Chinese supplier Lenovo has begun selling its first
own-branded PCs to companies worldwide, 14 months after it acquired
IBM's PC business. The products should be popular with users in
small and mid-sized business, says analyst Forrester
Research.
Lenovo has launched a family of PCs offering IBM self-healing
"autonomic" software, service and support, designed to lower the
cost of PC management by automating many admin tasks.
The Lenovo 3000 family includes the J100 desktop and C100
notebook lines housed in a silver chassis. PC prices start at
£260.
The PCs have a set of preloaded tools to help users reduce their
IT costs. The tools are part of a package called the Lenovo Care
portal.
Some of the elements do similar jobs to systems management in
the Windows XP operating system, but the IBM software pulls
together a number of processes and has autonomic code, which can
anticipate problems and fix them automatically.
For example, instead of the user having to manually locate and
apply critical system updates, the Lenovo 3000 PC identifies and
updates its own Lenovo software. Also, Lenovo Care tools can help
users streamline maintenance tasks, said the company.
The machines include a one-button recovery feature to help users
diagnose system problems, get help, and recover systems from
software failures caused by viruses and malware.
Another software tool bundled with the hardware is System
Rejuvenation, which can restore the PC's performance if it has been
degraded by changes to registry settings, adware or malware.
Other tools can identify and alter software that needs updating,
"streamline" maintenance tasks, create user-defined schedules, and
offer "easy connectivity" for simple connections.
Lenovo desktops are already popular in small and mid-sized
firms, said Forrester, because Lenovo gained IBM's sizeable PC user
base. Forrester surveyed 700 small and medium-sized businesses
(SMBs) about their PC upgrade plans for 2006, and found Lenovo was
a popular choice.
Simon Yates, principal analyst at Forrester, said Dell is the
preferred choice for almost two-thirds of SMBs, followed by HP,
then Lenovo, with Toshiba in fourth place. "With so many vendors
fighting for the business, SMBs should keep their options open and
consider making a supplier switch for the right deal," said Yates.
"Dell clearly attracts the bulk of these buyers today, but Acer,
Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba should be on the shortlist for
consideration as well."
He said these companies plan to refresh about 26% of their
systems this year, and will buy more mobile platforms than
before.