Dell Optiplex 755
Rental/day 128.21yuan Rental/week 376.07yuan Rental/month 470.09yuan +17% VAT	Processor	Intel Core2 E4600 2.2GHz
	Memory	1GB DDR2 800
	Hard drive	SATAⅡ 160GB
	Media drive	DVDRW
	Screen	19"WLCD
	Network interface	10/100/1000M
	I/O	9xUSB 2.0,Vga-Out,LPT,COM

If you think ofgreen PCs as feeble machines scrunched into a microscopic form factor, youhaven't seen the Dell OptiPlex 755 ($1,183 direct). Despite its sizablemid-tower frame, which offers plenty of room for expansion, the OptiPlex 755has abundant green cred in its EPEAT Gold and Energy Star 4.0 ratings, the moststringent currently available. The 755 is useful for businesses that needs alittle bit more than the standard desktop PC for their workers. Its dual harddrives give data redundancy to safeguard files. The OptiPlex 755 is a highlyrecommended business PC that also happens to be energy-efficient andenvironmentally attractive.

The OptiPlex755's case takes up a lot of room on the desk. It's much larger than otherenergy-efficient PCs, but the extra room lets this particular configuration beupgraded with a PCIe graphics card and other PCI cards. (Of course, addingcards may affect the system's energy usage—more on this below). The system isover 16 inches tall and 17 inches deep, but the same motherboard and processorare available in desktop, small-form-factor, and ultra-small-form-factorversions of the OptiPlex 755. You may have to give up the dual hard drives inthe smaller sizes.

The OptiPlex Ireviewed came with a dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor, 2GB ofDDR2-667 memory, integrated graphics, and dual 160GB hard drives. The dual harddrives no doubt contributed to the system's higher power consumption while thesystem was on and idle (50W versus 20W to 37W for the other green desktopsystems), but these hard drives can save your company a whole lot of extrawork. The dual drives come with Dell's DataSafe, which can be set to back upthe user's Documents folder automatically. DataSafe also means that the extrahard drive is there as a mirror of the primary hard drive, so the user isprotected from the failure of one of the drives. Ideally your workers will bestoring important documents on your server, but most people like to worklocally whenever possible. Strategies like DataSafe will save your workers'hide. It's only a matter of time before a hard drive failure, virus, or mistakeresults in lost files, which DataSafe can recover.

The OptiPlex 755we tested was relatively energy efficient: It used a frugal 2 watts when offand 3W under S3 sleep, so as long as you let the 755 enter sleep mode whenidle, you'll save a lot of power. S3 sleep takes only a few seconds to wake upfrom, so unless your workers are financial trader types, they won't be too putoff by having to wake the system up. While running in idle, with the desktop onthe screen and no other apps open, the OptiPlex 755 used about 50W of power.That's pretty good compared with mainstream desktops that expend about 70W to80W in idle, but it's a little more than some other energy-efficient desktopsthat idle at 30W to 37W. This number is important, because PCs are essentiallyin the idle state when they are being used for Office tasks like wordprocessing and e-mail. In the "worst-case" power-use scenario, whenthe OptiPlex is performing 3D rendering, the system consumes an average of onlyabout 70W. That's about as much as an incandescent light bulb, so even underload the OptiPlex 755 is an energy-efficient desktop.

Environment-friendlyfeatures include easy disassembly and the elimination of hazardous materialslike PVC, hexavalent chromium, and cadmium. Dell also pre-marks the system forrecycling via its own recycling program: The company not only will take the 755back for recycling after you're done with it, but it audits its recyclingpartners to make sure they're aboveboard). Dell makes it easy (with a littleeffort on the buyer's side) to do two of the three R's: Reduce and Recycle.Reuse is totally up to the customer, but it's easy to do in a business withmore than one department.

