New ThinkCentre A61e Desktop Announced Today
Today Lenovo launches a new desktop, the ThinkCentre A61e. It has several aspects that make it notable. One, it is smaller than anything we currently sell. Two, it is our greenest desktop ever. Three, it offers the lowest acoustics of any of our desktops, and four, it allows us to get to lower price points than ever before.
Size
The first thing that many people notice about the A61e is its size. Its total volume is 4.5L. Prior to this announcement, our smallest form factor was our current Ultra Small Form Factor at 6.3L. In the desktop world, we use liters to compare machines because it is the easiest way to compare size. Height, width, and depth are all different and PCs come in all sorts of different shapes. However, the number of liters of volume will tell you accurately how much space it will take up on your desk.
Usually a smaller desktop has many compromises in order to get it as small as possible. Common ways to get smaller are to leave out expansion slots, limit memory slots, use mobile hard disk drives and optical drives, and moving pieces outside of the system. The A61e does not have any expansion slots, but it does use standard 3.5″ desktop-sized hard disk drives for full desktop performance. It also has a full 5.25″ desktop optical drive. To get smaller, the A61e uses SODIMM (notebook) memory and moves the power supply to under the user’s desk. The power supply itself is not that large. If you are familiar with the ThinkPad G series AC adapter, it is smaller than that, but still bigger than a standard ThinkPad adapter. There is also an optional bracket to allow the machine to be attached the rear of a flat panel display so that a user can have a completely clean desk.
Environmentally Friendly
Mark Hopkins pointed out to me after my last post on Green Desktops that when the PC division was part of IBM, we actually tried this out in the 80s with the IBM PS/2E Green Machine. It was the industry’s first Energy Star compliant personal computer. It had a 50MHz IBM 486SLC processor, four PCMCIA slots and borrowed many components from the ThinkPad line. It was also composed of recycled plastics and was designed to be easily recycled at the end of its useful life. (Thanks to techeblog.com for this)
The A61e is made of recycled resins to reduce its environmental footprint. But since most people associate “green” with energy consumption, we are most proud of that. There are models that draw as little as 65 watts. It is fully Energy Star 4 compliant, and has an EPEAT gold rating. One of the cool things is that since it is such a power miser, we even have a solar panel option to run it. (For more comments on the solar panel, check out Gizmodo here or here.) Standby power draw is 4.1 watts and normal idle is 47 watts. By our best estimation, this PC will only cost an average user $20.32 in electricity costs to run, about ½ of a typical PC configuration.
Noise
People hate noisy, intrusive machines in their workspaces. Background noise in an office typically is somewhere around 4.0 bels. Under a compute load, the A61e rates 4.1 bels. In contrast, our ThinkCentre M55 desktop produces 4.8 bels under a compute load. (Our desktop team is going to be significantly improving the noise output for our forthcoming desktop announcements for the rest of our product families.)
Price Point
In addition to low power draw, the A61 has full support of our ThinkVantage software tools for lowest ongoing cost of ownership. We also understand that acquisition cost is extremely important. There will be price points lower than anything we currently sell (varies by geography, but as low as $399 in the US), and to help keep complexity down, instead of full configure to order, customers can choose from select preconfigured models. The machines will then be direct shipped from the factory, eliminating a touch, and therefore reducing costs. Customers who literally buy a boatload of them can expect even lower price points.
And yes, it can also run Linux, with RedHat, Novell, and TurboLinux certifications. 
Lenovo Meet the Modder Dean Liou
Lenovo Meet the modder- Chris Blarsky Dairy 2
Lenovo Meet the modder- Chris Blarsky Dairy 1
Lenovo H320 desktop
September 12th, 2007 3:48 pm
This is one machine i really want to have as a home server and if it is really as silent as promised it might even be a must-have as an HTPC for the living room.
I’ve already asked my Lenovo sales rep for a test unit…
September 12th, 2007 5:07 pm
If they’re $399 in the UK (£200), I’ll have two. They look great.
September 12th, 2007 5:43 pm
Way cool… and ugly, but sort of in a good way! Give those Mac Minis a run for their money!
September 12th, 2007 6:19 pm
Now when this model is discontinued and peoples power bricks start to fail, is Lenovo going to raise the price of the power brick to astronomical levels such as that of the power brick for the NetVista X40/X41 line? Had a customer have one of their power bricks fail, at the time IBM wanted $1300CDN for a replacement power brick. Insane! Is Lenovo going to keep prices for these power bricks at a decent price such as that for notebook AC Adapters?
September 12th, 2007 6:27 pm
Is the power brick standard or proprietary?
September 12th, 2007 7:17 pm
I would like to have a small computer like this. Glad to see such improvement over thermal/noise factors. since it looks the computer is for office use i wonder are there any plans to extend the design to other product line? the current lenovo offerings for home is rather…ordinary in its configuration and look. i know its a matter of cost but unless you make some wow factors- whether it is the cost or the look or customization ability- it is really hard to lure customers.
but personally green credential is so appealing to me and i m happy to reduce my carbon footprint by some means like that.
