All-in-one PC convenience on the cheap
In today’s ever-changing climate of wildly fluctuating component costs, all-in-one computers, or AIOs for short, remain as viable as ever. Built in the same vein as its line of laptops, Lenovo’s IdeaCentre AIO 3i (starts at $529; $599 as tested) is productivity-focused, with some handy inputs that even include a DVD drive, an addition long-lost in many devices today. A closer look under the hood reveals typical budget-machine trappings, like a low-end Pentium processor with integrated graphics, though that’s intriguingly propped up by a cool 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD, both nice adds in this price range. Lenovo offers a variety of configurations with variations on the theme (less memory, a hard drive instead of an SSD), but we like this one, and with the right parts mix, the IdeaCentre is a fine budget AIO if you’re looking to affordably upgrade your home office, earning it our Editors’ Choice award for budget AIOs.Catch This 22-Incher
Wrapped in all matte black plastic, the IdeaCentre AIO 3i is a compact machine, consisting of just a 22-inch display resting upon a small stand. The stand is even complete with an indent to keep your mouse, spare change, keys, or small office supplies out of the way.
Simply put, the computer holds up a pretty decent display here, with surprisingly thin bezels on all sides that do a respectable job of maximizing your screen space. Neither swivel nor height adjustment is available here, but the monitor allows for a healthy tilt for vertical adjustments.
The lion’s share of the AIO’s ports is found on its backside. There, you’ll find four USB ports: two 2.0 ports and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (all Type-A), an Ethernet jack, a power connector, and an HDMI output. But that’s not all—at the top, you’ll find the webcam, which can be pulled in and out of the monitor housing like a cartridge on a Sega Genesis.
Further to the left, you’ll find the throwback DVD optical disc drive. A little lower, you’ll find a small rubber cover on the left corner that hides a 3.5mm port for headphones. Sure, a higher-resolution webcam, a Blu-ray drive, or even USB-C ports would’ve really sweetened the deal, but what’s here is quite acceptable on a budget AIO.
The 22-inch display is easy to handle, at just 22 pounds and 15.9 by 19.3 by 7.3 inches (HWD). It’s definitely heavier than our bigger-screen top AIO pick from a few years back, the HP Pavilion 24 AIO, and as far as 22-inch AIOs go, it’s also more than a few pounds heftier than the HP Chromebase All-In-One 22. Still, this Lenovo AIO is hardly unmanageable.
Our $599 review configuration comes complete with an Intel Pentium Gold 7505 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, as well as the DVD drive, Windows 11, and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Lenovo flogs about 10 different configurations that range from as low as $529 to as high as $800. The top option includes a whopping 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, but the processor and integrated graphics remain the same.
A quick word on the Pentium Gold processor: As far as CPUs are concerned, the Pentium series is close to the bottom rung of Intel’s processors, down near the Intel Celeron chips (the very lowest-end) and AMD’s Athlons. You can’t expect much from these parts (which we’ll get into in our benchmarking analysis), but paired with an SSD and a good amount of RAM, you can observe some improved performance, at least as productivity is involved. Don’t expect any advanced gaming or video editing from this machine, though. That’s just not what it’s built for.
Two downward-firing, 3-watt speakers provide decent sound without losing too much quality at higher levels. They’re loud, without the tinny screech or chassis-shaking feedback you might find in lower-end budget laptops or Chromebooks. The included keyboard and mouse work better than I expected, as well.