The DellOptiPlex 755's 2GB of memory and dual-core E4500 processor helped it on theSYSmark 2007 Preview benchmark tests. The 755 gained a class-leading score onthe Office Productivity workload (108 points)—performance that should keep evenimpatient office workers happy. Other scores like those for ElectronicLearning, Video Creation, 3D Modeling, and the SYSmark Overall score werewithin a few points of the HP rp5700's, our recent business PC performanceleader. The HP rp5700 is built to be a "five-year" PC, meaning it'sdesigned to serve your business for at least five years, so the OptiPlex 755should also serve your business for a similar period of time before theevolution of technology makes it seem too slow.

The OptiPlex isalmost double the price of the LenovoThinkCentre a61e, but that's because of the OptiPlex755's larger tower case, faster Core 2 Duo processor, and extra hard drive. Inmy opinion the Dell system's extras are worth the money, particularly theadditional hard drive. The OptiPlex 755 costs about the same as the HP dc7800,which has a faster processor but only 1GB of RAM and a smaller, single 80GBhard drive. I'd prefer the 2GB found in the Dell and Lenovo for running underWindows Vista. The Dell's expansion space and aforementioned hard drive give itthe nod in this horse race.

The Dell OptiPlex755 is the hybrid SUV of green PCs. It has more utility than the tiny,small-form-factor PCs (think of them as Toyota Prius or Honda Civic hybrids),but it also consumes bit more power when on. It will serve your users wellwhile saving you money on the energy bills that never seem to end. Forcompanies ranging from small proprietorships to large conglomerates, theOptiPlex 755 with EPEAT Gold can be a green alternative to the usual businessPC for about the same amount of green (dollars).

 

LENOVO IDEAPAD K1

Until now, Lenovo was one glaringexception. The company already had a head start selling the LePad tablet in China, but it wasonly last month that it announced not one, but two Honeycomb slates for the USmarket: the IdeaPadK1 for mainstream consumers, and the ThinkPadTablet for business users (and a fair share of geeks, too). Now, we couldeasily roll our eyes at how saturated the market for Android tablets isbecoming, but Lenovo isn't just any old OEM. The brand has won such an avidfollowing that we bet the company could have essentially slapped its name on aplain-Jane black slab and waited for loyal fans to line up.

In fact, though, you're in for a bit more than name recognition. The K1goes after mainstream consumers with a winsome design, sure, but also asoftware package designed to make Honeycomb easier to use, and to help ensurethat flummoxed, low-tech users don't have to spend too much time downloadingapps out of the box. What's more, it ships with Android 3.1 and has a two-cellbattery that promises up to ten hours of battery life.

Even though this tablet falls underLenovo's IdeaPad brand, which isn't nearly as iconic as ThinkPad, it stilllooks like something Lenovo would make, a distant cousin to all those laptops youknow and love -- not to mention, the LePad. Although the K1 comes in basicblack, it's also available in white and red (our personal favorite) -- a trioof colors that subconsciously invokes other Lenovo products. Though the body ismade of matte aluminum, there's a glossy panel on the back that sits offcenter, taking up about three quarters of the back side. We didn't fullyappreciate that multi-layered design when we first saw the tablet last month,but now that we think about it a bit more, the effect of seeing the glossypiece sitting atop the smooth metal is visually interesting in a way that'splayful, but not tacky.

At 1.65 pounds (0.7kg), the K1 is heavier than most tablets, and on par withthe 1.66-pound Toshiba Thrive and HP's 1.65-pound TouchPad.It's also chunky at 10.39 x 7.44 x 0.52 inches (264 x 189 x 13.3mm), though notas meaty as the Thrive, which measures .62 inches deep. In any case, it feelssolid in the hands, and perhaps not as dense as you'd expect. Overall, thebuild quality is up to snuff, though it's not exactly premium either. We say that mainlybecause that back cover is a veritable fingerprint magnet, and your digitsmight well slip on the slick surface. As chintzy as the Thrive is, its texturedback at least makes it easier to grip.

