Medion's Akoya S5610 is the first to use Intel's new Centrino 2 technology, which means it should in theory have better battery life than previous models, as well as better wireless network performance.

The heart of the computer, which is only available in Sainsbury's shops, is an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor. This is a fairly fast model from the middle of the range, and it's accompanied by a decent 3GB of memory and a capacious 320GB hard disk.

Graphics are supplied by an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics processor, with 256MB of its own memory. That means it can display high-definition video in full 1080p resolution through the HDMI port on its side (users will need a television capable of showing 1080p signals to take advantage of this).

Performance was very good for office tasks and internet use, but it suffers considerably when playing games – although the HD 3470 is designed to be good for games, we couldn't get anything like decent results out of it during testing.

The built-in screen is a 15.4in widescreen model – the screen is nice and clear, and the computer's overall design is very impressive. While Medion's previous notebooks haven't been the nicest-looking, this one is sleek and thin, and shows that Sony's Vaio products no longer have the monopoly on good notebook design. It's relatively light, too – at 2.75kg it's fairly easily portable.

One unorthodox feature of the S5610 is the Eco button, which minimises the computer's power consumption by dropping the screen's brightness and reducing the computer's processing power. In fact, that's possible on any computer running Windows Vista by using the Power control panel, so it's not a big leap. All the same, it's nice to be able to do the job with a single button rather than having to hunt through the menus.

There's an Expresscard slot as well as three USB ports, one of which doubles as an eSata port for new external hard disks, as well as a network connection and VGA monitor output. There's also the aforementioned HDMI connector plus both stereo and surround-sound outputs. The case contains a webcam and a fingerprint reader, which can be used for security and for signing in to websites.

Despite the shortcomings in gaming performance, the Medion Akoya S5610's good looks and specifications make it an excellent choice for most home users. It's available now from Sainsbury's shops.

Vista compatible: Yes