Lenovo goes ultrasmall with its latest net-top, the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180. This compact PC's optional optical drive is detachable too, just in case you need its footprint to be even smaller. Unfortunately, tiny, space-saving PCs often come with less-impressive specs and performance, and the Q180 is no different, as this Intel Atom-based machine scored very low on our benchmark tests.
Our review unit Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180, priced at around £396, packed an Intel Atom D2700 processor, 4GB of RAM, and AMD Radeon HD 6450A graphics. This Windows 7 Home Premium system also carried built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and the aforementioned detachable DVD-RW drive, and came with a mouse, a keyboard, and a wireless multimedia remote.
In our new WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 posted a score of only 38 (the baseline score is 100). This means that the Q180 is 62 percent slower than our baseline testing model, which admittedly has significantly better specs (an Intel Core i5-2500K processor, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card). Since the Q180 is a nettop, however, such a very low score is to be expected. See also: Group test: what's the best all-in-one PC?
The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 did not perform much better in our graphics tests; we weren't able to get anywhere near playable frame rates in Crysis 2 or Dirt 3. Video playback on the Q180 was fine, though we saw some dropped frames in action-heavy 1080p content. The DVD-RW drive is decent at playing regular DVDs. Lenovo offers a Blu-ray Disc drive upgrade on the Q180, but no processor or graphics card upgrade.
Speaking of the optical drive, it is technically removable, but taking the drive off the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 is not easy. The drive, which is basically the same size as the PC, snaps on with the help of some very strong magnets. To take it off, you have to slide your fingernail along the seam and try to pry the two pieces apart. Doing so requires a surprising amount of force - it took some effort to convince colleagues that we hadn't inadvertently snapped the machine in half. The drive connects to the PC via an included USB dongle.
This tiny nettop measures 155x22x192mm with the optical drive attached. The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 weighs about 2.4kg and comes with a matte silver stand that flips over to accommodate either the full system (with the optical drive) or just the PC. The chassis is outfitted in shiny black and matte silver plastic, with a large black power button located in the upper corner.
What few ports the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 has are located on the back of the machine, consisting of your typical gigabit ethernet connection, four USB 2.0 ports (one of which you'll have to use with the optical drive), HDMI-out, VGA-out, and an S/PDIF audio port. The unit also sports a lock slot, which is unsurprising considering that this PC is so small and conveniently stealable.
The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180's included keyboard is USB-wired and has Chiclet-style keys with slightly rounded bottoms and a soft feel. The keyboard is comfortable to type on, and it gives good feedback despite its soft-touch design. Also present on the keyboard are volume controls and a silver button for launching Lenovo's Vantage Technology utility suite, which includes one-touch system recovery. The USB-wired optical mouse has two buttons and a scrollwheel. It's light and comfortably sized, and it moves smoothly. It's generic, but it shouldn't bother anyone who isn't a gamer.
The bundled "multimedia remote" is interesting. It comes with a USB dongle, which means that if you have the keyboard, the mouse, the optical drive, and the multimedia remote all plugged in, you're out of USB ports. It's weirdly shaped, and looks sort of like a price-scanning gun--thick at the top and slimmer at the bottom. At the top of the remote is a small BlackBerry-like QWERTY keyboard, as well as multimedia buttons (volume, play/pause, stop, fast-forward, rewind, Internet, and a button that scrolls through open applications, similar to the way Alt-Tab does).
The remote tapers down under the keyboard so that you can grip it, and it has a large black "pointing stick" that's clickable, plus left and right mouse buttons, and a touch-sensitive scrolling area. Despite its weirdness, the remote is surprisingly easy to use (though it's obviously not for composing lengthy email messages), and it would be extremely convenient if you were using the Q180 as, say, a home theatre device.
Comments
Ben Spies said: Sorry but I would have to agree with Rorymullans comment however floral his language It is an utterly bizarre comparison I think most people in the market for such a machine would have a damn good idea that what they are buying is a simple HTPC rather than a fancy all-in-one The point you are trying to explain has no bearing on the machine itselfPretty much every other review site grasps this point and has reviewed the machine accordingly so his comment about the review seems entirely appropriateAlso it took me about two minutes to find the blu-ray equipped version for 50 quid less than your review states the dvd drive version goes from a major online retailer named after a large south american river Disclosure - I dont own this machine I was just looking for a review Having read enough Ill probably wait until machines with i3s are around this price level which wont be long
EGPepper said: Theres no mention of the front USB ports and card reader in this review
Matt Egan said: Er potty mouth The point is to explain to anyone reading the difference between a nettop and a full PC Not everyone has your knowledge and they are marketed as all-in-one PCs
Rorymullan said: Its a nettop Why even compare it to a 2500k system it isnt meant for playing games and you try and run crysis 2 This review is shit why not compare it to other nettops and not a full blown gaming pc