September 12th, 2007 8:49 pm
And that PS/2E keyboard is sick! Drool…
September 12th, 2007 9:53 pm
Wow…I think the small form factor is a great idea, but that is one ugly desktop. You can say (like a stereotypical engineer would) that it’s the specs that count, but you won’t sell many of these outside the corporate market until you can make it look less like a clunky 80s VHS deck. Walk into an Apple Store and take a look at the Mac Mini–as much as the snob-like culture of Mac fanatics annoys me, THAT is a good looking desktop. I know you don’t care about the home market as much, but the fact is as computers become more and more commodity items sexy sells, and I’d hate to be the sales guy trying to convince a conference room full of people to buy these, when even a Dell looks good on a desk by comparison.
If I was in the market for a small desktop, just based on looks I wouldn’t let this in the house–but I do think the small form factor is a good idea. Less noise and less power waste is a good thing. But you should really think more about design and making your stuff look good–I can tell you from personal experience that although I love my ThinkPad most people I know won’t buy one because they look boring. They’ll pay an extra $200 for a Vaio just because it doesn’t look like it was manufactured in 1998. The Beige Box days are long gone.
September 13th, 2007 12:36 am
totally agree with sumisu. black, functionalist, and ugly design might be a trademark for ibm but i think lenovo is really pushing the boundary of ugliness. also, we are in the 21st century which is very different from 80s and early 90s when those designs were considered “hip” and “in,” they are now truly out of syn with any corporate or home environment.
even though i love thinkpad functionalities and features (good built quality, reliable, good specs etc…), i almost choose to get another less awful looking notebook when replacing my old thinkpad 5 months ago before finally deciding (only by a very small margin) to get a X60.
September 13th, 2007 1:55 am
I showed my girlfreind the picture of the machines, she said, and I quote
“WTF is that, a record player?”
To me, it looks like another poster said earlier, a really old VHS recorder.
Its one ugly peice of kit.
Question, how much of the internals is propriatery? How much of a strangle hold does IBM have on people getting spare parts for it?
Also, have you crippled it like you did on the certain thinkpads (think not allowing non authorised wireless cards) so only certain addons work in it in order to keep customers tied into your unfair practices?
September 13th, 2007 3:44 am
Great Features, but man, it’s HIDEOUS! Looks like a prototype slapped together by the original LEGEND boys back in the 80s. Thank God for the brackets that allow you to hide it behind your LCD Monitor. I think Michael Moore is sexier than this “beastie.” (sorry Mike)
September 13th, 2007 5:06 am
How does it compare to MacMini? It would be nice to see them side by side on a photo. Like this it looks way too big on the photo.
September 13th, 2007 6:55 am
It Looks ok. I’d like to see a picture of the back of this thing. Does machine still has the legacy PS/2 and vga connects?
September 13th, 2007 7:05 am
I use to use a PS/2E as a box to ghost Thinkpads from in the late nineties – nice little machine.
September 13th, 2007 8:06 am
Great Job! Thanks the desktop development team!
But I want to take a look of the solar panel, seems very interesting!
September 13th, 2007 8:20 am
I think it looks good! Good job!
September 13th, 2007 8:51 am
Personally, I think the look is much more preferably to the mac mini. Having front mounted ports is very useful, and that’s something apple compromised in the name of aesthetics. The hexagonal air vent (if that’s what it is) reminds me of some of the G5.
September 13th, 2007 10:48 am
I’m surprised in the choice of having a full size optical drive present instead of a laptop-based one. Still, I think the Thinkcentre S50 USFF looks better. Although the smaller size and low power of the A61e is definitely a bonus.
September 13th, 2007 12:16 pm
No PS2 ports on the rear panel. There is still the standard VGA connector.
Rear I/O consists of DC-IN, VGA, 4 USB, LAN, Line in, Line out, and microphone. Additionally, there’s the front panel consisting of 2 USB, headphone, and microphone.
September 13th, 2007 1:36 pm
Even though I like ugly things, maybe it would be smart to design the ThinkCenters in the style of the ThinkPads. Hell, you could even make the ThinkCenters look more like a bento box than a ThinkPad!
from your own blog: http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=99#comments
September 13th, 2007 1:37 pm
P.S. right now it looks like a 1990’s Pontiac. Most people don’t like 1990’s Pontiacs…
September 13th, 2007 1:57 pm
Can you please publish more detailed photographs of the A61e, especially of the back I/O plate? Also, is the user and/or hardware manual online at Lenovo yet? Thanks.
September 13th, 2007 4:50 pm
You say there are models that draw as little as 65 watts, but how does that compare with a laptop? And will the solar-cell option power a monitor as well as the desktop itself?
I’m a longtime ThinkPad user and am getting ready to buy a new machine; I’m torn between getting another ThinkPad or a desktop like this one, and since I work as an environmental consultant I’m always interested in getting the greenest option. I don’t travel much (2-3 times/year) so a laptop isn’t really necessary for my work, but I’ve always used one because of the low power consumption (and the fact that I don’t have to buy a separate uninterruptible power supply; the laptop’s battery ensures that I’ll keep running if the power dips or goes out).
September 13th, 2007 7:01 pm
Its NOT VHS…Its “Sony Batamax”…I had a Sony Batamax that looked exactly like this…
September 13th, 2007 7:46 pm
How much sunlight does it require to run? Are they able run partially on sunlight and partially on AC? Solar power sould be able to provide some energy for an X60s or so.
How durable are these photo voltaic cells? Could they be integrated into the casing of a ThinkpPd?
September 14th, 2007 7:34 am
I am a hard-core green when it comes to electrical usage. Just by switching lighting and moving computer equipment to lower wattage I’ve saved a fair amount of hard-earned money.
