Latest Gaming Gadgets: Lenovo Idea Centre B500 a Gaming Gadget

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Lenovo Idea Centre B500 a Gaming Gadget

Lenovo IdeaCentre B500 is a all-in-one Latest Gaming Gadget desktop that brings complete home entertainment features in an elegant compact package, it sports an angular design with machine cut speaker grills that are inspired from the Halo, the machine itself has a small footprint that allows for space saving and at the same time provides ample power for your computing and entertainment needs.

Lenovo IdeaCentre B500 Specifications

* 23” Full HD Widescreen Display

* Intel Core2Duo E7500 2.93GHz
* 4GB DDR3 RAM
* NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M 1GB Graphics Card
* 640GB Hard Drive
* DVD Reader/Writer
* JBL 2.0 Speakers, 2 x 5W RMS
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth
* TV Tuner and Remote
* Integrated Camera and Mic
* 6-in-1 Card Reader, headphone and microphone jack
* Ports: 6 USB 2.0, 1 RJ45, PS/2 and AV IN.

Gaming Performance
IdeaCentre B500 is powered by the NVIDIA 240M graphics card which allows it to perform fairly well in the gaming segment, however it wouldn’t please the hardcore gaming fans that said most of the current generation games can be enjoyed on its big screen at decent settings.
We played GRID 2 at 1080p for the test and it delivered the following results :
Game settings - Average FPS
First run auto detect – 21.912
Low - 42.588 (No AA)
Medium - 23.276 (2x AA)
Ultra – 16.812 (4x AA)

The loading of the game was smooth and it was decently playable at medium settings.

IdeaCentre B500 sports a refreshing slim form factor for a desktop and has been designed keeping the modern lifestyles in mind. The build quality feels solid, the choice of colors and the metallic finish below the screen gives it a unique look. There are also six touch sensitive buttons at the bezel for LED light, volume, brightness and for turning off the display.

Card Reader, headphone and earphone jack along with two USB ports are conveniently placed at the left side of the bezel whereas the DVD Writer is on the right side, additional 4 USB ports, TV IN and Audio/Video ports are located behind the screen. The back stand is sturdy and at the same time allows for easily adjustable viewing angle.

A set of wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with batteries is bundled with the machine. Mouse works out of the box but you have to manually pair the BT keyboard once by going to Control Panel –> “Add a New Device” inside Windows 7. The Keyboard itself is light weight, its metallic design matches well with the desktop and the build quality is very good, typing is smooth and because of soft key presses touch typing is a joy on it.