Medion Akoya P4340D desktop computer

German computer maker Medion's latest tie-up with Aldi is the Akoya P4340D, a desktop computer base unit that comes with a powerful processor and lots of storage capacity for media and documents.

Being a base station, there is no monitor, so you will need to add your own. That's no big deal, though: flat-panel screens cost less than £100 these days and the computer has an HDMI output so that it can be connected directly to a flat-panel television, should you have one with HDMI input.

The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400, and it's backed up with 4GB of memory and, more impressively, a 1TB (1,000GB) hard disk for storage. The memory and storage are the highest we've seen in a computer of this type, and both that and the processor mean it's easily capable of dealing with most home applications.

The large hard disk leaves plenty of room for your documents, video, music and pictures – even those who hoard video clips and music should find enough room here. There's room for expansion – one of the internal hard disk bays is free, as is a front-facing 5.25in bay for addition of, say, a Blu-ray drive. The other front bay is occupied by the Super-Multi DVD drive, which can read and write all formats including DVD-Ram but not Blu-ray. A flip-down panel conceals two of the USB ports, Firewire and audio connections and a memory card reader (see below for the rest of the connections).

Graphics are provided by an Nvidia Geforce GT 140 graphics card, with 512MB of its own memory. Graphics enthusiasts will note that GT 140 is a new name – it's actually part of Nvidia's renaming process, and it's the same card as the 9600GT, which is a decent mainstream performer. Between that and the core components the P4340D reached very respectable scores in our lab tests, especially when you consider the price (see the end of this review for its test scores).

There are eight USB ports, a network port (it can also connect to all wireless networks, including the latest 802.11n standard), digital audio outputs, Firewire and eSata for camcorders and external storage. It's loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium along with the Nero disc-burning software and a cut-down version of the Corel Draw design software. The 4GB memory can be expanded in future – two of the four slots are free – and there's also room for two more PCI cards.

Taken together it's quite a collection. The powerful processor and plenty of memory and hard disk space, along with the USB ports and potential for internal expansion, mean that it's suitable for everyone from parents who want an all-round home PC to enthusiasts who'll get to work customising it.

There are limited numbers available in Aldi shops, where it'll be on sale from Thursday 26 March, so you'll have to get to the local shop early if you're after one.

Test scores at 1,024 x 768 pixels in 32-bit colour:

PCMark05 Overall: 8,274

3DMark06 Overall: 11,391