 

If you hold the K1 in landscape mode,you'll see the 2 megapixel front-facing camera sits discreetly in the upperbezel, while the 5 megapixel rear cam sits on the back side, tucked in acorner. That back camera has an ovular shape and a thin metal ring around it --a combination that surely helps make the K1 look as sporty as it does (the rubyred paint doesn't hurt either). We found, too, that the camera is placed highenough on the back lid that you're unlikely to obscure the lens with yourfinger while shooting. If you keep imagining for a minute that you're cradlingthe tablet that way, you'll find a power button, twin volume keys, a screenlock switch, and a microSD slot on the left side. Annoyingly, the microSD slotcomes with a metal cover that you can only pop out by inserting a paper clipinto a tiny hole next to it -- that's right, just like a tray-loading opticaldrive. Quaint, huh?

On the bottom, meanwhile, there's a 30-pin docking connector, which you'll useto connect the tab to the bundled AC adapter or your PC via an included USBcable. (Or you can plug it into thecompatible dock that Lenovo's selling separately for $45.) Also on the bottom,there's a micro-HDMI socket and a 3.5mm headphone jack. And, trippiest of all, Lenovotossed in a home button on the right side of the bezel (that could below thescreen, if you hold it in portrait mode). It's so blatantly iPad-esque, andfrankly, it's something that most Android tablets have not borrowed from SteveJobs' magical slate. And we can see why. If you're accustomed to Android, thenyou're most likely not used to pressing a physical button when you want toreturn to the home screen. As it is, Lenovo told us it's going after mainstreamconsumers by pre-installing lots of popular apps and adding a skin on top ofHoneycomb that's supposed to make it more user-friendly. We have to wonder ifthere's a similar rationale behind the home button, if maybe it's meant to makeiPhone users feel more at home with their first Android product. If that's thecase, fair enough, though having a physical home button and a soft one onscreenfeels redundant.

You can use that touch button as an optical trackpad for limited gestures, butit works so poorly that you can't fairly call it a shortcut. We were able toswipe between home screens, for instance, but the movement looked jankyonscreen and it took us a few tries to pull the gesture off. (You'll knowyou're on the right track if two LED lights near the button start glowingwhite.) We had more luck swiping to the left to navigate backward in thebrowser, though be warned that you'll have to apply more pressure to the buttonthan you would the display.

Then again, there's at least one practical use case for that home button. TheK1 makes it easy to take screenshots -- normally, a big bowl of tedium forAndroid users. Similar to what you'd do with an iPhone or iPad, just press thehome key and the volume down button at the same time to take a snapshot ofwhat's on the screen. Not a huge selling point, but a pleasant surprisenonetheless.

 

Display and sound

The 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) display has viewing angles comparable to othertablets we've seen, which is to say you can get away with watching a movie fromthe side or with the tab face-up on a table, but the glare from the screenmight make it a not-so-pleasant experience. And while the resolution is on parwith pretty much any other 10-inch slate, the panel doesn't seem quite as brightas some others. The Galaxy Tab 10.1's screen, for instance, has the same sizeand resolution screen, but it's noticeably more vibrant. The K1's looks murkyby comparison.

 

The smallspeakers, which sit on the back side of the device, deliver decently loudsound, though as you might expect, music has a tinny, metallic quality to it.Still, it's no worse than other tablets on the market (or some laptops, forthat matter).

Performance and battery life

Like so many other Honeycomb tablets, the K1 packs a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 SoC.Mainstream consumers might look at us cockeyed if we told them the performancecould be zippier -- for those folks, the performance should be plenty fast. Butmore discerning techies will likely notice some lags when minimizing and openingapps. The screen was also often slow to switch orientations as we flipped fromlandscape mode to portrait and back, and more than once the display wasunresponsive, leaving us tapping multiple times before the tablet did what wewanted it to. In general, we tend to say that all Tegra 2 tablets have someobvious performance limitations, but the K1 felt pokier than others we'vetested. Indeed, its score of 1,448 in the Quadrant benchmark falls short of the1,546 and 1,584 that the Thrive and 10.1 notched. And while we try not to puttoo much stock in benchmarks, we think these numbers are telling, given ouranecdotal experience with the device.

