Lenovo IdeaCentre A600: All-in-one PC with motion control

By Rich Brown on 06 January 2009, 11:33am

Lenovo hasn't been much of a player in the consumer desktop market lately, but the IdeaCentre A600 all-in-one PC, announced on Monday, very plainly has the home user in mind.

According to the specs in the press release, Lenovo has followed the large-LCD trend common to other all-in-one vendors.

The A600 has a 21.5-inch display, along with a built-in subwoofer, and an optional Blu-ray drive and digital cable tuner -- features that position it alongside other large-screen all-in-ones as a secondary home entertainment device.

If its core hardware is common, the optional multi-purpose motion-sensing remote control helps Lenovo's new desktop stand out.

Lenovo said the new remote works as a Media Center control, VoIP phone, "air mouse" and game controller.

"It is the first to bring PC users the ability to play games using the remote control's 'motion drive' feature, which controls on-screen objects according to the movement of the remote," said Lenovo. The press release mentions no PC game titles currently available or in development that support such a control scheme, however.

Regardless of its potential gaming utility, pairing a motion-sensitive remote with a large-screen all-in-one makes sense. If all-in-ones are supposed to serve as PCs as well as home entertainment centres, the latter usage model is much more seamless with the mouse and keyboard removed from the equation. HP's TouchSmart touchscreen all-in-ones have been the only product line so far to really attempt a solution for this problem, but TouchSmarts currently include only a handful of supported programs.

Even if touch computing becomes ubiquitous, an interface that requires you to walk up and physically touch the display still has potential logistical issues. A device that can control the Windows environment as an air mouse, and also drive digital media like a traditional living-room remote, sounds like a feasible compromise.

Like other, but not all, all-in-ones, the A600 is built with laptop PC components, including an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 1TB of hard-drive space.

Lenovo said US prices will start at $999 (£680) for the A600 in its most basic configuration when it goes on sale in April, a remarkable price for an all-in-one with such a large LCD, regardless of its input technology. UK prices and availability have not yet been announced.