I believe the power savings is a huge marketing plus as the market searches for ways to save money with high electrical costs. This is true for individuals as-well-as small to medium businesses who are looking to reduce costs and make a profit.
September 14th, 2007 12:46 pm
26 comments and quite a few questions. Is the blogger going to be posting any answers soon? Hope this isn’t going to be one of those “updated every couple of months” blogs. Waiting for more pictures and information about the Lenovo A61e.
September 14th, 2007 2:19 pm
“The first thing that many people notice about the A61e is its size. Its total volume is 4.5L.”
10.83″ x 3.19″ x 9.53″ = 329.23 cubic inches
1 cubic inch = .016387064 liters
329.23 x .016387064 = 5.39 liters.
???
September 14th, 2007 6:04 pm
I am going to say it. This would be a handsome beast if the front goes shiny black as much as I hate the finish.
Match it exactly to a HP W2207 LCD Monitor. (ACER, Samsung etc.) I just happen to own that monitor which is a lovely piece of kit. Almost Steve Job’ian in it’s atheistics (to coin a new term).
Your plastic tooling looks to be ABS with silver (aluminum) paint and matted black base I cannot make out the wrinkle size. Polish out the tool and thats all you have to do on P20 steel. Dump the aluminum paint your EMI/ESD team will thank you.
September 15th, 2007 1:12 am
To power this machine you would need an array of solar cells much larger than would fit on the top of the computer. The amount of power you’d get from a computer-sized array would be negligible compared with the required amount. To produce 90 watts with presently-available panels you’d need a 36″ square array (or slightly less depending on the efficiency of the cells).
September 15th, 2007 1:42 am
Paul, I strongly suspect that the “solar option” involves running the computer off a laptop-style battery that can be charged by a PV panel or household current. I don’t think you could run a computer directly off a PV panel; solar power is intermittent and would vary widely during the day depending on cloud cover. PV still generates power on cloudy days but not as much as on sunny days. Plus of course how would you work at night if you weren’t running off a battery? For me, powering this desktop by a solar-charged battery is interesting because then effectively you’d have an uninterruptible power supply. Presumably you can plug the battery into household current on days when solar doesn’t charge the battery enough for you to keep working at night.
September 15th, 2007 3:00 am
Hey, how come my previous post was deleted? I only wondered out loud whether or not the Blogger would be getting back to us with some answers. If you don’t want to say, in public, why you deleted my post, maybe you could email me privately. I didn’t set out to antagonise you.
September 15th, 2007 3:01 am
Oops! I found my first post. Sorry about that, but still any answers forthcoming? Thanks.
September 15th, 2007 3:59 am
The new desktop is really *beautiful* !!!!
I also like this old IBM keyboard (no numerical pad, trackpoint, small). Any chance we can see an updated (black) version of this keyboard?
Keep up the great work!
September 16th, 2007 6:05 pm
[...] le téléphone portable solaire par le chinois Hi-Tech Wealth, voici le PC Solaire ThinkCentre A61e de Lenovo. En fait le ThinkCentre A61e est avant tout un PC Vert car 90% de ses composants et de son [...]
September 17th, 2007 3:42 am
Ok, must be this foto didn’t do it justice. The light reflecting off the front panels made it look like they were made of some metallic substance. I retract my earlier comments.
See:
http://www.computerworld.com/c....._A61e1.jpg
September 17th, 2007 4:56 am
Actually the ThinkCentre site now has information on the solar option, and it is indeed a battery pack, but a LOT bigger than a laptop-size one! In fact it runs off a portable solar generator that uses a large (car-size) battery. See:
http://www.solar4power.com/Len.....power.html
It looks like these are the NOMAD 1500 portable units made by SolarSense here in Canada:
http://www.solarsense.com/Prod....._1500.html
These are very reliable, quality solar generators; I donated two of them earlier this year to a soap-making project in Afghanistan and they’ve been very happy with them.
September 17th, 2007 8:08 am
Well so far so good, but let me ask of how much value a solar driven capable small desktop computer is, if an attached display might still need a current supply?
September 17th, 2007 9:11 am
The solar solution is actually a portable solar generator; go to the ThinkCentre page on Lenovo’s site and you’ll see a link. The solar cell charges a large battery pack (about the size of a car battery, it’s on wheels), so you could easily run your monitor, computer, and probably printer, router, cable modem, etc. on it; my guess is that it could power a home office.
The generator is one of the NOMAD models, made here in Canada; I’ve actually bought two of these and donated them to a project in Afghanistan, where they supply reliable power.
September 17th, 2007 10:42 pm
no answers?
September 18th, 2007 4:44 am
Available without an operating system?
September 21st, 2007 1:20 pm
Hey folks,
I’ve been looking through your responses and will work on a follow-up with answers to some of the great, detailed questions everyone asked.
A number of people asked for more pictures. I’ve taken all of the ones I currently have available and put them on our Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3.....100415050/
They are there in full, high resolution glory! There isn’t a picture of the rear of the machine, but I will work on getting one.
We also don’t have pictures next to a Mac Mini, but there are a couple of size comparison pictures in here. Like this one and this one.
As for the Mac Mini, you might check with Apple on specs but here are our dimensions: 10.8″ x 9.5″ x 3.19″
Keep the input coming folks – I’ll check back soon.
