Lenovo IdeaCentre Q190 (VE73BGE)

Zitat: The good: + For a full-fat Windows 8 PC, Lenovo´s managed to cram a lot of computer into a tiny amount of space: it measures up at just 155mm x 192mm, and is a mere 22mm thick. That means you can pretty much place it anywhere - even on the back of your TV, which Lenovo is intending for you to do with a VESA mount that´s packed into the box. You won´t find any gaudy colours or bright flashing LEDs here, as the Q190 is a machine that´ll fade away into the background with its glossy black and silver finish, and it can be positioned either upright with an included stand, or placed horizontally. There are plenty of ports for you to plug your accessories into, as tucked under a plastic door you´ll find a pair of USB 3.0 ports, a six-in-one card reader, headphone and microphone jacks, while on the back there´s a HDMI out, ethernet, S/PDIF out and four USB 2.0 ports - impressive, given its tiny size. As it runs Windows 8, you can load up all your favourite desktop applications, but where it really shines is acting as a media centre. Load up a media frontend like Plex, and you can kick back on the couch and use it to pump out full HD movies and videos to your TV, which you can store on its fairly-plentiful 500GB hard drive. It´s also quiet too: it barely makes a whisper, even under load, and as there´s no optical drive included so you won´t hear discs whirring away. The bad: - Unfortunately the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q190 is not the fastest machine on the block. Lenovo has armed its base-model with only a low voltage 1.90GHz Intel Pentium processor that´s paired with 4GB of RAM, meaning you won´t be able to blaze through the latest games or utilise demanding applications. It´s perfectly adequate for web browsing, typing up documents in Microsoft Office and as a media PC - but don´t expect to play Crysis at full resolution on this machine. While the lack of a DVD or Blu-Ray drive means that it´s whisper quiet, it does also limit your playback options, especially if you have a large back catalogue of physical media. We´re not too fussed about the lack of a disc drive, as many of our favourite TV shows and movies are available on the likes of Netflix and LoveFilm, but some of you might have extensive libraries that you want to continue watching - and you´ll have to splurge out an extra £130 to grab the higher-end model that comes with a Blu-Ray combo drive. Read our review of HP´s Split 13 x2! The 10 most disappointing gadgets of 2013 Lenovo´s tiny Q190 is a brilliant little box that can act well both a basic PC and as a media hub - but only if your watching needs are strictly online and streamable. The higher-end model tops out at £429, and comes with a 1TB hard drive and a Blu-Ray player built-in, but if you´re looking at the base model to serve as your media hub, we´d suggest to look elsewhere.

Zitat: The IdeaCentre Q190 looks the part and has decent build quality. The option optical digital output and optional matching Blu-ray drive make it good for home theatre use, but it could really do with a more modern processor as performance is somewhat lacking.