedy solid-state drive (SSD).

The keyboard and mouse included with the AIO 520 are alright if y'all don't have any alternatives, only they're nothing fancy. This isn't really anything that takes marks away from the PC, merely yous should not expect annihilation great.

Bottom line on the IdeaCentre AIO 520

Considering you're getting an able PC and 27-inch monitor in the same bundle, the $990 starting toll tag — which includes a Cadre i5-7400T CPU, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and 1TB HDD with 16GB of Optane memory — is a pretty solid deal.

While information technology is bigger and heavier than some AIOs I've seen, information technology has a premium look and information technology delivers the operation needed for well-nigh tasks (every bit long every bit they aren't something specialized, like video editing). It can even deliver a decent gaming feel with many modern games, and the impact function works without flaw.

If yous need a multipurpose PC and would like a loftier-res touch on display with great color to proceed with information technology, the IdeaCentre AIO 520 is a legitimate option. A high-speed SSD and a stand with some extra movement would truly brand information technology a knockout.

See at Lenovo

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/lenovo-ideacentre-aio-520

Posted by: chentropir.blogspot.com

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