September 21st, 2007 4:56 pm
So according to Apple the dimensions of the Mac Mini are: 6.5″ x 6.5″ x 2″, or considerably smaller than the A61e.
September 21st, 2007 5:34 pm
This system would have been great if it used the AMD 690G chipset with the X1250 IGP. Why did you go with the 690V chipset? The X1200 does not support DVI – only analog VGA. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to support DVI since most LCD monitors work the best with a digital signal? Analog VGA is for CRT monitors which is not nearly as efficient as LCD monitors. Seems kind of contradictory to this whole “green computing” concept.
September 21st, 2007 6:46 pm
Oooo… very retro looking. With the way the DVD drive is positioned, it looks like an old VCR unit. Beautiful. If this is cheap (in the UK) we may get one and set it up as a home entertainment unit.
September 21st, 2007 10:08 pm
There is a hardware installation guide for the A61e series at ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/.....3c6226.pdf
This document has diagrams of the rear connectors, main system board, and a lot of other stuff (it’s 42 pages long). It looks nice but I’d like to know which models (MTMs in Lenovospeak) have the ExpressCard adapter and the media card reader built in. It’s not clear from reading the guide. Thanks!
September 22nd, 2007 7:05 am
I actually went ahead and ordered one of these, looking forward to using it. There is a very limited choice of builds, at least here in Canada; currently just two in fact (one with the single core processor and 80-gig hard drive, one with the dual core and a 160-gig hard drive (which is what I ordered). Unfortunately they all come with Vista installed, no option to have XP instead, although there is a downgrade CD available for purchase until next summer.
September 23rd, 2007 11:36 am
Hello,
This is my first comment on this website.
I would like to ask the Lenovo team whether there are plans to relaunch a desktop keyboard with TrackPoint like the one posted on this entry.
Thank you!
September 23rd, 2007 2:26 pm
How many hard drives can you fit in it? I’m currently using an IBM NetVista PC for MythTV and I love it, but I will be switching to HD soon and will need a heftier CPU and more disk space. If I can buy this thing without Windows and can fit one of those 1TB drives in it, it would be an ideal machine.
September 24th, 2007 2:03 pm
YK:
Lenovo makes a perfectly cromulent TrackPoint keyboard (see part number 31P9490 at http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILib.....1011C9D12)
You can get the old buckling spring, IBM Selectric kind at http://www.pckeyboard.com/ if you’re looking for a full size unit.
September 26th, 2007 10:26 am
Is anyone else detered by the lack of DVI-out option on the A61e?
September 27th, 2007 6:11 pm
I was seriously considering the TC A61e but the lack DVI-out pushed me away! As for Thinkpads if the next T series Thinkpad comes out without a DVI-out my T61 will be my last TP and ill switch to HP actually i almost switched to HP after my T60.
September 28th, 2007 4:03 am
How does Apple make their iMac so small?
I wonder if Lenovo will ever make an all-in-one computer like the iMac. It’s very much like a laptop that’s meant to sit on the desk.
The strange thing that confuses me is that the iMac has no visible power supply whatsoever. Where do they hide it? The power cable goes straight from the wall to the computer– no power brick. And the computer itself is really quiet, too!
September 28th, 2007 12:16 pm
I’m not that worried about DVI, but the lack of a systems with fast AMD x2 chips kills this system from my point of view. Why stop at 2.1Ghz when most other small systems based on AMD can go to 2.6 or 2.8Ghz. There also seems to be a lack of pre built systems with XP pro, I don’t know how many people care about Vista but I don’t have any plans to deploy it for a good 6 months.
September 28th, 2007 9:47 pm
For general business use (which I believe is what this machine is designed for), the lack of DVI and the chip speed aren’t really an issue.
I actually thought about getting a Mac mini instead and installing Windows XP, but it would have ended up being considerably more expensive (most Macs today are no more expensive or even cheaper than comparable Windows machines, but once you add in the price of buying Windows it ends up pushing it higher). However the dual-core A61e with a 160 gig hard drive and an extra gig of RAM set me back nearly $1,000 including taxes, a bit higher than I expected but this machine should last me a good long time.
October 1st, 2007 7:09 am
Chris Keating mentioned a web site at ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/ .But half of the software is missing from the folders on the ftp site. what will users of this equipment do in the future if the software for the computers is missing and what does that say for the reliability of the company if they continue to delete the software off their download ftp site? would it not be more appropriate to say on the site that they no longer support models 3yrs old and if they did would this seriously degrade the name of Lenovo amidst its competitors, especially if Brad is making comments like “this machine should last me a good long time”?
October 1st, 2007 9:36 am
Tim – That FTP site is not intended for common browsing to find the necessary drivers and files. If you are looking for any files or support information about a Lenovo product, browse to your country’s Lenovo.com homepage and choose “Support and Downloads.”
October 1st, 2007 11:04 am
@ The Web Guy
There were IBM all-in-one PCs a couple of years ago. Such as the NetVista X40 which came out in 2001 (Imac LCD were only released on 2002). It was even smaller than a LCD Imac.
October 1st, 2007 11:19 pm
The only problem with the NetVista X40s was the power brick issue. They eventually died and IBM Canada wanted over $800CDN for replacement power bricks – only 1 1/2 years after discontinuation of the X40 line of products.
