IdeaCentre Q Series
Encyclopedia
The IdeaCentre Q Series PCs from Lenovo are a series of nettops meant primarily for home and personal use. These nettops are designed to be extremely compact processing units. A nettop is a desktop computer that uses the same (or similar) components found in netbook
PCs. The first nettop in the IdeaCentre Q series was the Q100, launched in 2009.
The single core Intel Atom
processor found in 2009’s Q Series nettops was replaced by the Intel Atom D510 processor, with two cores at 1.66 GHz. The nettop also included 2GB DDR2 RAM, a 500GB hard disk drive, and NVIDIA
Nvidia Ion
2 graphics with support for DirectX 10.
Unlike its predecessors, the Q150 also included Wi-Fi
b/g/n. Ports on the nettop were available for HDMI
, VGA, two USB, Ethernet
, and audio input and output. A stand was provided to support the nettop, and a VESA
mount was provided as an alternative, so the nettop could be kept behind a TV or a monitor.
PCMag received the Q150 positively, calling it “one of the smallest full-featured PCs” and saying, “The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 is designed to be dropped on a desk or bolted behind an HDTV. It's one of the best web video/photo/music media consumption devices out there, once you've hooked up to a big screen.” PCMag gave the nettop a rating of four out of five stars as well as an Editor’s Choice award.
RAM, and a 160GB hard disk drive. While the storage space was limited, PCWorld indicated that this was common in other, similar nettops, citing the Acer Aspire Revo 3610 and the MSI Wind Nettop CS120 as examples. While the nettop had four USB ports and a Gigabit Ethernet
port there was no optical drive, and a mouse and keyboard were not included in the price. The Q100 could support a single VGA monitor. In its review of the nettop, PCWorld gave the PC one of five stars and indicated that it made a netbook seem like a better option.
graphics, and a 1080p HDMI
output.
X4500 integrated graphics. The Q700 measured 2.36 x 7.87 x 9.84 inches, and could be equipped with up to a 640GB hard disk drive. A HDMI output port was also present, as well as options for Wi-Fi
b/g, a TV tuner, and different version of Windows Vista
. The front of the nettop included four USB 2.0 ports, a slot-loading DVD
writer, a four-in-one media card reader, as well as headphone and microphone jacks. The back of the nettop included an additional four USB 2.0 ports.
Netbook
Netbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
PCs. The first nettop in the IdeaCentre Q series was the Q100, launched in 2009.
Q150
Released in 2010, the IdeaCentre Q150 was a nettop like its predecessors: the Q100 and the Q110. In its review of the nettop, SlashGear described it as “a great little media PC that serves up high definition content with minimal fuss.”The single core Intel Atom
Intel Atom
Intel Atom is the brand name for a line of ultra-low-voltage x86 and x86-64 CPUs from Intel, designed in 45 nm CMOS and used mainly in netbooks, nettops, embedded application ranging from health care to advanced robotics and Mobile Internet devices...
processor found in 2009’s Q Series nettops was replaced by the Intel Atom D510 processor, with two cores at 1.66 GHz. The nettop also included 2GB DDR2 RAM, a 500GB hard disk drive, and NVIDIA
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
Nvidia Ion
NVIDIA Ion
Nvidia Ion is a product line of Nvidia corporation intended for motherboards of low-cost portable computers. It uses graphics processing units and chipsets intended for small products.-Description:...
2 graphics with support for DirectX 10.
Unlike its predecessors, the Q150 also included Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
b/g/n. Ports on the nettop were available for HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
, VGA, two USB, Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
, and audio input and output. A stand was provided to support the nettop, and a VESA
VESA
VESA is an international standards body for computer graphics founded in 1989 by NEC Home Electronics and eight other video display adapter manufacturers.VESA's initial goal was to produce a standard for 800×600 SVGA resolution video displays...
mount was provided as an alternative, so the nettop could be kept behind a TV or a monitor.
PCMag received the Q150 positively, calling it “one of the smallest full-featured PCs” and saying, “The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 is designed to be dropped on a desk or bolted behind an HDTV. It's one of the best web video/photo/music media consumption devices out there, once you've hooked up to a big screen.” PCMag gave the nettop a rating of four out of five stars as well as an Editor’s Choice award.
2009
The IdeaCentre Q Series nettops released by Lenovo in 2009 were the Q100, Q110, and the Q700.Q100
The Q100 nettop was slightly larger than a typical external hard disk drive, with a plastic stand to allow it to remain upright. The nettop was equipped with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N230 processor, which was designed for low power consumption rather than processing power. The nettop also included 1GB of DDR2-667DDR2 SDRAM
DDR2 SDRAM is a double data rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory interface. It supersedes the original DDR SDRAM specification and has itself been superseded by DDR3 SDRAM...
RAM, and a 160GB hard disk drive. While the storage space was limited, PCWorld indicated that this was common in other, similar nettops, citing the Acer Aspire Revo 3610 and the MSI Wind Nettop CS120 as examples. While the nettop had four USB ports and a Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed...
port there was no optical drive, and a mouse and keyboard were not included in the price. The Q100 could support a single VGA monitor. In its review of the nettop, PCWorld gave the PC one of five stars and indicated that it made a netbook seem like a better option.
Q110
Like the Q100, the Q110 nettop was also 0.7 inches thin and featured the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N230 processor. Also like the Q100, a keyboard and mouse was not included. The differences between the two nettops, however, were that the Q110 had 2GB RAM, a 250GB hard disk drive, NVIDIA IonNVIDIA Ion
Nvidia Ion is a product line of Nvidia corporation intended for motherboards of low-cost portable computers. It uses graphics processing units and chipsets intended for small products.-Description:...
graphics, and a 1080p HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
output.
Q700
Launched in mid-2009, the Q700 was the Q Series third nettop from Lenovo released in that year. Unlike the Q100 and the Q110, the Q700 featured an Intel Pentium Dual Core E5700 processor, 4GB RAM, and Intel Graphics Media AcceleratorIntel GMA
The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator, or GMA, is a series of Intel integrated graphics processors built into various motherboard chipsets....
X4500 integrated graphics. The Q700 measured 2.36 x 7.87 x 9.84 inches, and could be equipped with up to a 640GB hard disk drive. A HDMI output port was also present, as well as options for Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
b/g, a TV tuner, and different version of Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
. The front of the nettop included four USB 2.0 ports, a slot-loading DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
writer, a four-in-one media card reader, as well as headphone and microphone jacks. The back of the nettop included an additional four USB 2.0 ports.