The Lenovo IdeaCentre K300-53162FU ($449.99 list) is a great entry-level desktop PC for tinkerers who want to learn how to service their own PCs. It leverages Lenovo's extensive IT experience to produce an easy to upgrade desktop system with a decent amount of processing power. If you're the type that needs to update your PC to a faster processor, but want to keep decades-old peripherals useful, the K300-53162FU, available at Best Buy, may just be the ticket.
Design and Features
The K300-53162FU has some shaping and sculpting on the front panel, which will make it stand out a little compared to more utilitarian desktops, but it's not anything you would call fashion-forward. Its a standard mid tower chassis, with ventilation cutouts on the side panels. There's a pair of USB 2.0 ports on the front panel near the top, along with a multi-card reader and audio jacks. On the back, are the 6 remaining USB ports, a serial port, more audio ports, PS/2 mouse/keyboard ports, and the desktop's VGA port. I would've liked to have seen HDMI or at least a DVI port for flexibility, but VGA is adequate for the basic user. The serial port and PS/2 ports are useful if you have a lot of older peripherals (stuff like the Palm Vx PDA or a favorite PS/2 trackball come to mind), but these days they are superfluous.
Inside, the chassis is easily accessible for upgrades. The case door, expansion slots, and hard drive bays are tool-less, meaning you don't need a screwdriver to install internal components. The hard drives are slotted into the drive bays on plastic trays with handles, and you won't need to use screws to hook the drives up to the trays. Lenovo uses its business IT expertise to help the tinkerer in this case, as this desktop is one of the better store-bought desktops to get if you want to take baby steps toward building your own PC. The K300-53162FU has two free RAM DIMM slots, two free PCIe x slots, one PCI slot, two free SATA ports, and one PCIe x16 graphics card slot. The desktop's 280W power supply is adequate for light to medium duty upgrades, but don't expect to turn this desktop into a high-end gaming rig with a $500 ATI or Nvidia graphics card.
Like other Best Buy desktops, the K300-53162FU comes with Best Buy's pc app. The pc app lets you shop for software to download, both free trialware and paid software. The app works like any other online shopping site. The app details nicely with Lenovo's lack of bloatware: This way anything you put on your desktop is by your choice, rather than the choice of the desktop builder. The K300 includes Leveno's excellent rescue desktop, which can backup and restore your C: drive out of the box.
Performance
The K300-53162FU's Pentium dual-core E5700 processor is functionally equivalent to older Core 2 Duo processors, and that shows in the performance. The K300-53162FU completed our Handbrake test in a quick 3 minutes 1 second, and it finished the Photoshop CS5 test in 5:13. Contrast this with the Athlon II X2-powered Asus Essentio CM1630-05 ($479.99 list, 4 stars), which completed Handbrake in 3:12 and CS5 in 6:45. Even better, it out-raced the Atom-powered Giada N20 that took a glacial 12:19 for Handbrake and 23:29 for CS5. The K300-53162FU is quick. As expected, the K300-53162FU doesn't excel in the 3D arena, due to its integrated graphics. The desktop couldn't run or complete any of our 3D benchmark tests including DX10 and DX11 games. You may be able to play basic 3D games (think Doom 3 from 2004), but newer 3D games like Lost Planet 2 in DX11 are strictly off limits unless you buy a new graphics card.
Compared with similarly priced nettop competion like the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 and Giada N20, the K300-53162FU is a much better buy for the tinkerer. It is faster, more expandable, and has more drive space. However, the current entry-level Editors' Choice, the Asus Essentio CM1630-05 is a better buy overall. It's just a smidge slower on the benchmark tests, but it has a larger hard drive and more modern integrated graphics. The Asus CM1630-05 also comes with DVI and HDMI ports in addition to the VGA port. Those more modern features are worth the extra $30 over the K300-53162FU. Look at the K300-53162FU if you're the type that likes to tinker, but for everyone else, the Asus CM1630-05 holds on to the Editors' Choice for entry-level desktops.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Lenovo IdeaCentre K300-53162FU with several other desktops side by side.
• Dell Inspiron i580-6736NBC
• HP Pavilion p6654y
• Lenovo IdeaCentre K300-53162FU
• iBuypower LAN Warrior II
• Asus Essentio CM5675-09
• more
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