Thread: Anandtech News

Along with today's other CES 2020 pre-announcements, Lenovo has introduced a new all-in-one desktop PC designed for business and corporate customers. The ThinkCentre M90a AIO brings together performance and features of a modern laptop, a fairly large display, and top-notch security capabilities from Lenovo.
The Lenovo ThinkCentre M90A AIO comes equipped with a 23.8-inch Full-HD display with 250 nits or 350 nits maximum brightness, and with further optional PrivacyGuard technology to protect potentially sensitive information against prying eyes. In addition, the system supports Lenovo’s PrivacyAlert technology that warns its user of any ‘over the shoulder’ spies (presumably by detecting them using its webcam) and automatically blurs the monitor when the user turns away from the screen. Topping off ThinkCentre M90A’s security capabilities are match-in-sensor fingerprint reader as well as a dTPM 2.0 chip.

In a bid to make its ThinkCentre M90A as compact as possible, Lenovo used components designed for mobile PCs, including Intel’s 10^th Gen Core processors (presumably Comet Lake-U), AMD’s Radeon 625 discrete GPU with 2 GB GDDR5 DRAM, two SO-DIMM memory modules (supporting up to 32 GB of DDR4), an M.2-2242 SSD (optionally with OPAL), and a 2.5-inch HDD. Meanwhile, the PC can be equipped with a slim ODD.

When it comes to connectivity, the ThinkCentre M90A has everything one might need for work, including Wi-Fi 6, GbE, USB 3.1 Gen 1/Gen 2 Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C connector, a 3-in-1 card reader, an optional serial port, and a DisplayPort output to connect another monitor.

While formally Lenovo positions its ThinkCentre M90A for business and corporate clients, the company did equip it with a Dolby Atmos-badged speaker, which will certainly please home users too. Evidently, a Blu-ray drive could be a nice addition to the advanced audio sub-system, but there is no word whether the manufacturer intends to offer such a drive as an option.

Lenovo’s ThinkCentre M90A will be available in June 2020 starting at $1,099.
Related Reading:

• Dell’s Reveals OptiPlex 7070 Ultra: Putting a Modular PC In A Monitor Stand
• ASUS Launches Zen AiO 27 Z272SD: New Design, 4K, Six-Core CPU, dGPU, 32 GB RAM
• HP Upgrades EliteOne 1000 All-In-Ones with Coffee Lake CPUs
• HP 2018 Envy 34-Inch Curved All-in-One Gets Cozier
• HP Envy 27-Inch AIO Updates: Six-Core Coffee Lake, 4K Display, NVMe

Source: Lenovo



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Wrapping up today's Lenovo CES 2020 announcements, the company is joining the club of suppliers whom are offering ultrawide curved displays for productivity applications. The ThinkVision T34w-20 uses a large VA panel, has vast connectivity options, and can work as a docking station for a modern laptop.
The general characteristics of the 34-inch ThinkVision T34w-20 curved monitor resemble those of similar devices from other makers; so we are talking about a 3440x1440 resolution, 350 nits maximum brightness, 178°/178° horizontal/vertical viewing angles, a 60 Hz refresh rate, and a 6 ms response time. When it comes to color gamut, the LCD can reproduce 99% of the sRGB color space.

Being aimed purely at work, the Lenovo ThinkVision T34w-20 does not support technologies like variable refresh rate or HDR, which is quite explainable as these are clearly not priorities for the SOHO market. Furthermore, it also does not have speakers, but has a headphone output. For some reason, Lenovo also decided not to equip the monitor with PiP and PbP functionality, so it cannot be used to operate more than one PC at the same time.

Meanwhile, the workhorse monitor has three display inputs, including a DisplayPort 1.2, a HDMI 2.0, and a USB Type-C port with 75 W power delivery to connect a modern laptop. As well, the monitor has a quad-port USB 3.0 hub. In addition, it has an adjustable stand that can regulate height, tilt, and swivel.

