Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q Black

A dirt-cheap, space-saving office PC that's perfect for email and Excel. Just don't try to play any games on it, and make sure you're paying bottom dollar.

We were genuinely surprised by the port selection on this little box. Sitting in the 96th percentile for connectivity, it's got a frankly ridiculous array of USB-A, USB-C, DisplayPort, and even a VGA port for that one ancient monitor your office refuses to retire. The Core i7-6700T processor is the weak link, landing in the 17th percentile, but for the intended audience of office multitaskers, it keeps Windows 11 feeling snappy. The integrated Intel HD Graphics are technically in the 96th percentile for this category, which tells you more about how low the bar is for mini PC gaming than it does about any real graphical prowess. It'll drive a couple of displays without breaking a sweat, but it'll choke on anything more demanding than Minesweeper.

Stacked against a modern budget champ like the wo-we Mini PC with a Ryzen 5 7640HS, the Lenovo gets absolutely destroyed in raw CPU and GPU power. That Ryzen chip is in a different universe for multitasking and can even handle light gaming. But the wo-we costs more. The Dell Optiplex 7070 is its true spiritual sibling, another off-lease corporate warrior that offers a similar experience. The Lenovo wins on port variety, but the Dell often comes with newer 8th or 9th-gen Intel chips that feel noticeably more responsive. If you can find a similarly priced Optiplex with a newer processor, get that instead.

This is where the M710Q gets interesting. Prices are all over the map, ranging from a steal at $178 to a rip-off at $600. At the low end, it's a no-brainer for a homework station or a point-of-sale terminal. At the high end, you're getting fleeced. Hunt for a listing around the $200 mark from a seller with solid feedback, and you've got a killer deal. Anything over $350, and you should just buy a modern mini PC with a warranty.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M710Q is a tiny desktop that makes a ton of sense if you know exactly what you're getting into. It's a renewed office workhorse that punches way above its weight for spreadsheets, streaming, and general life admin, all while taking up less space than a hardcover book. The real headline here is the value. You're getting a fully functional Windows 11 Pro machine with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for a price that often dips well below what you'd pay for a single software license at a big corporation. Just don't expect it to do anything fun beyond 4K YouTube.

If you're looking for a machine that can handle even light gaming or heavy creative work like 4K video editing, this isn't it. Go get a modern mini PC with a Ryzen chip or an Intel NUC with Iris Xe graphics instead. You'll pay more, but you won't want to throw it out the window in six months.

Buy it if you find it for under $250 and your ambitions don't extend beyond Microsoft Office, web browsing, and streaming. It's a fantastic little machine for turning a dumb monitor into a smart workspace. The compact design and Windows 11 Pro license alone almost justify the cost. Just go in with your eyes open: this is a retired office PC, not a sleeper gaming rig, and the occasional driver hiccup is part of the refurb lottery.