Lenovo ThinkCentre M92 Tiny System Review: Pint-Sized Power
by Dustin Sklavos on August 17, 2012 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Lenovo
- Mini ITX
- Ivy Bridge
- Enterprise
Conclusion: Everything But the Price
The people responsible for engineering the Lenovo ThinkCentre M92 Tiny deserve at least a measure of respect for what they've accomplished. It's true that you could argue it's basically a notebook with the screen and battery stripped out, but they've made the most out of the space they have. The M92 Tiny is reasonably powerful, runs quietly, and can be easily tucked away somewhere. I'm still fond of Lenovo's black plastic aesthetic (inherited from IBM way back when), too, and I like the removable optical drive/VESA mount.
My issue with the M92 Tiny is that the default configuration feels skint for a system that costs $699; just 4GB of RAM, a slow 5400-RPM hard drive, and no wireless networking of any kind. It's true that Lenovo offers three year warranty coverage standard (per their enterprise roots), but maybe even more damning for something geared towards corporate customers is the fact that the system itself is virtually impossible for the end user to service. There's no reason to use rivets to seal the enclosure when screws would've done the job.
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I also can't help but feel like the ThinkCentre M92 Tiny is serving two masters. The build and aesthetic are clearly corporate, but there's enough software bloat on the system (primarily Lenovo's) to suggest a consumer grade system. Their SimpleTap feature opens up a touchscreen-intended interface with links to Flickr, Facebook, PayPal, Netflix, MTV, and so on...why is this here?
However, as much as I want to bag on Lenovo for overcharging and nickel-and-diming end users with the M92 Tiny, the fact remains that nobody else has anything like it. If you go the boutique route you can get some competitive hardware, but Dell and HP's smallest form factor systems still have nothing on the Tiny. For HP you have to go to their thin clients, which use anemic Intel Atom and VIA processors as opposed to the beefier Ivy Bridge chip on hand in the M92. Until another major vendor can produce something competitive with the M92 Tiny, Lenovo will be able to charge as much as they like. For what it's worth, the M92 Tiny is a pretty solid product by itself, competition or no.
Update: The ThinkCentre M92 Tiny is actually user serviceable; there's a single screw on the back, and then the front and top of the system slides off. Our review unit just happened to be unusually firm, but with enough force it did come off the way it was intended.
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Crono - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
I think the Dustin hit the nail on the head with the conclusion. The size and most of the specs are fine.But for me the biggest flaw with this system is the mechanical drive instead of an SSD.
I would expect an SSD even in a lower priced computer, but for $699? Flash storage is a must.
Samus - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
Agreed. With the price of 128GB SSD's (<$100 retail) and the target audience for this machine (who will generally use only 40-60GB of storage) then pouring salt on the wound even further by considering the 500GB Scorpio costs about $50, Lenovo could have outfitted this machine with a SSD for <$50 more in materials. To top it off, being equiped with USB 3.0, IF more storage were needed, its obviously easy to add.Just a complete lapse in judgement on their part.
yyrkoon - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
I do not agree about the SSD comment. Just because everyone under the sun wants one in this machine for that price.System integrators make money by building systems. Then adding a profit to the cost. Followed by support. Also, they possibly make commission when one of the trial apps they offer gets upgraded to a full version. This is how it has always been.
On top of this, the case probably cost a bundle to have designed, and made.
Does this mean I would buy this system as is ? No. While I can see justification for price. I would not spend this much money on this system. Simply, I can build my own similar system for a little more than half the cost. However, if something went wrong with the machine I built. I would get no on site support / repair. Then there is no telling if I would be able to find certain things as easily as Lenovo, The external brick PSU comes to mind. This is not to say it would be impossible, But there is a good chance that the PSU was also custom made specifically for this system.
So while I do agree with the original post here in that it is not enough value *for me*. I can see it being of enough value for people who want a small / efficient system. For general computing.
Before finishing though. 38W load power consumption is quite good. Albeit, with monitor not quite good enough. Sub 50W would be very exciting.
Samus - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
You clearly know nothing about the corporate market, and I seriously question whether Lenovo does by offering such a configuration, either.Virtually all office machines should have 80-120GB SSD's, especially since they now cost roughly the same price as commonly equiped 500GB hard drives.
99% of corporate PC's I come across on a daily basis have <40GB used on the hard disk. Either all their data is small word/excel documents and some photo's, or all their data is on a server. Multi-user machines on a peer-to-peer network typically have people storing data on a NAS or their personal flash drives. Again, VERY little storage usage. Why equip a machine DESIGNED for this market with a 500GB drive where 460GB will remain free during its entire service duration?
Marlin1975 - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
Problem is a Mech drive is very reliable and has more room per dollar.Yea there are plenty of good SSD's (Intel, Crucial, samsung, etc...) but even then they all have firmware that needs to be updated and updates means someone at the company has to do it, i.e. cost money, and makes it seem like the system is not reliable and could hurt sales in the future.
I think a faster 7200rpm drive would be better and also another stick of ram in it for dual channel, if its an option.
dijidiji - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
If you build a test system on their website, you'll see that you can upgrade the drive to 7200rpm for 0 dollars and 0 cents.yyrkoon - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
... and it will most certainly use more power. How much more I could not say exactly, Possibly 10W give or take.Samus - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Prove a mechanical drive with multiple moving parts and extreme heat/vibration sensitivity is more reliable than an SSD? Excluding some OCZ crap. Think Intel, Samsung, Crucial, companies with 0.0001% failure rates.I still haven't seen an Intel or Samsung SSD fail in 5 years.
Death666Angel - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
You realize that even fully fledged 3.5" HDDs don't use 10W under load these days? The difference between 2.5" 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm is 1 or 2 W at most.know of fence - Friday, August 17, 2012 - link
For businesses and offices compatibility with XP is important still, while boot up times or app. launch times matter very little.I think a lot of people are forced to upgrade from mid-2000s office towers, to smaller efficient hardware, without having to give up their (no frills) working environment. That's why we see VGA and HDD, along with USB 3 and Display Port.