Lenovo's 34-Inch Curved Display
	ThinkVision T34w-20
Panel	34" VA
Native Resolution	3440 × 1440
Brightness	350 cd/m²
Contrast	3000:1
Maximum Refresh Rate	60 Hz
Response Time	4 ms GtG in Extreme Mode 6 ms GtG in Normal Mode
Viewing Angles	178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Curvature	1500R
Pixel Pitch	0.233 mm
Pixel Density	109 ppi
Anti-Glare Coating	?
Inputs	1 × DisplayPort 1.2 1 × HDMI 2.0 1 ×USB Type-C (with up to 75W PD)
USB Hub	4-port USB 3.0 hub
Stand	Height: +/- ? mm Tilt: -? to +?° Swivel: ?
Audio	headphone output
Launch Price	$799

Lenovo will start sales of the ThinkVision T34w-20 display in March for $799.
Related Reading:

• Lenovo’s ThinkVision S28u-10: A 4K Business Display
• HP’s E344c: A 34-Inch Curved Ultra-Wide Productivity Monitor
• Philips Reveals 346B1C 34-Inch 100 Hz Curved UltraWide Monitor with USB-C Docking
• Nixeus Launches NX-EDG34: A Curved 34-Inch WQHD Monitor w/ 144 Hz & FreeSync
• HP Launches Their S430c 43.4-Inch Ultrawide Curved Display

Source: Lenovo

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Through 2019, all the major hardware providers and OEMs in the spaces we cover have been pushing the idea of the ‘Creator’ – someone who needs a high powered system in order to process video, animation, architecture, engineering, and anything with some level of computer-aided design which requires a lot of compute. To that end, Acer is putting forward its latest desktop offering for this market. The ConceptD 700 is build ground up with the Xeon E platform paired with NVIDIA’s Quadro GPUs, offering traditional Intel mainstream performance but with extra layers of professional features.

The design of the ConceptD 700 Workstation is meant to appear seemless, and integrate into a professional environment, offering a peak 40 dBA noise level and ‘minimalist Scandinavian design’. This means a white finish on most of the case, a wood-grain inspired top of the chassis, and a triangular patterned front panel equipped with three energy-efficient cooling fans to draw air into the chassis. Not only this in the design, but there’s also a wireless charging spot on the top of the case along with a headset pop-out cradle.

Inside is the Xeon E-2200 platform, designed for up to 8 cores, up to 64 GB of DDR4-2666 ECC memory, multiple M.2 SSDs and other 2.5/3.5-inch storage options. The Quadro inside will be an RTX 4000, which enables the unit to get the ‘RTX Studio’ badge. Acer says the unit has been testified and certified by major ISVs to ensure software compatibility, which enables it to go after the creator market.
The Acer ConceptD 700 will be available in Europe from March, starting at EUR 1700. Specifications for that price are unknown, such as core count, storage, or memory, aside from the styled chassis and the Quadro RTX 4000.
Gallery: CES 2020: Acer ConceptD 700 Workstation For Creators, With Xeon E

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Lenovo has announced its new IdeaCentre Creator 5 desktop PC, which is designed to offer some serious horsepower for gaming and professional applications. The machine features certifications and support from numerous content creation application developers, making it very well suited for content creation right out of the box.
The IdeaCentre Creator 5 comes in a relatively small 14-liter chassis that will pack whatever Intel’s ‘latest’ Core i9 processor is when the machine arrives in October 2020 (ed: this is not a typo), an NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics card (at least RTX 2060), up to 32 GB DDR4 memory, an M.2 SSD, and a 2.5-inch hard drive. The system uses a 310 W or a 380 W power supply, so upgrade capabilities of the machine are limited, which is fair as we are talking about a compact PC.

Lenovo’s upcoming IdeaCentre Creator 5 has all connectivity options that are found on mainstream systems today, including a Wi-Fi 5 + Bluetooth 4 card, a GbE adapter, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A connectors, one USB 3.1 Type-C port, four USB 2.0 connectors, a 3-in-1 card reader, two display outputs, and a 3.5-mm audio jack for headsets on the front.

While Lenovo formally announces its IdeaCentre Creator 5 just days ahead of CES, the system is set to be available only in October, presumably after Intel launches its new processors. Meanwhile, pricing of the PC will start at $1,099.99.

