Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p review
It's expensive, but this is a fast office-oriented mini PC that comes with plenty of added extras to help it stand out from the crowd
Specifications
2GHz Intel Core i7-4765T, 4GB RAM, N/A display, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit / Windows 8 Pro
The M93p isn’t very versatile when it comes to connecting to your monitor, as the only video outputs available are two DisplayPorts and a single VGA output. We would have preferred to see at least one HDMI port, which would let you connect to a TV or DVI monitor with a cheap adaptor, instead of one of the DisplayPorts. This makes it unsuitable for use as a media PC, unsurprisingly for a business-oriented model, but also leaves it without the most common digital monitor connections.
The PC has five USB3 ports, one of which will charge smartphones and tablets while the PC is off, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an antenna connector for the built-in Wi-Fi and separate headphone and microphone jacks. If you’d rather not lose two USB ports for the mouse and keyboard, the M93p’s Wi-Fi card also has built-in Bluetooth, so you can use a wireless mouse and keyboard instead.
The M93p’s BIOS lets you set the PC to wake on LAN, so you can fire it up from sleep mode with a tablet or smartphone app once you’ve enabled the setting in the BIOS.
The Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p is a highly capable mini office PC, but at just over £800, we think it’s a little expensive for the hardware inside. If all you’re looking for is a powerful mini PC, the Zotac ZBox IQ01 Plus is both faster and around £250 cheaper. The M93p is certainly very convenient and comes with several added extras, including an additional upgrade licence for Windows 8 Pro (around £85 from www.amazon.co.uk) and a three year onsite warranty for peace of mind, but ultimately it’s not quite as good value as other mini PCs out there.
Basic Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Rating | **** |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4765T |
| Processor external bus | 100MHz |
| Processor multiplier | x20 |
| Processor clock speed | 2GHz |
| Processor socket | LGA1150 |
| Memory | 4 |
| Memory type | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory | 16GB |
| Motherboard | Lenovo Sharkbay 0B98401 PRO |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel Q87 Express |
Ports | |
| USB2 ports (front/rear) | 2/3 |
| eSATA ports (front/rear) | 0/0 |
| Wired network ports | 1x 10/100/1000 |
| Wireless networking support | 802.11n |
Internal Expansion | |
| Case | mini PC |
| PCI slots (free) | 0 |
| PCI-E x1 slots (free) | 0 |
| PCI-E x16 slots (free) | 0 |
| Free Serial ATA ports | 0 |
| Free memory slots | 1 |
| Free 3.5in drive bays | 0 |
Hard Disk | |
| Hard disk model(s) | Seagate Barracuda (ST500LM000-1EJ162) |
| Interface | SATA3 |
Graphics | |
| Graphics card(s) | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Graphics/video ports | VGA, 2x DisplayPort |
Sound | |
| Sound | Realtek HD Audio |
| Sound outputs | headphone |
| Speakers | N/A |
Removable Drives | |
| Supported memory cards | none |
| Optical drive type(s) | none |
Display | |
| Screen model | N/A |
| Native resolution | N/A |
| Screen inputs | N/A |
Other Hardware | |
| Keyboard | none |
| Mouse | none |
Software | |
| Operating system | Windows 7 Professional 64-bit / Windows 8 Pro |
| Operating system restore option | restore disc |
Buying Information | |
| Warranty | three years onsite |
| Price | £775 |
| Supplier | http://www.cclonline.com |
| Details | www.lenovo.co.uk |