Also, not to beat a dead horse, but at some point during our testing, we took abreak to play with the 10.1, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It'shard to tell how much of that was the 10.1's solid-yet-lighter build, thebright display, or the quick performance, but boy, did we miss it. The 10.1 ismarkedly faster, and the difference becomes painfully obvious when you playwith the two side by side. The 10.1 is quicker to respond to taps and swipes,its screen rotates faster, and it opens and minimizes apps more briskly.

 

The K1 has a 2-cell, 7400mAh battery thatpromises up to ten hours of battery life -- the same claim made by the iPad 2.In our standard battery rundown test (movie looping, WiFi on), it lastedeight hours and twenty minutes, matching the Motorola Xoomand falling about ten minutes short of the TouchPad. But it doesn't approachthe Galaxy Tab 10.1's ten hours nor the iPad 2's ten and a half, which seemslike a problem given that the K1 is markedly chunkier. If a tablet's going tobe bigger, we want it to make up for it with longer battery life and / or morerobust performance. The K1 doesn't quite do that on the longevity front, thoughit did have a much better showing than the Thrive, which lasted just six and ahalf hours in the same test.

Cameras

The K1 has a 5 megapixel camera in the backand a 2 megapixel one on the front -- pretty standard fare for tablets thesedays. To tell the truth, we never have high hopes for tablet cameras -- theytoo often feel like an afterthought, and almost all of them struggle in dimly andharshly lit shooting conditions. The K1 is no exception, though we had arougher time getting crisp images than with other tabs we've tested (inretrospect, we got pretty spoiled by the HTC Flyer / EVO View 4G).If you peek at our gallery of pics taken with the rear camera, you'll see thatwe sometimes had to try multiple times to get a usable macro shot. Even then, wecouldn't get that close to our subject and thebackground was often blown out to heavenly whiteness, as you can see in thatphoto above. It's a shame, because the colors were fairly true-to-life, ifsometimes lacking in punch.

The K1's 720p video isn't half bad. You cansee some faint ghosting as cars and other moving objects hurdle across thescreen, but the motion is actually fairly fluid.

 

Software

The K1 comes with Android 3.1 on board, andthough Lenovo has put its own spin on the OS, the customization is at leastpretty moderate as far as skins go. The usual back and home icons are white,not blue, which looks alright by itself, but then you notice that thenavigation bar doesn't match the clock in the lower right corner, which stillglows blue.

Beyond that, the biggest cosmetic change is a five-way app launcher sittingsmack dab in the middle of the home screen. By default, it includes shortcutsto email and the browser, along with more task-oriented icons labeled"Watch," "Listen," and "Read." Now, before youstart getting resentful that Lenovo's trying to tell you what to do, know thatyou can customize those shortcuts so that "Watch" redirects toYouTube instead of, say, Gallery. Or, you can scrap those preset categories alltogether and add shortcuts to any other application instead. The concept kindof reminds us of what Dell was trying to accomplish with DellDock, which seems to assume that a row of larger, glossier icons is easierto use than the Start Menu, the traditional Windows desktop, or even pinnedprograms in Windows 7. In either case, that extra option isn't annoying so muchas superfluous.

That centerpiece also includes a shortcut to the tablet's settings -- anotherdesign choice aimed at low-tech users who'd rather not dig around the appsmenu. Some of us have parents who mightprefer a dumbed-down tablet, though we're not convinced they'd know what to doin the settings once they got there, so this could be a moot point for somepeople. Regardless, Lenovo's skin is pretty harmless -- it's not like thecompany mucked around with the stock Honeycomb keyboard or loaded any widgetsyou can't remove. You can even delete that conspicuous launcher if you like,though you'll have to tap through an "are you sure?" dialog boxfirst.