Related Reading:

• Lenovo’s 23.8-Inch ThinkCentre M90a AIO PC: 10th Gen Core, Radeon 625, PrivacyGuard Screen
• Corsair One Pro i180: New Flagship Mini-PC with i9-9920X and RTX 2080 Ti
• ZOTAC Launches Zbox Q-Series Mini Creator PCs: Intel Xeon & NVIDIA Quadro Inside
• ASUS Announces VivoMini VC65-C1 SFF PC with Ultra HD Blu-Ray & Core i7-8700T

Source: Lenovo



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As the culminating of its CES 2020 announcements, Acer has introduced its first big-format OLED display aimed at gamers. The Predator CG552K brings to the table everything that the OLED technology generally has to offer, and adds a 120 Hz maximum refresh rate along with variable refresh rate technologies supported by modern GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA.
Acer’s 55-inch Predator CG552K features a 3840x2160 resolution, 400 nits maximum brightness, and can display 98.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut all with a calibration accuracy of Delta E

Nowadays the market for content creation is bigger than ever. And while suitable machines need to be fairly fast, few of need to be an expensive machine with a professional-grade GPU; moderately-priced machines are increasingly powerful enough to do the job. So, aiming for this audience, Lenovo is introducing its Yoga Creator 7, a 15.6-inch laptop that promises to meet performance needs of mobile digital content creators.
The Lenovo Yoga Creator 7 is equipped with a 15.6-inch display panel that covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut, which remains the web standard. The notebook is based on Intel’s 10^th Generation Core processors (presumably Comet Lake, though Lenovo does not specify) that is accompanied by NVIDIA’s GeForce GPU with NVIDIA Studio drivers certified by select ISVs for their applications. The system supports Lenovo’s Q-Control technology to boost performance when it is needed most as well as Lenovo’s Intelligent Cooling that automatically adjust fan speed depending on the workload to optimize battery life. Speaking of the latter, Lenovo says that the mobile PC can last for 13 hours on one charge and supports its Rapid Charge capability.

Being a performance-mainstream notebook, the Yoga Creator 7 comes with a Windows Hello-compliant IR-enabled webcam, a fingerprint scanner, an optional Wi-Fi 6 adapter, Dolby Atmos-certified speakers, and far-field microphones compatible with Amazon Alexa and Microsoft Cortana.

The 15.6-inch Lenovo Yoga Creator 7 weighs 1.9 kilograms and is 16.4 mm thick, which is lower than that of mainstream 15.6-inch notebook, which will make it more attractive for the modern audience.

In addition to the Yoga Creator 6, Lenovo also announced its IdeaPad Creator 5 15.6-inch mainstream laptop. The IdeaPad features an IPS display, Intel’s 10^th Gen Core processors, an NVIDIA’s GeForce GPU with Studio Drivers, up to 16 GB DDR4 DRAM, and up to 1 TB PCIe SSD. The machine weighs 2.2 kilograms and promises up to 8 hours of battery life, which is in line with other mainstream 15.6-inch-class machines.

For now, Lenovo plans to make its Yoga Creator 7 and IdeaPad Creator 5 available on select markets and has no plans to bring them to North America.
Related Reading:

• Lenovo’s Yoga C940 15.6-Inch: Eight Cores and GTX 1650
• Lenovo Unveils Yoga C940 14-Inch: Ice Lake, 4K, Dolby Vision
• Lenovo Unveils ThinkPad P1 Gen 2: New 15.6-Inch Carbon Fiber Chassis
• Acer’s Predator Triton 300: Thin Laptop w/ Core i7, GeForce GTX 1650, PowerGem
• Acer Unveils ConceptD 7 Pro: Core i7, Quadro RTX 5000, 4K Calibrated Monitor

