Lenovo, with U.S. offices in Research Triangle Park, N.C., is retooling its desktop PC portfolio to give customers two smaller, lower-cost options. The company’s new ThinkCentre A58 is a newly designed desktop machine targeted to SMB customers, while the ThinkCentre M58e provides technologies and green features for the midmarket and large companies. The desktops come in tower and small-form-factor models.
“Customers are feeling the pinch of the challenging economic times, and are demanding PCs that give them the most value for their dollar,” says Dilip Bhatia, executive director, global desktop marketing, Lenovo. “We’ve crafted the latest Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops to give them the essential technologies they need to stay productive, reliability features and service plans to stretch their dollar further, and security options to protect their business.”†
Data Security
For two layers of data protection, users can combine Lenovo’s Rescue and Recovery tool included with the desktops to help recover and restore lost files along with the company’s Online Data Backup service to keep data backed-up in a secure, off-site location. Preloaded on both desktops, customers can try the service free with up to 5 GB of storage for 90 days.†
The desktops offer such security features as I/O port disablement to help protect against external threats, a chassis intrusion switch to help detect tampering in the PC, and a fingerprint reader on several optional Lenovo keyboards for easy password management.
With select EPEAT Gold-rated models and models that already meet the Energy Star 5.0 requirements that take effect in July, the ThinkCentre M58e helps enterprise customers ensure that their PC technology is energy efficient and environmentally responsible. For companies with large fleets of PCs, the savings can quickly add up, according to Lenovo. A ThinkCentre M58e combined with a ThinkVision L1940pW monitor, says the company, can save organizations approximately $40 a year over previous Lenovo desktop and monitor solutions. And both the ThinkCentre M58e and the ThinkCentre A58 desktops are Greengard certified, meaning they have been tested for up to 2,000 different chemical emissions.†
Value-Added Tools
By and large, businesses purchase PC technology as an investment to be managed over several years. However, Gartner reports that only 13 to 16 percent of the total cost of PC ownership over the lifecycle of the PC comes from initial hardware costs, and the rest are software and ongoing management costs. The ThinkCentre A58 and M58e desktops help organizations manage both upfront hardware costs and ongoing management costs in several ways.
Lenovo has engineered ThinkVantage Technologies on the ThinkCentre M58e and Lenovo Care tools on the ThinkCentre A58 that are included in the cost of the PC. These tools help companies avoid IT costs and lost productivity associated with individual PC usage in SMB environments, such as data recovery, as well as challenges IT managers in large corporations face, such as IT help desk calls, password resets, and asset management. In addition, a Power Manager feature enables companies to manage and remotely control the energy usage of the PCs even when they are turned off. The desktops also include Client Security Solution and Client Security Password Manager.
IT administrators can deploy and manage Lenovo ThinkVantage Technologies across a fleet of PCs by purchasing LANDesk software. The ThinkCentre M58e desktop also offers platform stability of up to 15 months for corporate customers who may deploy technology over an extended period of time.††
Configuration Options
The desktops can be configured with the following:
- Intel Core2Quad and Core2Duo processors†
- Onboard Direct X10 graphics support†
- Support for up to 1TB of storage†
- Up to 4 GB memory†
- Blu-Ray or DVD burners††
Service and Support
Lenovo offers a variety of warranty options as well as its ThinkPlus Priority support service plans that provide customers with 24×7 technical support and priority call routing, among other features and tools. ThinkPlus Priority support can help support critical business needs while helping businesses reduce or eliminate the need for around the clock IT staff, which can translate into significant cost savings, according to Lenovo.††
For complete lifecycle management, Lenovo offers custom imaging and deployment, as well as Asset Recovery Services, a solution that provides for computer take-back, data destruction, refurbishment, and recycling. Customers can also recover value from their old PCs that can then be used toward the purchase of new ones.††
Pricing and Availability
The ThinkCentre A58 and M58e desktops will be available at the beginning of April with models starting at $399.