How Lenovo Designs an All-in-One PC

When consumers purchase a new computer, they go to the store or online, read a couple of reviews, pick some options, whip out their credit card and wait for it to arrive at their house.  Rarely does any thought go into how the machines were designed. Lenovo decided to give everyone a video look at the creation of the ThinkCentre M90z.

A slightly bulkier version of the ThinkCentre A70z that we reviewed recently, the ThinkCentre M90z is one beefy desktop, with a few customizable choices based on an individual customer's needs.  Just like the A70z, the base M90z comes with a basic, wedge-shaped stand with a solid metal bar running across the work surface.  This setup allows users to tilt the all-in-one back and forth until they find a suitable viewing angle.

That kind of design doesn't allowed for any sort of height adjustment, however, and as Lenovo points out, some customers require it.  To assuage that segment of the customer base, Lenovo makes available an auxiliary stand for the M90z similar to those found on their high-end ThinkVision line of computer displays that allows users a substantially greater range of movements, including height.

While some companies want the ability to broadcast video conferences between offices on alternate sides of the globe, other businesses want to put computers in secure locations where video is forbidden.  Lenovo found a clever way to satisfy both of these diametrically-opposed views.  While the ThinkCentre M90z does feature a built-in webcam in the upper-middle portion of the bezel surrounding the display, it features an actual hardware switch.  Sliding a small switch on top of the all-in-one physically moves the camera's elements out of alignment with the hole cut out for the lens.  The camera moves entirely within the housing of the frame, where it can then be locked into place.

What the video does show is that even something as seemingly simplistic as an all-in-one computer (i.e., computer + display glued together) has a substantial amount of cost, research, design and development that goes into it.