Lenovo



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Even though CES proper doesn’t kick off for one more day, NVIDIA and ASUS are getting in an announcement a bit ahead of the curve relating to a new monitor. The two companies have been working on a new high-performance 1080p display aimed at competitive gaming that offers a blistering 360Hz maximum refresh rate, 50% faster than the current crop of 240Hz market leaders. The new monitor will be sold by ASUS as the ROG Swift 360, and is set to be available later this year.
Like other G-Sync projects, NVIDIA’s latest display endeavor looks to be an effort for the company to differentiate itself and its technology in a crowded market, this time by offering an LCD monitor with a rather absurd refresh rate.
The ROG Swift 360 itself is based on a 24.5-inch panel being supplied by AU Optronics, and which is capable of running at up to 360Hz. This is 120Hz faster than the current generation of high-end gaming monitors, which top out at 240Hz, and is an uncommonly large jump to make in a single generation. Unfortunately NVIDIA isn’t disclosing what type of panel is being used here, however all of the 24.5-inch 240Hz G-Sync monitors that have been released to date have been TN, so that’s a safe bet, especially with the kind of refresh rate NVIDIA and ASUS are looking to hit. The bigger question is whether this is a new panel from AUO, or if it’s a further overclocked version of their popular M250HTN01 panel.
NVIDIA and ASUS have not released much else with regards to technical details at this time. The monitor isn’t set to ship until later this year – which as we’re at the very start of the year, likely means it’s still several months off – so the companies undoubtedly still have some technical details to hammer out. Though as most of the work is in the panel and controller, it shouldn’t be too different from ASUS’s 240Hz ROG Swift PG258Q.

ASUS 360 Hz on left, 240 Hz on right. It is a TN Panel

One thing that NVIDIA has confirmed, however, is that this will be a true G-Sync monitor, with NVIDIA supplying the monitor’s display controller. This is an important distinction not only for compatibility purposes, but because it means that the monitor supports full variable overdrive functionality, which will become increasingly important with such a wide refresh rate range. Even fast TN monitors still need to overdrive their pixels to hit high refresh rates, so the overdrive logic is practically as important as the panel itself in order to minimize ghosting. Though it goes without saying that with NVIDIA aiming to beat current generation monitors by 50%, it’ll be interesting to see just how well 360Hz works in practice, and if the monitor really is fast enough to make a 360Hz refresh rate useful.
The target market for the ROG Swift 360, in turn, is competitive gaming, as well as anyone who wants a competition-grade monitor. The benefits of higher refresh rates are pretty well known at this point – higher refresh rates make for smoother experiences and reduce rendering latency – and NVIDIA thinks that there’s still enough benefit to justify a 360Hz monitor. That said, with 240Hz monitors offering an already tiny 4.16ms frame time, the absolute benefit of 360Hz is small: that 50% jump in refresh rate only shaves off a further ~1.4ms at the monitor level (for a total of 2.77ms), which isn’t nearly as great as the jump from 60Hz to 120Hz, for example.

Still, NVIDIA has done their own research around the new monitor and player performance, finding that even with the diminishing returns, a 360Hz monitor did improve flick shot performance in Overwatch. As well, they measured a 14.5ms reduction in total (end-to-end) latency, going from 34.5ms at 240Hz to 20ms at 360Hz.
NVIDIA and ASUS will have the ROG Swift 360 on display this week at CES. So while the monitor won’t be on sale for a while yet, we should be able to get a first-hand look at how well NVIDIA’s future gaming monitor is set to perform.

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HP’s Elite Dragonfly convertible was one of the most impressive PCs launched last year, as it managed to bring together solid specifications, advanced connectivity, and a 24.5-hours battery life all in an extremely compact 13.3-inch design. At CES 2020 HP has announced that it will introduce an updated version of the machine in February. Notably, the refreshed Elite Dragonfly will offer two additional options: an integrated Tile tag for easy finding, as well as HP’s SureView Reflect privacy screen. Meanwhile, later this year HP will release the 2^nd Generation Elite Dragonfly that will be based on Intel’s 10^th Generation Core processor and will feature a built-in 5G modem.
PC makers rarely do mid-cycle refreshes for their products for many reasons, but this is not the case with HP’s Elite Dragonfly hybrid machine. As it appears, the company has decided to integrate a Tile tag into its flagship laptop in a bid to make its finding easier if it is lost or stolen even if it is turned off. For those not familiar with the technology, Tile is a small tag that is attached to an item and connected to a smartphone using Bluetooth. When a device gets lost, say, in an office, the Tile application tries to connect to an appropriate tag using Bluetooth and if fails it then attempts to connect to it via a fleet of smartphones that participate in the Tile community. Integrating additional hardware into an existing design can be challenging, but HP and Tile have managed to put a tag into the already tightly-packed Elite Dragonfly.