Continuing on the X40 machine, which was an improvement over the Aptiva “S” series machines was that IBM, at the time, did not market this product at all. It was quote/unquote the first all-in-one desktop system that you could purchase.
I do understand Lenovo’s hesitation to enter the mass market of the consumer market in north america, however, the last time that I personally saw a Lenovo computer system, business or Canadian model advertised anywhere was on a radio station in 2005. As a premiere business partner in Canada i find it very frustrating that Lenovo does NOTHING to advertise their product up here. No one knows who Lenovo is, or what Lenovo does. I still have to advertise everything as IBM before a consumer customer knows who Lenovo is.
I understand that they may be waiting till Bejing 2008 before announcing any consumer products in North America, however as a BP i do have to say that the http://www.lenovo.com/ca/en website is horrendous and is NOT user friendly. It looks like something out of the 90’s.
One thing Lenovo touts selling is its options alongside of a computer/notebook system. However, Lenovo sucks at marketing. Example. Sell a Lenovo J series computer system. Yes, they are easy to sell – they’re relatively comparable to a lower end Dell system. However, their options, even their PCs come in a brown box with no comprehensible naming scheme to identify what they are. A common accessory that we sell with Lenovo ThinkPad/N/V/or/C series laptop is the Lenovo USB Wheel Mouse. However to the common consumer a grey couragated box will not sell. It looks cheap, it looks not worth the $28 dollars Lenovo sells it at.
Get into the gear of marketing. Keep your well built machines. ThinkPads ROCK! your marketing, your advertising on the other end SUCKS. As a premiere business partner we’re entitled to face-to-face consultation with our representative, however we have not seen her in over a year.
It may seem that I’m complaining, over re-reacting etc, however I would like to point out that I would rather sell a Lenovo product over an HP/Compaq, Toshiba or Sony product but Lenovo makes it so hard to market that its almost not worth it.
The majority of this blog is biased towards the larger market of the US, however I’d wager the market up in Canada is more fierce than the US. Do something, anything, about your marketing and understanding the North American market.
As HP says “the PC is personal again” to Lenovo its “Lenovo is a brown box. Like it, or don’t but it”
To Tim, or Matt — sorry for being blunt, but sometimes the best way to get a point across is to be blunt. I’m not trying to put Lenovo down – otherwise we wouldn’t sell your products on a scale of 9 to 1 (Lenovo to other manufacturers), but you make it hard to do so.
October 1st, 2007 11:27 pm
“As a premiere business partner in Canada i find it very frustrating that Lenovo does NOTHING to advertise their product up here. No one knows who Lenovo is, or what Lenovo does. I still have to advertise everything as IBM before a consumer customer knows who Lenovo is.”
I had to add quotes to that to clairfy, Lenovo products are advertised, however the last time I saw/heard an official Lenovo ad was late 2005 early 2006 when they were advertising the ThinkVantage Technologies.
Again another issue with the ThinkVantage offerings is that they also are not advertised. Rescue and Recover, Client Security Solution, Active Protection system. They sound all good.. both name-wise and what they may do – but honestly, you offer this, but why should I buy it. What differentiates it from competitors product?
There is no marketing other than specifications and some fancy product branding names. It means nothing to the average customer. Seeing as 90% of our customers are corporate and none of them use ThinkVantage Technologies it makes one wonder why include them if you can’t clearly explain to the average user, what that is.
So game plan: Develop an advertising scheme that can compete with HP’s “The Compuer is Personal Again”. Advertise why I should by a Lenovo computer. Distinguish what ThinkVantage Techonologies and how they compare to competitors offerings. Most and foremost, especially in the North American market. Who is Lenovo? No consumer knows the name. Why Chinese?
- End Rant.
- Sorry for offending anyone.
October 2nd, 2007 5:25 pm
dont know where to ask elsewhere, since lenovo does not provide for customer’s questions, and the sales people under the 866 phonenumber seem not to have a clue:
So, do the t61p 15″ notebooks do or do not have certified wireless usb chips inside? It was advertised widely in the news lenovo being the first offering these. Was it only hot air from lenovo?
If its not included, in which slot does it go, is there one still left empty for later upgrade?
Thanks Toby
October 3rd, 2007 3:12 am
I don’t understand how this chassis is 4.5 liter and not 5.4 liter.
October 3rd, 2007 10:32 am
Adam – Thanks for your well-thought input. There’s no offense taken here against a rant, we all have them from time to time
I will just say that we note many of the same concerns you have, and plans are in place to fix them. As with all great things, it takes time!
Toby – I am happy to answer your question, but I would like to keep the rest of the discussion here on-topic. We do currently offer WUSB on T61 15.4″ widescreen models and have since the July-timeframe. They were removed from our U.S. website for a short time due to supply availability, but are available again.
Todd – I was confused about this as well, but it turns out that the official measurements noted in our documentation include the mechanical feet and anything else that contributes to the external size of the box, and accordingly should not be used to determine the internal volume. We used these sizes because some customers in the past have built custom cabinets around machines like this and if we don’t give them those type of measurements, the machine wouldn’t fit properly! Here are the internal measurements:
10.75″ x 3″ x 8.75″ = 282.19 in.^3 = 4.515 Liters
October 5th, 2007 2:38 pm
Looking at the picture of the ThinkCentre my first thought is “These guys just have no taste. No taste at all!” as Steve Jobs would say.
To be honest, we are having at our firm a few interns at the moment, design students who also have an engineering degree btw.
