The Q100 is impressively small with overall dimensions of 6.0″ x 6.8″ x 0.8″. In practical terms, it’s about the size of a slim external optical drive or a very slim CD wallet. The Lenovo website lists the Q100’s at $299, while its ION-powered brother, the Q110, costs $399. The slightly larger Q700, meant for the role of a HD HTPC, sports a dual core Pentium E5200 processor and GMA X4500 graphics for $499-$599 depending on the configuration.
All in all, the Q100’s small size doesn’t command a heavy price premium compared to the Eee Box or the recent DIY SFF PC we built using an Intel D945GSEJT mini-ITX Atom board and Morex T1610 case. Like the Morex build, the Q100 is fanless — as long as the hard drive isn’t substandard acoustically, it should be one of the quietest system you can get without a SSD. The Acer Aspire Revo seems like a bargain by comparison with a $200 price-tag and ION graphics, but we don’t really know about its acoustics.
IdeaCentre Q100
* Intel Atom 230 CPU
* 1GB DDR2 RAM
* 160Gb hard drive
* Intel Integrated Graphics
* Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, VGA output
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