Our computer on the first floor of the house just got an upgrade to the Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 Signature Edition. It’s a 23.8” all-in-one PC with a 6th-generation Intel Core i5 processor. The ThinkCentre system works at our frantic pace and doesn’t get in our way.
Using the Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 as a Family Machine
The PC in the kitchen is shared among the family throughout the day. It’s often used for doing homework, looking up things online, video chatting with distant family and friends, forcing family members to watch inane YouTube videos, and other general tasks. Having a computer in the kitchen/breakfast area is extremely useful.
Unlike a tablet, it runs a full-featured operating system. It displays web pages no matter how complicated they may be with Flash, Java, or other plugins. We can quickly pull up anything we need and send it to a printer. The kids can do their homework on the beautiful 23.8” full HD anti-glare LCD display and full-size keyboard.
The ThinkCentre X1 is right at a central spot in the kitchen and it needs to be invisible when it’s not in use but ready to use at the drop of a hat. A computer in the kitchen can’t make loud fan noises, flash a HD activity light, or prompt us for Windows Updates during dinner. It needs to turn on fast and do what we want quickly. If it takes a minute or two to wake up from sleep, one might as well run upstairs to use another computer or their phone.
What the ThinkCentre X1 Specs Mean for Your Family
The ThinkCentre X1 has 16GB of RAM to handle multiple applications and our family’s tendency to have “too many” browser tabs open at once. The 256GB SSD means that it boots up, runs, and opens applications extremely quickly. It wakes from sleep at the drop of a dime and it’s ready to use when we’re in a hurry.
Our last all-in-one PC had the computer hidden in a large base. The vibrations from the hard drive made a lot of noise in the kitchen and when it started doing Windows updates, the fans would increase speed and make quite a racket. The ThinkCentre X1 makes no noise whatsoever as far as I can tell.
I believe that Windows 10 machines pretty much demand a flash-based solid state disk (SSD) instead of a traditional hard disk for performance. The 256GB SSD that ships with the ThinkCentre X1 has no moving parts, and with normal use, the machine doesn’t output any noticeable fan noise.
The entire computer is built into the back of the monitor of the ThinkCentre X1. The computer itself features an aluminum alloy design that’s 0.43” and only 1.3” thick at its thickest point and a screen that tilts for easy viewing.
The system is held up with a thin metal base-plate stand and a chrome post holds the entire computer above the base. The design is very clean, thin, and sleek. This machine weighs 10 pounds less than my last all-in-one PC which was only about 5 years old (no, that is not a typo).
The ThinkCentre X1 doesn’t come with a touch-screen but we don’t really miss it because our kids mostly use the keyboard now. (They’ve graduated from drawing scribbles in a paint program from their earlier years to watching YouTube videos about lighting things on fire!) The PC experience is made even better thanks to an ultra slim wireless keyboard and ergonomic mouse.
For video conferencing, the ThinkCentre X1 has a webcam integrated into the top center of the monitor. One small feature I especially like is that the webcam has a sliding cover which can be used to physically cover the lens. It’s a good feature for your family’s peace of mind. The monitor itself is built to be anti-glare which is important in a home setting where there may be bright sunlight and reflections coming in from the environment. I found the integrated Dolby Audio speakers and volume output of the ThinkCentre X1 to be quite loud and high-quality for such a thin system. For basic use, I wouldn’t see any need to use external speakers with the system.
Summary of the Lenovo ThinkCentre X1
The Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 is powerful enough for work, perfect for home. With the power of the Intel i5 processor and 16GB of RAM, this machine would be a workhorse for editing videos, sorting thousands of family photos, or doing any home or even work project. Many PC manufacturers make low-end machines to sell at attractive price points in the weekly ads of your newspaper. The ThinkCentre X1 is NOT one of those machines. It is a professional-quality PC, with specifications that will keep running well for quite some time.
The model we tested came with Windows 10 Home, 16GB RAM, 256 GB Opal SSD, Intel i5-6200 processor and retails for $1016.10 but other models start at $872.10. You can find this device, among other Intel-powered options, at shop.intel.com and Amazon. To learn more about Intel-powered devices available, visit www.intel.com.
Intel provided a Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 for review purposes. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post.
