Lenovo intros tiny, green A61e desktop

Lenovo on Wednesday rolled out the ThinkCenter A61e, a new desktop for eco-friendly users. The tabletop system is no larger than a phonebook and is made of as much as 90 percent recyclable material. Its active energy consumption is also low through the use of 45-watt AMD Athlon 64 X2 and Sempron processors: the efficiency is such that the system can be powered exclusively through a solar panel, according to Lenovo. An 85 percent efficient power supply and 90 percent recyclable packaging also contribute to its green status.

Its creator also claims a whisper-quiet cooling system and a weight of only eight pounds, making it easy to move around the house or the office. A stock system keeps costs as low as $399 with a 2GHz Sempron, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard disk, and a read-only DVD drive. Video is handled by a 64MB Radeon X1200 that offloads just enough graphics work without contributing significantly to the energy draw or noise pollution. Pre-configured systems top out at $799 for a dual-core, 2.1GHz Athlon 64 X2 with 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard disk, and a DVD burner. All systems are available today and ship this week.