TechVirtuoso

The only thing we like better than getting toys to play with and review is giving those toys away!

TechVirtuoso, Lenovo, 21 other technology blogs, and Ivy Worldwide have teamed up to offer our visitors a free Lenovo A70z All-in-one PC. Each site is giving away their own computer, and this is the same machine that Frank Owen reviewed yesterday, except brand new and without his grubby fingerprints all over it! This is $1200 value that can be yours by doing two simple things!

1. Make sure you’re following the @techvirtuoso Twitter account. (We’ll contact you via DM to let you know you’ve won)
2. Tweet this message, exactly as it says below:
   Win a Lenovo A70z PC by following @techvirtuoso and RT this! See http://bit.ly/bRPNRI for more details. #freestufffromTV

But wait! There’s more!

As a special treat for our regular visitors, we’re giving you a second chance to enter your name into the running. All you have to do (after you do the steps above) is comment on this post and tell us what you’d do with a A70z. Would you replace your current desktop? Put it in your kitchen? Use it as a kiosk at the office? The possibilities are endless.

The contest starts NOW (July 2) and ends on Tuesday, July 6. We’ll announce a winner here on the site and on our Twitter account. We’ll contact the winner directly via Twitter DM, with information on where to send us your name, shipping address, phone number, email, etc.

There is one small catch for our visitors, we can only give this unit away to those of you who live in the US & Canada. Sorry to everyone who falls outside that area, it’s not our computer and those are the rules. We’ll get something cooked up next time that has world wide appeal.

Hardware Specs

You can check out more specs and images or configure your own A70z, by visiting the Lenovo website.

More Contests

As we mentioned, we’re not the only site giving away this system. Each site will have different rules for their contents, and you’re welcome to enter as many or few of them as you like. But you can only win one system. We encourage you to enter as many times and visit these other sites.

• June 28 – July 2: The Gadgeteer
• June 29 – July 3: Slash Gear
• July 1 – July 5: Chip Chick
• July 2 – July 6: TechVirtuoso
• July 3 – July 7: Mobile PC World
• July 5 – July 9: Moosh In Indy
• July 6 – July 10: Tech Mamas
• July 7 – July 11: Morningside Mom
• July 8 – July 12: Digital Home Thoughts
• July 9 – July 13: Geeks Room
• July 10 – July 14: Twenties Life
• July 11 – July 15: Gear Live
• July 12 – July 16: The Art of Accessories
• July 13 – July 17: Hack College
• July 14 – July 18: Neowin
• July 15 – July 19: Absolutely Windows
• July 16 – July 20: SDR News
• July 17 – July 21: Gear Diary
• July 18 – July 22: Clinton Fitch
• July 19 – July 23: OSNN
• July 20 – July 24: ActiveWin

…because the answer is still, and forever will be, NO! I am in and out of many businesses throughout my work week, and it seems that I’m asked this same question at least once or twice a week. People, please, stop falling for the …”but its pretty” or, “I saw this guy who had one and…” traps. Yes, it’s sleek, and yes, you saw someone else using one, but believe me, its beauty is only skin deep, and the person you saw using one, they now understand that previous statement all too well, and it’s killing them.

To put it bluntly, the iPad is a glorified e-reader. Nothing more. The list of things that you can’t do with it far outweighs the list of things that you can. Why would anyone opt for a device that costs a whopping $699, and doesn’t include mobile broadband connectivity (the same unit with a 3G radio costs $829), has no webcam, will likely never never have full flash support (thanks Steve /rolleyes), can’t connect to any USB device (no USB ports), and has a maximum capacity of 64GB? BUY A NETBOOK!

Did you get that last sentence? Buy a netbook already, seriously. If you need ultra-portability, and want to actually be able to use your device in a productive environment, then a netbook is most certainly more in line with what you need. And guess what? You can get an awesome netbook for much less than the cheapest 16GB iPad. But please, don’t take my word for it. A simple Google search will reveal that I’m not alone in my opinion of the iPad.

Research, inform yourself, take a look at reviews, such as CNET’s recent compilation, and then make the right decision based on what you actually want to achieve with the device. But please, if you’re a business user, stop asking your IT people what they think of the iPad, because we think it’s a toy, and that you should grow up, oh, and chill on the Axe, it reeks.