HP’s Elite mobile PCs are aimed at customers from business, corporate, and government sectors, which is why all of them feature a plethora of built-in security technologies along with various additional options. Users who are concerned about prying eyes who could get a glimpse at some confidential information can already get an Elite Dragonfly convertible laptop with HP’s SureView privacy screen technology that promises to prevent from ‘over the shoulder’ spying. The company’s next-generation SureView Reflect promises to be more efficient than the currently used technology, which will make the machine a bit more secure.

Both built-in Tile and SureView Reflect technologies will be available as options for HP’s 1^st Generation Elite Dragonfly starting from February. Later this year the company plans to introduce the Elite Dragonfly G2 that will retain chassis and most of the hardware of the original model (so, dimensions and weight will remain the same), but will get Intel’s 10^th Generation Core i3/i5/i7 processor platform with all of its peculiarities. In addition, the G2 will be offered with an optional Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modem.

HP yet has to reveal launch timeframe of its Elite Dragonfly G2 convertible, but it is likely that the new model will won't arrive for several more months, as it would otherwise render the refreshed model redundant when it launches in February.

Related Reading:

• HP’s Unveils Elite Dragonfly Laptop: 13.3-Inch Convertible With a 24.5 Hour Battery Life
• HP’s EliteBook x360 1040 G6: 24 Hours of Battery Life, Core i7, & 1W Display
• The HP Spectre Folio Review: Luxurious Leather Laptop
• A New Collection of HP Envy Convertible Laptops with Wooden Palmrests
• Lenovo Unveils Yoga C940 14-Inch: Ice Lake, 4K, Dolby Vision

Source: HP



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As we move into 2020, there is a lot of talk about what Intel’s 2020 plans will be. Discussions about the expansion of Intel’s 10nm process node products, such as Ice Lake, beyond the mobile platform are often very heated, especially when we have limited information out of the company directly. For CES 2020, Intel has disclosed a couple of products for consumption: moving its 10^th Gen mobile CPU line in to 45 W hardware, but we also had a couple of details about the post-Ice Lake hardware, called Tiger Lake.

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Nixeus is announcing the addition of a 27" 4K monitor to their EDG series at CES 2020. The NX-EDG274K gaming monitor sports a 3840x2160 panel, a 144 Hz maximum refresh rate, and AMD’s FreeSync dynamic refresh rate technology. It comes with two DisplayPort 1.4 connections with VESA Display Stream Compression Technology in order to support the massive bandwidth required for driving 4K resolution at 144 Hz. The monitor allows users to adjust the adaptive over-drive and anti-ghosting FreeSync settings with OSD settings. 128 distinct levels are available for users to have fine-grained control.
The Nixeus NX-EDG34 display builds upon a AHVA panel with a 3840×2160 resolution, and is capable of reaching 350 nits typical brightness (up to 400 nits in HDR mode), a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 178°/178° viewing angles, and a 4 ms GtG response time. In terms of refresh rates, the monitor's maximum rate is 144 Hz, and in variable refresh mode it operates in a 48 Hz – 144 Hz range. The LCD can display 16.7 million colors and supports an HDR mode, which suggests a wider-than-sRGB color gamut.
In addition to the two DisplayPort 1.4 connections, the monitor also comes with two HDMI 2.0 connections capable of driving 3840x2160 at 60 Hz. The monitor also comes with stereo speakers and a 3.5mm audio output jack. The monitor is expected to go on sale later this quarter. Pricing is yet to be made public.

Nixeus NX-EDG274K
Panel	27" AHVA
Native Resolution	3840 × 2160
Brightness	350 cd/m² typical 400 cd/m² HDR
Contrast	1000:1
Maximum Refresh Rate	144 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate	AMD FreeSync 48 Hz ~ 144 Hz
Response Time	4 ms GtG
Viewing Angles	178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Pixel Pitch	0.156 mm
Pixel Density	163 ppi
Anti-Glare Coating	?
Inputs	2 × DisplayPort 1.4 2 × HDMI 2.0
USB Hub	No
Stand	NX-EDG274K: height and tilt adjustable 100x100 VESA mount
Audio	Stereo speakers headphone output
Launch Price	TBD

Based on the specifications, the closest match for a monitor already in the market is the Acer Nitro XV273K. Given that Nixeus prices their offerings very competitively, we expect the street price of the NX-EDG274K to be lower than the $810 that the Acer Nitro XV273K is being sold for.



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