The launcher also offers the option of so-called Lenovo Messages, includingtips for using the device and -- buzz word alert -- "special offers."Just heed our advice and don't enable them. What you'll see are ads, and whoneeds those in a product you are most certainly not getting for free?

 

By the way, when we talk about widgets, wemean AccuWeather, and also SocialTouch, an app created by Lenovo that at firstglance looks like a skinned version of Google Calendar. Actually, though, itaggregates Facebook and Twitter updates, in addition to email and calendarentries. On the whole, it's nice to be able to scroll through it all at once,though we do have some suggestions: one, linking your Twitter account isprobably a mistake -- at least if the luminaries you follow are as update-happyas the people in our circles. Also, SocialTouch has a demarcation indicatingwhen you're crossing into emails / appointments / tweets / what-have-you from adifferent day, and at the top of each day's list there's a stack of calendarappointments. Since these appointments live in that specific place, you'llshove them off-screen as soon as you start scrolling. We think the softwarewould have been smarter if the app kept these calendar entries locked in theirown pane.

Look closer and you'll see a few moretweaks to garden-variety Honeycomb. For one thing, this take on the OS makes iteasy to kill apps you forgot you had open. Lenovo added an "X" markto the vertical, pop-up menu of open apps, allowing you to shutter them in apinch. Also in that row, there's an icon that looks like a talk bubble but isactually yet another app launcher. This one presents a select few favorites ina carousel in the lower right corner of the screen -- a list that you cancustomize by dragging and dropping favorites.

Depending on your point of view, Lenovoeither saddled this thing with bloatware or did you the thoughtful, generousfavor of bundling apps you might actually find useful. Out of the box, you'llfind AccuWeather, Amazon Kindle, Arcade by Kongregate, 4GB of free storagethrough ArcSync, the IM client eBuddy, Documents to Go 3.0, File Mgmt., MovieStory, Movie Studio, mSpot and mSpot Movies, Norton Security, ooVoo for videochats, PhotoStudio, PokeTalk, and a raft of games that includes Angry Birds HD, GOF2THD, backgammon, euchre,hearts, solitaire, spades, and NFS Shift. AsToshiba did with the Thrive, Lenovo also threw in the excellent PrinterSharefor printing web pages, emails, and photos using a WiFi-enabled printer on thesame network.

The tablet also comes with Netflix pre-installed, which lets you stream moviesover WiFi, of course, as well as play them on a larger set via the HDMIconnection. Alas, if you'll recall, a previous report that certain tabletswould be able to store these movies offline as DRM-protected files was untrue.

 

And whattablet would be complete without its own proprietary app store? As it is, theK1 lets you install apps from unknown sources, but Lenovo has also bundled itsaptly named Lenovo App Shop. What you'll find here is a curated experience,with selections dispersed across 13 broad categories (some, such asentertainment, have a bunch of subsections). As with other custom app stores,such as Toshiba's, the selection is limited, with just a single app in somecategories. Still, the store is nicely designed, from a splashy home page withfeatured selections to a drop down menu of categories. The apps themselves lookuseful, too. A quick perusal brought us VLC Player and RpnCalc, a financialcalculator. The thing is, you can download these in Android Market for the sameprice. The real benefit, as we see it, is that apps might be easier to discoverin the App Shop -- a boon for people like our parents who don't have muchexperience researching and sizing up apps, and who might feel overwhelmed byAndroid Market's sprawling selection. Somehow, though, we don't think thatdescribes the typical Engadget reader.

As an added twee touch, there's also a social component whereby you can seewhat your friends are buying, though in order for that to happen they'd alsohave to be happy Lenovo tablet owners with a penchant for monitoring otherpeople's Golf Solitaire downloads. Womp womp.

