The R540 is a super quick performer that comes with a powerful CPU and GPU that can tackle any application effortlessly, it also comes with a forceful Blue -ray drive that takes care of high definition videos perfectly. But that is at the cost of a painfully short battery life. You are also likely to be disappointed with its rather poor 15.6 inch glossy display.

The machine comes with intel core i5 450M CPU that travels at a speed of 2.4GHz. Its storage arsenal is packed with 4 GB of RAM, suppliemented with another 1 GB RAM. You will also get a single 400GB hard drive in toe. Its GPU is Radeon HD 5450 from AMD Mobility. These armour where instrumental the machine’s impressive score of 107 on the WorldBench test. The R 540 did not disappoint in the real -world performance either. But the power and speed takes its toll on the battery longevity as the juice runs out after only two hours and twenty seven minutes.

The 15.6 glossy display has a maximum resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels which is not sufficient enough and is indeed one of the R540’s biggest letdowns. If you happen to reduce brightness the contrast and saturation will trail off. The brightness and colour renditions are also drawbacks and can be straining to work with. The system’s multimedia portfolio is a joy to behold as attested by the the lethal combination of a DVD burner and Blu -ray player. The Cyberlink software facilities for producing and playing movies also stand out.The only minor setbacks are the below -per stereo speakers and sound.

The machine comes with video interface HDMI and VGA, 802 b/n/g Wi-Fi wireless connections, but you will roath the absence of eSATA and FireWire. The device also comes with an in -built webcam, complete with microphone that comes in handy in video conferencing or in taking video clips. your machine also bestores on you a flash -memory reader that helps you download pictures, though it is handicapped to 100Base-T Ethernet and not gigabit. All in all the R540 doesnt come with all the unnecessary software clutter that are common with most of its competitors. The same can be said of its keyboard which is not stuffed with useless special buttons, but has a full number pad. The track pad comes with separate buttons for right and left clicks, and its quite responsive.

The machine comes with a fair price of about $950 -as of september 20, 2010-. That is good value considering its rich return, abeit with a setback here and there.