Lenovo IdeaCentre A540: All-in-one isn’t one for all

All-in-ones are a tad old-fashioned, but they have niche appeal.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre A540 all-in-one computer

This week I’ve been thumbing through photos of cypress trees to better understand today’s PC technology. This may sound ridiculous, but it’s true. I did this after reading Lenovo says its IdeaCentre A540 all-in-one computer is taking its cue from nature.

“The stylish IdeaCentre A540 is inspired by the cypress tree: perfectly balanced and durable,” its website says. Are they talking about the Italian cypress or the Bald Cypress? Which conifer is this? Maybe it’s the scrappy McNab cypress because of the asymmetric copper metal connector between the stand and the monitor. Whatever tree it emulates, the copper connector gives the A540 a distinctive look. Otherwise it’s a stock-standard Windows 10 all-in-one. Enough cypresses, I say.

All-in-ones are a tad old-fashioned. Most users who didn’t like or need PCs moved from desktops to laptops and tablets yonks ago. But all-in-ones have niche appeal.

First, they save space. The computer motherboard is housed behind the display. Unlike a regular PC, there’s no extra black box that you hide under the desk or that takes up precious workspace.

You need fewer cables as you don’t connect your monitor to the computer; they are one. Also there’s less cable clutter. The external connections are usually on the back of the monitor, so you don’t have to awkwardly access the back of a PC on the floor to plug devices in.

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The downside of all-in-ones is that you are generally locked into whatever features the manufacturer provides at purchase. They are difficult to upgrade.

You can’t get your screwdriver set out and easily change motherboards, or swap to a higher-powered graphics card, as you can with desktop PCs. All-in-ones better suit users who want a ready-made solution, which they are happy to stick to.

The A540 screen connects to a stand with a flat top that doubles as a Qi wireless charger. I could lay an iPhone on the charger as I worked on the computer. It’s natural to rest a phone there and when I finished, the phone was fully charged. This is an optional feature; you’ll pay extra for it.

The speakers are embedded in the stand rather than the display. That means less electronics crammed behind the screen. I liked the sound coming through the in-built speakers at the front of the stand. There’s 3W stereo speakers and a 5W woofer. Audio is significantly loud and bass is strong without being boomy or dominant.

Lenovo sells the A540 with a variety of specs. There’s a choice of eighth-generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 and AMD Ryzen 3 and 5 processors on the model with a 23.8-inch display. The larger 27-inch version has a Core i7 processor. My review unit had an Intel Core i5 9400T CPU so my tests relate to that.

The CPU scored 734cb on Cinebench 15 and the graphics card, an AMD Radeon RX 540X, returned a score of 53 frames per second, which makes the computer suitable for moderate gaming but nothing too fancy. In a word, performance is mid-range, at least with these specs.

Connection ports are on the side and back of the display.

Apart from opting for a faster processor, you can beef up DDR4 memory to 16GB, storage to a 2TB hard disk drive or 512GB solid state drive, or upgrade the graphics card from RX 540X to RX 560X.

The 23.8-inch display is full HD with standard 1920x1080 pixel resolution, while the 27-inch one is QuadHD. I can’t see why Lenovo couldn’t have opted for quadHD on the smaller variant. This is a plug-in unit, so there’s no need to save on power with a lower-resolution screen as you might for a laptop.

External connections are found at the left and back of the display. At left you’ll find a 3.5mm audio combo socket for microphones and headphones, two USB 3 ports and a 3-in-1 card reader for SD, SDHC and SDXC cards. It’s full-sized, so you’ll need to slot a microSD card into a SD holder.

At rear there’s two USB 2 and one USB 3 ports, HDMI in for, say, connecting a games console or DVDplayer and displaying it on the A540, and HDMI out for displaying the A540 on another monitor or on your TV. There’s a LAN socket for a cable internet connection.

The USB ports are a dog’s breakfast: 2xUSB3.1 Gen 2; 1xUSB3.1 Gen 1 and 2xUSB2.0. Why not make them the best USB3.1 ports? Even better, why not go for the more modern and faster USB Type-C which competitors use?

Lenovo IdeaCentre A540 all-in-one computer

To me the A540 connections on the display are plentiful but a bit old-fashioned. That may be OK for you if your needs are relatively modest.

The A540 has a front-facing pop-up camera but it’s not compatible with Windows Hello face recognition, and its resolution isn’t so hot. Maximum photo quality is 0.9MP at 1280x720, and maximum video quality is 720p video at 16:9 and 30 frames per second. You can push the camera unit down into the display to protect your privacy. Windows 10 Home comes installed.

You get a battery-operated wireless keyboard and mouse and a dongle for wirelessly linking these to one of the USB ports.

Lenovo throws in a DVD drive that plugs into a USB port, if you have DVD movies or games lurking around home.

If you want to buy an all-in-one, it’s advisable to shop around. There are options such as the HP Envy 32, the Dell OptiPlex 7770, and HP EliteOne 1000 G1. If you have cash to splash, there’s the big Microsoft Surface Studio 2 or Apple’s iMac range.

The A540 price varies depending on the configuration. A 23.8-inch model with a Ryzen 3 processor and a 1TB hard disk drive costs $1199 at JB Hi-Fi. Officeworks sells a Core i5 version with a 512GB SSD for $1497.