Configurations and the competition

Although theK1 will soon ship with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage, as of this writing onlythat mid-range version is available. According to Lenovo, the 16GB and 64GBflavors will ship in three to four weeks for $449 and $599, respectively. Thecompany's also been crystal clear that the K1 will eventually make its way toUS carriers, though right now we don't know anything about pricing oravailability.

And though we haven't reviewed it yet, we suspect the K1 will have somecompetition from none other than its big brother, the ThinkPad Tablet. Thisguy's more expensive, with a starting price of $479 for 16GB ($589 for 32GB),plus an extra $30 for the dual digitzer pen. Even so, geeks might prefer itsmore ThinkPad-y design, complete with a red-tipped stylus, as well as itsfull-sized USB port and accompanying case that has a USB-powered keyboard builtin. Again, we'll reserve judgment for our full review -- for all we know, theThinkPad Tablet could be a huge dud -- but if we're just talking hype, we cansee diehard Lenovo fans getting more amped up about the ThinkPad. The K1 is aless expensive tablet more worthy of mainstream consumers, and according toconversations we've had with Lenovo, that's precisely the split the company wasgoing for.

And then there's, you know, every other Android tab on the market. If Honeycombis what you're after (and why wouldn't it be?) you'll certainly pay more foreither the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, though you'll get longer battery life andslimmer, more compelling designs. The 10.1, if you'll recall, costs $599 forthe 32GB model -- a $100 premium -- whereas the 32GB ASUSEee Pad Transformer also costs $499 without the $150 docking station.(There's also a $399 16GB configuration.) If you're also considering an iPad --and we suspect many mainstream consumers are -- you'll be making a similartrade-off as you would with the 10.1: it's $100 more expensive, but also offersbattery life, along with more sex appeal.

But in addition to talking about our favorite tabs at the moment, we also feelthe need to stack up the K1 against other relatively chunky models -- becauseadmit it, you know you're curious. Long story short, the K1 does a half-heartedjob of justifying its extra ounces. Its battery life is roughly on par with theHP TouchPad, another thick slate, which means both offer good-but-not-amazinglongevity. It's not like either tablet is packing a battery so large it cansurpass or even match the ten and a half hours we squeezed out of the iPad 2.Still, the K1's battery life is certainly an improvement over the Thrive's sixand a half hours and its buildquality is more solid, too. We still say the Thrive is mainly worth it forpeople who are either sold on the $429 starting price or the fact that it hasfull-sized HDMI and USB ports and an SD slot. Unless you're dead-set on them,these sockets don't fully make up for its shortcomings. At the same time, whenwe reviewed the TouchPad we dinged it, in part, for offering a buggy userexperience. That simply wasn't the case with the K1, although the TouchPad hassince receivedan update meant to boost both speed and performance.

Wrap-up

The IdeaPad K1 is cute, (relatively)affordable, and easy to use, and we know it'll be a sensible choice for someshoppers. We're just not sure that's you, our dear, tech-savvy readers. See,the K1 has two big strengths: one, it's aggressively priced, starting at $449for 16GB (granted, that version's not on sale, so if you buy today, it's goingto be the $499 32GB model). The other major thing the K1 has going for it issimplicity. Lenovo's tweaked Android 3.1 so that settings are easier to findand apps are a cinch to kill. It also comes with an array of popular apps (orbloatware, if you're cynical). Factor in the attractive design, and we canrecommend this, particularly for people with budget constraints, or thoselooking to give a techie gift to a not-so-techie person. Those things aside,the K1 is heavier than most tablets, and doesn't justify its heft withadditional ports, extraordinary battery life or even zippy performance. If youdidn't want ports anyway, and know your way around Honeycomb without Lenovo'shelp (thank you very much), why not justget something thinner, faster, and longer-lasting? Or, you know, at least stickaround and see how Lenovo's geekier ThinkPad Tablet fares.