The last time I bought an all-in-one PC was back in 1997. I was a senior in high school, and it was college application time. My family’s Apple IIc was significantly underpowered and ill-equipped for things like internet and CD-ROM use. With financial help from my folks, I went out and purchased an AST 75 Mhz Pentium Pro. The AST lasted two or three years before dying, and to this day, I can pull the IIc out of my parents’ front closet, boot it up, and start playing Carmen Sandiego. I eventually moved on to various tower PCs and laptops, and I haven’t gone back to an all-in-one since.
As such, my image of what an all-in-one PC can do has always remained stuck in 1997. Small, slow, and sacrificing quality for size. Tiny monitors, crackly speakers, and nary a USB port in the house. Setting up the Lenovo C540 blew those preconceptions out of the water. I’ve always heard good things about Lenovo, and my wife’s IdeaPad has served her well for the last year. With a few minor nitpicks, the C540 meets the same standards.
First Impressions
The C540 box contains the computer itself, the feet that attach to the back of the monitor, a keyboard, mouse, a system DVD, and the cord and power supply. Setup is remarkably easy. Flip the C540 upside down to attach the feet, flip it right side up, plug it in, and turn it on. It’s really that simple.
The monitor bezel is a glossy black that’s reflective without being too shiny, and the sides and feet have a matte grey/silver finish. LEDs on the monitor bezel, internal webcam, power switch, and keyboard are white and, with the exception of the webcam, not too bright.
The specs on this unit are on the middle range of availability, with a 2.9 Ghz Pentium G2020 processor and Core i3 or i5 as available options. C540 has 4 GB of RAM that’s upgradeable to 8, a 1 TB hard drive with 500 GB as a lower option, and 2 TB on the upper end. Graphics on the review unit are integrated Intel HD Graphics 2000, with Intel HD Graphics 2500, and Nvidia Geforce in 512 MB, 1 GB, or 2 GB available configurations. The screen is a 23-inch backlit LED full HD monitor capable of 1920 x 1080 resolution and 16:9 widescreen.
The Software
The C540 runs Windows 8. The bulk of the issues that I have with the C540 are based on the choice of OS. Windows 8, running on a non-touchscreen device feels a little awkward. The Start page acts like a tablet, but a click of one button takes you to the familiar Windows desktop hiding in the background. While the Start page seems nice for someone who primarily uses the computer for entertainment purposes, it’s annoying for someone who uses the computer for work or writing.
The C540 comes pre-loaded with MS Office, a Child Education portal, and two custom-built pieces of Lenovo software: Lenovo Eye Distancing and Lenovo Dynamic Brightness System. The Dynamic Brightness System uses the webcam to monitor the ambient lighting in the room and adjusts the brightness of the screen accordingly. This app worked well, adjusting screen brightness based on ambient sunlight coming through the window, whether or not I had the lights on. Lenovo Eye Distancing is supposed to use the webcam to observe how closely the user is sitting to the screen, and notify him or her if he or she is sitting too close to the monitor. I poked and prodded at the Eye Distancing app, but never quite got it to work properly. Both apps also have the drawback of using the built-in webcam. Whenever the webcam is in use, a bright white LED is lit next to the camera. As much as I approve of a computer letting me know when the webcam is active, a bright white light hovering in my peripheral vision all of the time is distracting.
Performance
The C540 is fast.
Booting up the computer takes 20 seconds from the time you press the power button until the computer reaches a usable state. Shutdown takes slightly longer, clocking in at 23 seconds. While the integrated graphics can handle some games (Left 4 Dead 2 and FTL: Faster Than Light are a joy to play), newer games such as X-Com: Enemy Unknown cause a fair amount of skipping and stuttering. If you plan to use the C540 as a gaming machine, definitely consider springing for more RAM and one of the heftier graphics cards.
The monitor is, in a word, gorgeous. At some point in the last three years, PC monitors have gone from “gosh, this is slightly smaller than my TV” to “holy crap, I’m on the bridge of the USS Enterprise.” Colors are bright and vibrant, and the HD video is clear and a delight to watch.
Using NovaBench, the review unit scores an overall 468, with system RAM scoring 121, CPU tests a 257, Graphics scoring a 33, and Hardware a 57. Integrated Intel graphics do bring the score down a bit, but more robust options are available.
The Strengths
At the risk of a pun, the strengths of the C540 are easy to see. The monitor is gorgeous. Even the low-end processor does a decent job for a casual user and gamer. Despite not being loaded with the maximum amount of RAM, the C540 performs well. Despite my earlier complaints about the webcam, my in-laws reported that it provided a clear image during their weekly Skype conversation with my daughter (being on this end of the camera, I have to take their word for it). I’ve used it as my primary computer for over a week, and I haven’t heard the fans crank higher than their baseline once.
The Weaknesses
The main drag is Windows 8, the OS that isn’t sure what it wants to be when it grows up. Additionally, two featured apps that Lenovo touts aren’t all that feature-worthy.
Pricing & Availability
The Lenovo C540 is available on Lenovo’s website, starting at $849. At the time of this writing, an instant e-coupon is available on the site that drops the starting price down to the oddly specific $679.20. The C540 can also be found on Amazon.
Wrap Up
At this point in my life, a desktop isn’t the best match. I’m not nearly as much of a gamer as I used to be, and the amount of working while traveling that we do as a family means that laptops or tablets are generally the way to go. That said, a change in career or having kids reach school-age will signal a return to desktops at some point in our future. When that happens, Lenovo will be at the top of our list and it should be at the top of yours too.
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