OT: Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops?

I know this is a laptop forum so apologies in advance but I'm looking to supplement my home system (which includes a newly purchased R61i) with a desktop system. I'm looking for something that will be used primarily as a media hub and a central repository for document storage - not a gaming system.

Has anyone used or owned a ThinkCentre desktop? As far as overall quality, are they comparable to the ThinkPads?

 

I bought one, they never shipped it.

Quality isn't usually as big an issue with desktops as they don't move much and there all using the same parts anyway.

 

I agree with zaz. Laptops are highly specialized machines where every little part and manufacturing technique matters. If somethings not engineered well or is ill conceived, then you take notice fast. Luckily we dont have to worry about that with many IBM/Lenovo laptops, but for desktops its a different story.

Desktop computers are very unified in nature and many things are compatible with each other. The computer also doesn't move around much. I would recommend just buying one of those crazy discounted dell desktops thats to your liking. Make sure you take advantage of those crazy online discount deals. Heck, now a days you can either build or purchase a fairly robust computer for around the $600 mark.

 

To anyone who wants a desktop and has the technical knowledge I highly recommend building your own. My favorite site for deals and steals on hardware is of course Newegg, with TigerDirect coming in a close second.

If you don't have the knowledge, perhaps you have a family member or close friend who will help you find a nice setup and assist you in assembling it. (That way next time, YOU can assemble it with no/little assistance)

 

It used to be back in the day, you built your own desktops because it was more cost effective than buying. Now often times you can't build it cheaper than Dell or HP. That's not including the software, the time it takes to get the parts, build it and install all the software. The other nice thing about buying it, is you get one place to go to for warranty and service issues though I know that sometimes that's not all that great either.

Building it yourself probably does have some value if only it's good to see how thing go together if you want to make an upgrade or have an understanding of how things work.

 

Yeah but you have to take into account the quality of the parts used and the length of the warranty on the desktop your buying. (If you even buy anything beyond the often horrid standard one year warranty)

If you build your own computer you can normally keep costs close to that of HP and Dell and know three things:

1) No proprietary limits (Dell is famous for forcing you to buy hardware upgrades from them and charging outrageous prices for desktops) In many cases this can be circumvented but will void your warranty and is an extreme hassle.

2) A long warranty, most decent hardware manufacturers have three to five year long warrantys, a few even have lifetime. If you purchase all the parts from Newegg it is relatively easy to return parts should they fail.

3) Quality, quality, quality. Most OEM's will use the cheapest parts possible to curve their profits. Through careful research you can find high quality parts for a price thats a steal.

 

A sizable portion of people never upgrade their equipment. The most frequent upgrades are probably hard drive, memory and optical drive none of which should void your warranty. Most people don't want to spend the time and effort it takes to do all of this. Most people prefer to have one stop for warranty or service. The people here are more tech center and therefore not the typical user. I'm not saying you're wrong about the parts or warranties, or that there's no value in doing it yourself, but that's been my experience on these matters anyway.

 

Rawr, I am always right! lol Just kidding

I was just posting that info for the original poster, in case he was curious of the benefits. (I'm a weird information systems major so I actually enjoy building my own desktop and being able to upgrade on a whim)

I would have to say when it comes to OEM Desktops, the manufacturer doesn't really matter. Durability etc. is the same across all OEM's to my knowledge for a desktop. (For the tower itself that is)

The only advantage I can think of is a select number of ThinkPad's come in slimmed down versions if space is a huge concern for you.

 

I have a ThinkCentre Desktop, a couple observations:

Its designed to be upgraded fairly easily with regards to the placement of components

I got a SFF which means there is no x16 port just a x1 slot... the newer ones have an x16 slot I believe.

The warranty on these units are very good

For the price I got it for ~475.00 shipped its well worth it and I would recommend picking one up especially the newer SFF or maybe a USFF as it would be small and convenient to integrate with the rest of your media components.