Are there any alternatives?

In the compact gaming desktop space, there are a number of options from ASUS, MSI, Falcon, Alienware, and others, but none come with the convenience of a carry handle that gives the C730 a unique take on desktop portability. High-end gamers will likely want to custom build their own rigs, but if you’re more of a casual enthusiast, you can get away with one of these performance-packed rigs.

　　The ASUS Huracan G21, for example, delivers more gaming performance with its GTX 1080 graphics card, but you’ll be paying close to $1,000 more on Amazon currently. One of our favorites at Digital Trends, the Falcon Northwest Tiki, similarly comes with a near-$1,000 premium for its upgraded performance, and higher end configurations will cost you even more.

　　The C730 strikes a good balance between performance and price for casual gamers who may need the high-end processor performance for computing tasks, but who aren’t demanding top-specs in the graphics department.

　　

How long will it last?

Lenovo includes a standard one-year manufacturer warranty with the C730. This is fairly commonplace, but it also means that this Legion desktop doesn’t quite have the shelf-life that the Falcon commands with its three-year warranty should anything go wrong. The part most likely to fail on many computers is the hard drive, and thankfully, on the C730, that’s user-serviceable and replaceable.

　　What really holds the C730 back is the lack of more modern ports, like USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, that would make the system more futureproof. Adding a Thunderbolt 3 port, for example, would allow gamers to connect a newer Nvidia RTX series graphics card to an eGPU rig. This would provide an instant upgrade to the system, allowing it to grow should your gaming needs change in a year or two. Though RTX cards are new, and ray tracing isn’t a proven technology yet in the gaming space, lacking the Thunderbolt 3 means you’ll likely need to buy a new system if you want to venture into Nvidia’s vision for the future of gaming.

　　

Should you buy it?

The C730 is a capable gaming system that’s ultimately limited by its own graphics card. While the GTX 1060 does an admirable job, it starts falling short when you’re pushing the limits, and that’s a compromise that high-end gamers aren’t willing to make. Entry-level gamers looking for a good starter system who may not care for the C730’s portability factor can find similar performance for almost half the cost in Dell’s Inspiron 5680.