Your ThinkCentre has acted as the prime example of complete design failure. Of course it is cheap and it looks cheap. Typical Chinese me-too commodity design. Utterly useless, only to be hidden behind the desk.
Sorry, couldn’t help, but since Richard Sapper designed the Thinkpads it seems that Lenovo/IBM is saving money on a good designer.
October 6th, 2007 2:51 pm
To all the people here making funny remarks about the design of this ThinkCentre:
This is a classic retro design! Nothing to complain about!
This nice boxes look almost exactly like those old VCR recorders in the cheap “Motel 6″ in Nebraska. They bring me back memories of long nights in the 1980’s, when I used to be a solo salesman for vacuum cleaners.
October 6th, 2007 2:57 pm
To Michael’s comment:
That’s completely wrong. I know Motel 6 and they had these no-name Betamax recorders and then the brown Zenith boxes.
And both of them looked much better than this “retro box” in this blog!!
At least the A61 is not brown or beige. Hello Lenovo, wake up, nobody in our office would like to see this VHS recorder on their desk.
It is a desktop, for heavens sake, and not a closed closet box.
October 8th, 2007 7:21 am
I think a lot of the “retro” and “ugly” comments are due to the unfortunate effects of bad lighting on the photo in the blog; if you see the A61e in better lighting it becomes apparent that it’s all black and the overall appearance is far less garish. That said, IBM/Lenovo computers have always been about function, not form; the ThinkPad is by far the ugliest laptop I’ve ever seen and yet I’m a loyal fan and would never buy any other brand of Windows laptop. Every ThinkPad I’ve owned has been sturdy and rock-solid reliable, which is more than I can say for the many Apple computers I’ve owned, which are easier on the eyes and have a better operating system but have always come with hardware problems. In the end, when it comes down to the computer I use for work, I’d prefer a solid, drab, dependable workhorse to a flashy but temperamental thoroughbred.
October 9th, 2007 12:51 pm
Another major disappointment with Lenovo:
I live in Canada. I’m interested in buying an A61e, so I did a lot of research into the different models and options, and then called Lenovo.
Well, first it turns out that, in Canada, only one of the four models can be purchased, the 644812U.
Then I ask about the available options: expresscard technology, media card reader, and internal modem (talked about in the A61e whitepaper):
First, I’m told that there are no such options.
Then, told that there are those three options, but only for bulk buyers of the product (meaning 50 or more units). And only in the USA.
Then told that this policy of no options for individuals will not be changed.
Asked if it would be of any use to talk to someone higher up the chain, and was told that it wouldn’t do anything to change the policy.
I was actually ready to purchase an A61e, but now I feel like Lenovo doesn’t care much about the individual user. I have to say that Lenovo needs to change it’s attitude somewhat, if they want to move the A61e out of a small user base.
In many ways Lenovo still reflects that big corportate mindset.
Anyone have any thoughts about these options and any possible way that an individual user can have them?
Note: the hardware manual for the A61e clearly shows how to install an internal modem, and pictures of the I/O panel appears to have a knockout for the ExpressCard option. Any additional information would be appreciated. I’d really like to get an A61e, but will probably go looking elsewhere, if nothing changes.
October 9th, 2007 6:46 pm
darkrats – I spoke to our A61e product manager and there are some additional A61e models available. Unfortunately due to a data error they are listed as A61’s, but we are working to correct that. In the meantime, you can reference the following MTM’s: 6418-11U, 6418-12U, 6418-13U, 6449-11U and 6449-12U.
The initial launch of the A61e is targeted at our larger customers, but the individual purchases are certainly not forgotten. Our teams are working to setup purchasing of A61e’s by individuals with more available options. If I hear more details on this, I will certainly let you know.
October 9th, 2007 11:04 pm
Thanks for the reply. I’ll hold off buying my next computer, to give some time for those addityional options to come online. I really appreciate you taking the time to check things out. Lenovo makes a excellent product, and I’d like my next system to be from Lenovo. I really need to be able to have a modem option.
And the card reader and/or the expresscard options would be extremely nice to have, if only to experiment with the various express card add-ons that are available from third parties. I hope you encourage Lenovo to push the ultra small format. I hear rumours on the net that A**ple will be disconinuing the Mac****, so the field will certainly open up more in the future.
Some additional photographs of the A61e can be found here:
http://www.softwareheadlines.c.....php/224101
October 10th, 2007 11:26 am
Trying to post a reply, but it doesn’t show up. Tried to repost and got a message saying it was a duplicate post. It’s a little frustrating.
October 10th, 2007 12:01 pm
darkrats – sorry about that, the spam filter we use sometimes gets overzealous. Thanks for your feedback and conversation here. Feel free to send any other questions or comments this way!
P.S. I removed your duplicate comment just for clarity in the discussion.
October 10th, 2007 2:00 pm
Thanks for the reply. I’ll hold off buying my next computer, to give some time for those addityional options to come online. I really appreciate you taking the time to check things out. Lenovo makes a excellent product, and I’d like my next system to be from Lenovo. I really need to be able to have a modem option.
And the card reader and/or the expresscard options would be extremely nice to have, if only to experiment with the various express card add-ons that are available from third parties. I hope you encourage Lenovo to push the ultra small format. I hear rumours on the net that A**ple will be disconinuing the Mac****, so the field will certainly open up more in the future.
