Lenovo Slims Down The Desktop With New P300 ThinkStation

PC powerhouse Lenovo Tuesday took the wraps off an entry-level P300 ThinkStation desktop that features Intel’s Xeon E3-1200v3 chips and new fourth-generation Haswell Core processor along with solid state drives and advanced HD graphics. The P300 ThinkStation also sports a revamped chassis designed for better portability and easier expandability, Lenovo said.

The Lenovo workstations replace the E32 series ThinkStation. The Chinese PC maker said the new desktop tower is ideal for professionals requiring ISV application certification on a budget. The workstations start at $730 and will be available to partners in both a tower and small-form-factor configuration starting in June. Lenovo unveiled the P300 at its Accelerate partner conference, being held in Orlando, Fla., from May 12 to 14.

"Now professional users who may have previously purchased a desktop client with hard drives can afford a real workstation with advanced graphics and solid state drives," said Victor Rios, vice president and general manager of Lenovo’s Workstation Group, in a statement.

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Central to the chassis redesign is the removal of the ThinkStation front-facing handle, which Lenovo said had become cumbersome to some customers. Lenovo replaced the handles with new inset grips that make it easier to fit the PC in tight spaces and rack environments.

Under the hood the P300's chassis utilizes a Flex module design, Lenovo said, giving customers the option of easily adding vertical-specific components, such as an ultraslim optical drive, 29-in-1 media card reader, IEEE 1394 FireWire and an eSATA port. The P300 ships with either Nvidia NVS/Quadro K600 or K4000 graphics, six USB 3.0 port and four slots supporting up to 32 GB of memory.

Lenovo is the world's leading PC maker, with 17.7 percent combined desktop and laptop market share globally, according to research firm IDC. The PC maker said it is actively trying to grow its dominance in the $200 billion-plus PC industry. Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo chairman and CEO, said his goal is to to raise the company's share of the global PC market to 20 percent in its fiscal year 2014. Lenovo said its desktop business has seen year-to-year 30 percent growth for the past three years.

PUBLISHED MAY 13, 2014