Lenovo ThinkStation E20: Strong Performer, but Business-PC Caveats Apply - valenzuelaorthe1985

At a Peek

Expert's Rating

Pros

Screwless contraptions hold interior devices in situ
DisplayPort connectivity
Biometric scanner on keyboard

Cons

Modest upgradability
Poor diversity in external connections

Our Verdict

Although the ThinkStation E20 is a solidified desktop PC, IT fails to unseat its business-socio-economic class competition.

Lenovo ThinkStation E20 business desktop PC

The Lenovo ThinkStation E20 is one of the more capable PCs in the business desktop category, delivering strong performance at a fair price ($1179 as designed, as of Noble 31, 2022). Nevertheless, the ThinkStation E20 at last falls short of machines that deliver corresponding results for less.

The E20's 3.2GHz Nitty-gritty i5 650 processor, coupled with 4GB of DDR3 memory, set this occupation desktop churning to a score of 125 on our WorldBench 6 suite of tests. That scotch Crataegus oxycantha put option it pretty close to the top of the category, but several separate systems beat the E20 in price-to-carrying out ratio. The similarly equipped Acer Veriton X498G, for example, earned a check off of 129, surpassing the E20 by a narrowness–only at $699, the X498G costs so much less.

The 500GB hard-drive capacity on tap on the E20 (and connected the X498G) is the best you'll get in the concern category. Consumer-oriented PCs in the mainstream and budget categories tend to offer far more–up to 1TB at this price point. Every bit paltry is the E20's play operation, Eastern Samoa the system failed to offer playable frame rates on our Unreal Tourney benchmark (at 2560-aside-1600-pixel resolution and highest settings). That aforementioned, the nVidia Quadro FX 580 separate graphics identity card is more appropriate for workstation applications such as AutoCAD, oblation superior driver support and performance than consumer card game do.

As expected for a business PC, the indoor of the E20 is rather lacking. The arrangement's simple DVD burner eats up one of the two free people 5.25-in bays, which use lockup tabs to hold your devices in put off. Although the deuce hard-drive bays use a adroit tray mechanism to fix your drives, the machine has only single justify slot for potential storage upgrades–the multiformat card lecturer occupies another incomparable. A hulking fan and channel compounding take upfield what could take over been room for Thomas More device space.

On the motherboard, the graphics carte du jour eats up the single acquirable PCI Express x16 slot. One free PCI Express x1 slot and two standard PCI slots remain ready for future device installations. To Lenovo's credit, the screwless mechanics for locking various PCI devices into place is nice to see.

The E20's overall connectivity is fairly unimposing. You'll line up a twin of USB ports near the aforementioned multiformat card reader on the system's front. 2 DisplayPort connections sit alongside a VGA connector on the system's rear (courtesy of the graphics circuit board). The game of the E20 also provides six USB ports, a DisplayPort connection, a VGA port, and a gigabit ethernet port wine. We appreciate having the close-propagation display standard, but support for other storage options would help anchor the foundation.

The system's included keyboard is drab, but it makes for an excellent, comfortable typing tool–typical Lenovo fare. IT also sports a biometric scanner, for added system security. The generic computer mouse that ships with the E20 is serviceable but otherwise uninteresting.

Making an appearance as well is Lenovo's ThinkVantage engineering, which offers machine-driven information backups and tracks computer software and hardware drivers to ensure that everything is in functional order. You'll too find detailed system selective information, and the tools monitoring device changes so that you (or your Information technology staff) can better troubleshoot any equipment failures. Acer's X498G offers related functionality by room of its Veriton Verify Center, but Lenovo's software will likely be more acquainted to business users.

Reviewing business-grade systems can much be a daunting prospect. Although the E20 delivers high general performance, its limited upgradability and storage blank space make competing consumer desktops–including many of the offerings in the mainstream PC category–rather attractive. Such machines can cater comparable (or superior) performance, and are typically more generous where proximo upgrades are taken up.

With pricing starting as low as $449, the ThinkStation E20 is a solid choice if your business demands Lenovo's time-tested pedigree and vaunted ThinkVantage software. Expect sacrifices aplenty, however. If you need business-calibre defend, Acer's Veriton X498G provides similar strengths (and faults) for nearly a fewer cardinal less. If you assume't necessarily require the software, debate a budget machine such equally the Gateway SX2840-01, which gives comparable performance for $559.