Lenovo ThinkCentre M92 review
A compact PC that offers decent performance for workers with limited desk space
Sales of PCs may be falling, but there is still a place in many businesses for a desktop computer, especially a compact design such as Lenovo's ThinkCentre M92 which can sit discretely on the side of a desk or even attach to the back of a monitor.
First announced in May and available to purchase now, the ThinkCentre M92 is actually available from Lenovo in three versions: a tower case, a small form factor model and the tiny chassis we have evaluated here.
The M92 line is further split into two options, with the M92p version shipping with Intel's vPro management and security technology, while the standard M92 does not include this.
Our review unit was the M92 version, which Lenovo supplied with an Intel 2.6GHz Core i3-2120T processor, 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive, making for a decent enough specification for handling pretty much any mainstream business application.
But while the M92 might come in a tiny case, it does not come with a tinier than usual price, costing £637 for this specification, despite its lack of support for vPro.
However, it should be pointed out that this appears to be in line with the price of similar compact business PCs from other big vendors, with a comparably specified Dell OptiPlex 390 Mini Tower costing about £580 at the time of writing.
For small businesses, the M92 may well suit their requirements. However, larger organisations should consider whether deploying thin clients linked to hosted virtual desktops would be more secure and cost-effective in the long run for desk-based workers.
The ThinkCentre system itself is about the size of an external DVD-RW drive, measuring about 182mm by 176mm and about 35mm thick, and can easily be positioned flat on a desk or stood on end to save even more space.
In fact, Lenovo supplies an optional external DVD drive for the M92, which can be clamped onto the system and effectively doubles its size. This was delivered already attached to our review unit in a metal frame that can then be mounted onto the back of a monitor stand or elsewhere.
Lenovo ThinkCentre M92 review
A compact PC that offers decent performance for workers with limited desk space
Despite its compact dimensions, the M92 is flush with I/O, including five USB ports, two of which are located on the front panel along with audio jack sockets and the power button.
The rear panel has three more USB ports, one of which is USB 2.0 while all the other USB ports on the system conform to the faster USB 3.0 standard.
Other ports comprise a gigabit Ethernet port, plus two DisplayPort connectors and a VGA output for attaching external displays. There is also an attachment point for a wireless antenna for the M92's optional Wi-Fi adapter, along with a slot for chaining the system down via a security cable.
Owing to its small size, the tiny form factor version of the M92 is powered by a laptop-style external power supply, rated at 65W.
Our M92 evaluation unit may only have featured a Core i3 processor, but that does not mean its performance is inadequate. In fact, the Windows Experience Index (WEI) ratings built into Windows itself show that the processor achieves a respectable score of 6.9, while the hard disk and memory subsystems are both rated at 5.9 and the overall score of 4.6 is set by the embedded Intel graphics functions.
This reflects our impression of using the M92, which mostly feels very responsive in use, although performance could probably be improved by swapping the 5,400rpm Western Digital hard drive for one with a faster spin speed or for an SSD.
The M92 also had no difficulty in driving the test display we used for our evaluation, which had a native resolution of 1,600x1,200 pixels. However, up to four screens can be connected by using the twin DisplayPort outputs with optional adapters available from Lenovo.
Where the Core i3 processor does fall short is in not supporting Intel's vPro technology, which includes built-in management features such as remote screen capability via the VNC protocol, although the system itself does include a trusted platform module (TPM), part of the vPro security features.
Lenovo ThinkCentre M92 review
A compact PC that offers decent performance for workers with limited desk space
In order to take advantage of vPro, buyers will need to specify the M92p version of the system, which ships with the more feature-rich Core i5 or Core i7 processors, although only the Core i5 processor is available in the tiny form factor chassis.
Another feature in the Core i5 but lacking in the Core i3 is Intel's Turbo Boost technology, which dynamically overclocks the processor whenever demanding workloads are being run.
Compact systems such as this are rarely designed for easy maintenance, but with the M92, the internals can be accessed by undoing a single screw on the rear panel and sliding the metal cover forwards to remove it.
Inside, everything is jammed closely together as you might expect, with the 2.5in hard drive, system fan and processor heatsink the most prominent components visible.
The hard disk conceals the system's SODIMM slots for memory and also a PCI Express Mini Card slot for the optional Wi-Fi adapter. This is mounted in a metal jig that can also be removed by undoing two screws, but extreme caution must be used so as not to snag any cables.
In our test unit, just one SODIMM slot was filled with a 4GB module, while a maximum 16GB can be configured if both slots are filled with 8GB modules.
Our review unit shipped with the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Professional, but the system is also certified by Lenovo as compatible with the newer Windows 8 platform.
Other software includes Microsoft's Office 2010 Starter edition, a trial version of Norton Internet Security, and a version of Corel MovieDVD Factory for authoring DVDs.
As with other Lenovo systems, the firm's ThinkVantage software is also installed, including such tools as a Rescue and Recovery app, Password Manager and Lenovo's SimpleTap user interface.