Some additional photographs of the A61e can be found here:
http://www.softwareheadlines.c.....php/224101
October 12th, 2007 8:43 am
My A61e arrived yesterday. Seems a well-built machine, very solid and surprisingly heavy for its size. The footprint is smaller than that of my (15″) T42 Thinkpad, although it is of course about three times taller. I wouldn’t call it “beautiful” but I wouldn’t call it ugly either, nor does it look like a vintage VCR. The ugliest thing is all the stickers, which jar against the otherwise generally black finish (why do all Windows machines come with these stickers, it makes them look like something you’d see in a pinball room).
First impressions are favorable, it seems peppy and up to the task of handling Vista Business. This may be Lenovo’s quietest desktop machine but it’s noticeably louder than my ThinkPad (I’ve been using ThinkPads as desktop replacements for years). Still the noise isn’t bothersome and I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
October 13th, 2007 2:12 am
Anyone know of a really good method of removing those stickers, without damaging the finish on the case?
October 18th, 2007 2:03 pm
Any update about individual purchasers having access to those three options: expresscard, cardreader, modem for the A61e?
October 21st, 2007 10:22 am
I am liking this alot! Compact and VERY funtional. Oooooo…and it’s got Linux cert….NICE! Lenova could drop the price to consumers even more by dumping M$ Vista and throwing on a OSS solution. I won’t buy one if it gives M$ a free sale to inflate thier laughable Vista sales figures….BUT, give me a bare unit or OSS option and I’m with my wallet open.
October 21st, 2007 11:17 am
Can the three options (see above) be purchased by an individual as separate parts? I found them listed on the Lenovo site in the parts section. Would they be difficult to install after purchase of the computer? Any new information about the A61e?
I hope Lenovo doesn’t go the way App*e has with the MacM***, where it appears that they have abandoned it and those who used it. That particular model debuted to a lot of fanfare, only to stagnate. So, I’m looking for a sign that it won’t happen to the A61e, but everywhere I look on the net, it’s all old news.
October 21st, 2007 9:55 pm
Attention: brad
Hope you’re happy with the A61e. Can you possibly play some multimedia stuff on it, and report what the quality and framerates are like? Maybe play some AVI, MPEG, MOV and other formats, and also maybe play a regular DVD on the machine? Some reviews I’ve read say it’s great for multimedia, but not for gaming (expected), but it would be nice to have a first hand report from a real user. If you have a digital camera, it would be great if you could share some photos etc. Thanks.
October 22nd, 2007 6:55 am
Hello again. The Hardware Replacement Manual shows how to install/remove the modem “daughter card”, but does not mention either the expresscard or the cardreader. Is there a manual, paper or instructions for these two other options, that I can download from Lenovo?
October 22nd, 2007 10:28 am
Attention: Tim Supples (or anyone)
How often do you check this blog for comments? It does not seem very active, in the way of dialog, at least for the last 2 weeks.
October 22nd, 2007 11:20 am
@darkrats: Next time I fire up the A61e I’ll try to remember to watch a DVD. I usually use my Mac (PowerBook G4) for that sort of thing. The monitor I’m using is a Lenovo L201p; it’s really a business monitor and not necessarily designed for multimedia but I’ll give it a try.
I’m slowly setting up the A61e to be my main work computer and so far I have no complaints, other than that it’s noisier than my ThinkPad but I suppose that would be expected from most desktop machines.
Reviews I’ve read have dinged the A61e for slow performance, but for normal business use I’m putting it through (Office, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, etc.) it seems perfectly adequate. I like the fact that it consumes less power than my ThinkPad (well, the combined power consumption of the A61e and the monitor are greater than that of the ThinkPad, but I use my ThinkPad with the monitor as a desktop replacement so in fact I’m saving energy with the A61e). I also like the ease with which you can get inside and replace things over time, and the fact that most of the components are recyclable.
October 22nd, 2007 3:54 pm
Thanks brad, for the quick reply. I look forward to hearing about your multimedia experience.
If you open up the A61e, you can see that there’s a lot of empty space to the side of the motherboard. That’s because there’s a cardreader option and an expresscard option that fits in there. Unfortunately, those options are not yet available to users (see my earler postings). I’m hoping to hear from Tim about this.
I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and I’d like to get a hands-on look at the A61e, so if anyone knows a dealer, or even a corporation in this city that can let me see one, in person, please post the address or contact number.
October 22nd, 2007 9:12 pm
@darkrats: I watched part of a DVD on the A61e tonight and compared the experience with watching the same DVD on my Apple PowerBook G4. The PowerBook won hands-down, but as I said above that may be due more to the monitor I’m using for the A61e than the A61e itself. Any fast action (I was watching the Jet Li film, “Hero”) was noticeably jerky on the A61e; I didn’t see any ghosting but the the motion looked much smoother on the PowerBook. I remember reading some reviews of the L201p monitor that said it wasn’t great for watching movies, but that’s not what it was designed for anyway….it’s meant for normal business use.
October 26th, 2007 2:23 pm
Thanks for doing the DVD test for me. I’m hoping to find an A61e, somewhere in my city, that I can go look at for myself. Anyone know if Tim Supples is on vacation or something? I get the impression that he’s either involved elsewhere, or this blog is a low priority for him. I’m waiting to see if there is any additional information about the three “options” for the A61e.
