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Even with the current round of ThinkCentre PCs, Lenovo has yet to cast off the final remnants of the IBM nameThe logo of the brand's former owner is still stamped onto the cases of Lenovo's desktops, along with the familiar ThinkCentre nameDesigned for small and medium-size businesses, our $849 ThinkCentre A60 is noteworthy for its robust specs (for a mainstream business PC) and smart security and backup features, making it a solid if unexciting choice for home and small-office workersWe wish only that the standard warranty ran longer than a single year

We tested the midtower model; Lenovo also offers a horizontal-desktop form factor chassis, which has a slightly retro look and might be more desirable for space-crunched work environmentsLike the classic IBM ThinkCentres, the all-black Lenovo ThinkCentre A60 has a stark, industrial design and looks professional without being just another anonymous beige box

While previous Lenovo ThinkCentre models, such as the A52, were built in to BTX-style cases, the A60 is back to the standard ATX style, which in layman's terms means the left-side panel comes offInside, the system offers room for expansion, with one PCI Express x16 slot, one PCI Express x1 slot, and one standard PCI slot--all of which are emptyAlthough, with only a 250-watt power supply, you won't be able to stick a current-gen video card in the PCI Express x16 slot for after-hours gaming

There are only two RAM slots, one of which is filled with a 1GB module, and there's room for only one hard drive: the included 160GB driveOne of the two optical drive bays contains a DVD burner, and a 3.5-inch external bay holds a floppy drive--anachronistic for some, but business users sometimes need to access older files or programs stored on floppies

The system serves up six USB 2.0 ports (four in back, two in front)--a decent number for a business system, although there are neither FireWire ports nor a media card readerIf you have aging peripherals, such as an old printer, you'll appreciate the inclusion of both serial and parallel ports--legacy connections such as those are becoming harder to find

Our ThinkCentre A60 review unit included an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU and 1GB of RAM, but Lenovo offers several flavors of the A60, going all the way down to a $350 model with an AMD Sempron 3000+ CPU and only 256MB of RAM, which seems to be too underpowered for all but the most basic tasksIn the CNET Labs' Microsoft Office productivity test, the ThinkCentre A60 couldn't keep up with even low-end Core 2 Duo systems, such as the Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition, although the results were much closer in our Multitasking testsOverall, the A60 showed perfectly acceptable performance for home or small-office usersThe fact that it kept up with Core 2 Duo-based budget systems speaks well of the dual-core X2 4200+ processor and the rest of the configuration

While there are cheaper and faster systems out there for mainstream buyers, business users are generally more interested in features and stability than in blazing speedLenovo supplies some decidedly business-friendly security and utility extras, including IBM's Client Security Solution (a data-encryption utility tied to an embedded security chip) and the ThinkVantage Productivity Center, which offers easy access to security, support, and maintenance tools, including software updates, patches, and drivers

Our system did not include a monitor, although you can add a 17- or 19-inch Lenovo-branded LCD for $229 and $299, respectivelyA wired keyboard and mouse, also Lenovo-branded, are included

Lenovo offers a one-year parts-and-labor warranty that includes next-business-day onsite service and 24/7 toll-free phone supportYou can bump the coverage to three years for $132, but it's worth noting that business systems from Dell include three years of onsite support by defaultThe Lenovo Web site offers a thorough array of support services, from driver downloads to troubleshooting tips to a step-by-step guide to installing an operating system