Specifications:
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bitProcessor: Intel Core i5-650 @ 3.20GHz Memory: 6GB DDR3 PC3-8500 SDRAMHard drive: 640GB SATA2 @ 7200 RPMOptical drive: Blu-ray ROM / DVD+/-RW burnerGraphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310Wireless networking: none Networking: Gigabit EthernetWarranty: One-year limited parts and laborWhat’s in the box:
Lenovo Essential H Series H320 desktopUSB wired mousePS/2 wired keyboardPower cordDocumentationThe Lenovo H320 space-saving desktop starts at a reasonable $599 price point; this review unit was configured slightly higher and carries a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $699.
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Build and design
Lenovo has been pumping desktop designs in a manner akin to cooking spaghetti these last few years: throw everything into a pot, stir it around for a bit, then pull something out and toss it at a wall to see what sticks. The Essential series is one such innovation to come from the Chinese computer giant’s design resurgence; they’re focused on more affordable feature-centric, rather than design-centric, computers.
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That’s not to say that the H320 is poorly designed; far from it, in fact. This little desktop was born with efficiency in mind, and it lives up to those expectations by taking up the least amount of room possible on your work surface.
Lenovo has definitely taken a page of out other manufacturers’ books; the H320 looks almost - but not quite identical - to offerings from other companies like HP and Gateway (Acer). While that’s not completely their fault since at a certain point, all of these slim tower desktops start to look the same, they could have tried a new approach. Apple and Dell, for example, both have very small desktops that offer greater-than-nettop performance.
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As with most of these slim desktops, the optical drive is mounted vertically on the front of the machine, hidden behind a glossy black plastic door. The whole front is covered with this glossy black plastic, offering a seamless - if easily scratchable - look.
Both of the sides are largely featureless, save for a few strategically-placed vents. If would be nice if Lenovo had included some sort of support stand on at least one side for those users who would prefer to lay the desktop horizontally rather than vertically.
Inputs and expansion
The front of the H320 features the vertically oriented optical drive, as mentioned previously. As a nice bonus, Lenovo managed to squeeze in a Blu-ray read / DVD-writable drive. There are two USB 2.0 ports on the bottom, as well as the usual pair of analog audio jacks for line-in and headphone-out signals. A multi-card memory card reader sits next to the unit’s power button on top, rounding the complement of front-facing ports.
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As always, the rear of the machine is where the real action is. On the H320, Lenovo included just four more USB 2.0 ports; it’s a shame there aren’t more. There’s also three analog audio jacks for line-in, line-out and microphone-in audio sources.
Gigabit Ethernet takes care of all of the networking, and two PS/2 peripheral ports sit at the top. The H320 comes with a USB wired mouse and, perplexingly, a PS/2 wired keyboard. It’s long past time for PS/2 ports to be entirely phased out in a consumer desktop (they have their place in a business-focused unit) and it would be nice to see Lenovo just leave them out in favor of USB for the next interation.
[click to view image]By default the Lenovo Essential H320 comes with a VGA and an HDMI video port. What’s great is that these are native to the motherboard; even if users buy a basic model with Intel’s Graphics HD Media Accelerator HM55 integrated GPU, they’ll be able to hook up to an external display (like an HDTV) with a purely digital connection.
For those who upgrade to a discrete GPU like the NVIDIA GeForce 310 in this review unit, there’s an extra one each VGA and HDMI video ports on the card. The only downside is that the video ports on the card and the video ports on the motherboard can’t be used simultaneously, which is actually a common problem on desktops such as this one.
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[click to view image]Lenovo should really put port guards over the top of the integrated video ports when they can’t be used (such as when a discrete graphics card is configured) like other manufacturers do; it’s a cheap and easy way to help cut down on customer confusion and dissatisfaction.
Inside of the machine, there isn’t much space for users to tinker around. The RAM slots are already pre-populated with the included 6GB of RAM, and there are no open 5.25- or 3.5-inch bays. This review unit had its 16x PCI-Express slot filled with the discrete graphics card, but there is one 1x slot still available.
On H320 units that do not come with an upgraded graphics card, there will be two open slots and users could upgrade them as they see fit. It’s worth noting, however, that the slim design of the case will require a “half-height” expansion card in order to fit.
Performance
Despite packing everything into a box about the size of a case of soda, Lenovo managed to include sufficient performance to handle all but the most demanding of users.
Intel’s quad-core Core i5 CPU is up to any reasonable task, including Photoshop and lightweight audio and video editing - it’s easy to see Lenovo’s H320 becoming a slim addition to a media enthusiast’s workflow.
wPrime benchmark test results: (lower is better)
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PCMark05 system benchmark test results: (higher is better)
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PCMark Vantage system benchmark test results: (higher is better)
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3DMark06 graphics benchmark test results: (higher is better)The NVIDIA GeForce 310 is a bit of a letdown. It’s certainly capable, in its own right, but it won’t be setting any kind of records. For users who just need that slightest extra bit of oomph that the Intel integrated graphics solutions are unable to offer, the dedicated option is a worthy consideration. Unless a customer is absolutely sure they need it, however, it may be worth looking at alternative upgrades - like adding more RAM or a bigger hard drive.CrystalDiskMark storage benchmark results: (higher is better)
Speaking of hard drives, at least the H320 offers a modern, reasonably quiet hard drive that reaches above 100MB/s in sustained transfer tests.
Power and noise
The Lenovo H320 offers a fairly high degree of power efficiency - something toward which Lenovo has been working for several years, now. It’s clear that their hard work is starting to pay off, since the H320 manages to come in with an idle power draw of just 39 watts.
That’s a very respectable number, considering most desktops who go past it are built with several laptop components as means of keeping cooking and cost under control. Peak power draw at boot was 58 watts, while maxing out the system drew 97W.
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