October 27th, 2007 10:38 pm
Where did my last post (reply to brad) go?
October 27th, 2007 10:39 pm
Now I see it! What’s going on?
October 28th, 2007 8:26 pm
This Blog is a little frustrating. 1) My last post keeps disappearing and reappearing at random times when I check for replies, 2) There’s been no activity from Tim Supples for a while now, 3) Since the A61e came out there’s been little, almost no, further news about it from Lenovo, 4) Will I see this post and will it stay visible? Thanks for letting me vent!
October 30th, 2007 10:24 am
@darkrats: you might instead try joining the ThinkPad support forum at http://forum.thinkpads.com/. There’s an active community there and a discussion area for desktops; there’s a thread there already on the A61e.
I’d advise waiting for some more reviews to come out from the computer magazines and websites, see what they find in terms of pros and cons. I have no problem with the A61e’s performance so far, but I expected it to be more like a Toyota Yaris than a Ferrari anyway.
October 30th, 2007 1:40 pm
darkrats – certainly no one is ignoring you!
I do apologize for the comments disappearing, we’re still working some kinks out with the spam filter but I do try to make sure they don’t get deleted by accident.
Re: configuration offering changes, it takes a while for these things to propagate internally and then out to our resellers & direct offerings. I will definitely check in with our A61e product manager, I just can’t promise if there is any progress to share.
Brad – thanks for sharing your impressions of the A61e!
October 31st, 2007 3:00 pm
The “tcbook” for October/07 is out, but there’s still nothing interesting listed under Options for the A61e. No modem, no cardreader, no expresscard; just the usual monitors and memory choices. I see the competition, over at HP just increased the specs on their SFF model (faster processor). Any chance we’ll see something from Lenovo?
Anyone know if the processor on the A61e can be upgraded? If yes, can someone maybe post further information about this?
November 2nd, 2007 9:39 pm
Hello again.
I went into my local Best Buy today, and I noticed that their POS machines were all Lenovo desktops. So I asked a salesman why they used Lenovo products, but did not sell them. He said that as far as he knew, Lenovo only sold to corporations, not to the public. Could not believe my ears, so I asked another and got the same answer.
No wonder Lenovo desktop system can’t be found anywhere in this city, for sale to the public. Everyone apparently thinks you can’t do it!
November 5th, 2007 11:43 am
Pricing for the power adapter!!!
In the UK I have just been quoted 261GBP for an A61e, but spare power adapters are being quoted at 94GBP. This values the power adapter at about 40% of the whole system cost if you take out the XP licence.
This is way to much.
November 10th, 2007 3:22 pm
No news about the A61e for some time now. Was it just “a flash in the pan”? Has it been abandoned already by Lenovo? I sure would like to know how computer developers work. If I was part of the team who designed the A61e, I’d always be looking for ways to improve it, and I’d try to keep our user base up to date. I check the Lenovo site all the time, and many of the forums that have threads about the A61e, but it’s all old news.
November 11th, 2007 12:25 pm
darkrats – I’m looking into some more detailed answers for the questions you’ve posed, but by no means is anything abandoned.
November 12th, 2007 9:31 pm
Don’t know where to post…Could anyone from Lenovo confirm that ThinkPad models customization will be available in Canada on Nov. 19th?
November 13th, 2007 6:27 pm
The “tcbook” for November is out. Again, nothing new listed for the A61e. Same specs, same accessories. No modem option, no expresscard or cardreader options. Lenovo still doesn’t appear to put much thought into this product. Pretty depressing for those of us who had high hopes for this little machine. Nothing but silence from Lenovo, and after a brief flurry of reviews, the A61e seems to command next to no interest at all. I hope Lenovo will make an effort to change this.
November 16th, 2007 5:50 pm
The last time ANY information about the A61e was posted on this blog was back on October 9th. I have to say, that like the A61e itself, this blog started out, probably with good intentions, but seems to have been forgotten.
I know Tim Supples said he was trying to get some more information for us, but why does it seem to be taking a very long time? Doesn’t Lenovo know that there are potential buyers and users out here waiting for some answers. Or maybe posting to this blog, trying to keep it going, is all a waste of time.
Come on. This blog is actually a part of Lenovoblogs.com. Surely, someone from Lenovo reads these entries once in a while. Why don’t we hear from them? I’m a bit confused by the whole matter. I really thought the A61e was a good product, with a lot of potential in the future.
November 17th, 2007 10:58 am
Attn: Tim Supples
Are you removing my posts?
November 19th, 2007 8:33 am
Love the design, just a small comment about the usb ports on the front. It should be illegal, but some manufacturers still create options that will not work with this design. For an example take a look at http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/.....20blue.jpg.
The order Ultra Small Form Factor is in this perspective much better. A good design takes bad designs of others into account.
December 16th, 2007 5:00 pm
I came late to this blog, but let me add: I use several of the M4-1 keyboards shown in the picture, nothing else compares; I’ve worn them out. IBM’s current “travelstar portable” is NOT an equivalent, as it forces a palm-wrest and touchpad on us. Make small stuff available, please.
Likewise for this A61 – why can’t you build something in a 5.25″ CDROM form-factor, like Apple?
December 16th, 2007 9:34 pm
So..is Lenovo going to hurry up and make a “Home Server” already? The HP model is selling like hotcakes, and I daresay Lenovo could do a better job of it..
January 1st, 2008 12:27 pm
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