14 DAY TRIAL // Lenovo is undoubtedly one of the leading manufacturers of portable computer systems, but the company has a strong position in the desktop computer systems market. Taking the expertise even further, the manufacturer decided it is time to bring something new. As a result, Lenovo announced today the launch of their IdeaCentre K210 desktop system. The product marks the company's debut in the global consumer desktop market outside of China. This announcement follows the company's recent debut of its IdeaPad series of notebooks.
Lenovo has high hopes for its IdeaCentre and IdeaPad systems, especially since IDC has forecast that the worldwide consumer PC demand will grow by nearly 10% per year between 2007 and 2011.
The new product has been designed to provide first time users with a reliable PC that is easy to use and is also affordable. With the system's exterior design, the company has kept it simple while still providing a number of interesting features. One of them allows users to open the case, for various upgrades and maintenance with just a push of a button. The internal "buckle" design of the K210 makes it easy for users to change the system's graphics, sound or modem cards, without using any tools.
But the most interesting features of Lenovo's new device is the camera built-in the PC's display. Using this camera and the company's VeriFace technology, you will not need to worry about losing your passwords. Instead of typing your password, the integrated camera will recognize your face and grant you access to the system. With the help of Lenovo's "Bright Vision" technology, the monitor will adjust its brightness by calculating how far the user is from the monitor.
And this is not all, as the new system also sports an anti-microbial keyboard that uses a special material to inhibit bacterial growth. This keyboard has a built-in OneKey recovery button which lets users to easily recover from a system failure with a single button.
Performance wise, the new IdeaCentre K210 system will provide support for Intel's Core 2 Quad processors and comes with Intel's GMA 3100 integrated graphics. And if integrated graphics doesn't satisfy you, the K210 can also be equipped with an ATI Radeon 2600 XT (512MB) graphics card.
The new system is available on the manufacturer's web site and at various retail outlets in the United States. The starting price tag, after a mail-in-rebate is $379, while the 19-inch monitor (which is sold separately) can be yours for $299 (after mail-in-rebate).