- Virtual CIO
How to Create an IT Budget That Actually Works
11 Mar, 2026







£589.48 inc. VAT
AI-generated summary
The ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 is a sensible “buy it, plug it in, forget it” business mini PC. For £491.26 ex-VAT, you’re paying for Lenovo’s dependable platform and small-form-factor convenience—great if you’re kitting out office desks, shared work areas, or running a basic stack of apps (Microsoft 365, light CRM use, file/email, a couple of browser tabs, maybe a bit of ERP). The big win here is value in the real world: you get something that’s quiet, compact, and typically easy for IT to manage compared with random no-name mini PCs.
That said, I wouldn’t choose it if you expect heavy multitasking, lots of virtual machines, serious data work, or sustained performance under load. With only a modest amount of memory/storage (in typical configurations like this), it can feel a bit cramped once users start doing “a little more than planned” over time. Also, check your upgrade path and whether you actually need Windows Pro on day one—otherwise you may be paying for governance/features you won’t use.
**Who should buy:** small businesses and IT teams standardising office endpoints where reliability, footprint, and manageability matter more than peak performance. **Who shouldn’t:** power users, developers, or anyone expecting workstation-level grunt from a mini PC at this price point. If you can stretch the requirements a touch (or are happy with a basic workload), it’s a solid buy.

HP
HP EliteDesk 8 G1i AI - AI PC - mini Core Ultra 9 285 / up to 5.6 GHz - vPro Enterprise - RAM 32 GB - SSD 1 TB - NVMe - Intel Graphics - Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), Bluetooth 5.4, IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) - Win 11 Pro - monitor: none - keyboard: UK - jack black - Smart Buy - with HP 3 years Next Business Day Onsite Desktop Support Bundling

HP
HP EliteDesk 805 G8 - Mini desktop Ryzen 7 5700GE / up to 4.6 GHz - RAM 16 GB - SSD 512 GB - NVMe - Radeon Graphics - Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.3, IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) - Win 11 Pro - monitor: none - keyboard: UK

Dell
SPL|Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260|180W|i3-14100|8GB|512GB SSD|Intel UHD|WLAN|Kb|Mouse|W11 Pro|1Y Basic Onsite

HP
HP Pro 400 G9 - SFF Core i5 13500 / up to 4.8 GHz - RAM 8 GB - SSD 256 GB - NVMe - UHD Graphics 770 - Gigabit Ethernet - Win 11 Pro - monitor: none - keyboard: UK - Smart Buy - with HP Wolf Pro Security Edition (3 years)