Product Reviews

Windows Vista is upon us and while it's exciting to look at extravagant capabilities such as Sideshow, most readers still just want an affordable laptop to run it on. Thankfully, the minimum requirements aren't much more demanding than Windows XP - you'll need a minimum 1GB of RAM and preferably a reasonably powered graphics chip to enable the fancy Aero graphical effects.

The Evesham Quest A425 comes with Windows Vista Home Premium and it has the required 1GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly. The AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 processor is a bit of a mouthful, but with two cores running at 1.8GHz, its benchmark score of 115% demonstrates that it's more than fast enough.

The GeForce Go 7600 graphics chip is extremely capable too, and was able to run the gorgeous new Aero interface without hiccups. It's also capable of handling a bit of gaming - a score of 56% in our Call of Duty 2 benchmark is highly impressive for a laptop costing less than £1,000. As long as you stick to sensible detail settings, the Evesham will cruise comfortably through the latest games.

Built to last

But just as important as the core components is the quality of the laptop itself. With its grey and black design, it's not exactly a catwalk stunner, but it feels durable and capable of surviving life in a laptop bag. There's plenty of protection for the 15.4in screen and the hinges support it without any wobbles. The plastic around the keyboard does bend slightly, but that's the only real complaint and to ease any worries the Quest A425 comes complete with a fantastic warranty - two years on-site cover, followed by a further year in which you can return the laptop to Evesham for repair. With many laptops offering a mere 12 months as standard, Evesham's comprehensive

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warranty gives real peace of mind.

The 15.4in screen is of the glossy variety, but unlike some it's not overly reflective, and what it lacks in brightness it makes up for in sheer clarity. The wide aspect ratio is particularly suitable for movies, a fact that is backed up by the presence of a fairly good pair of speakers. They're by no means perfect, but for a laptop of this size they have just enough kick to allow a single viewer to enjoy the action without resorting to an ear trumpet. However, don't expect to do so away from a power socket, as the battery gave us less than two hours of light use and wouldn't even last through the shortest of films with the DVD drive spinning.

The Quest for features

The features don't end there though, as the Evesham Quest A425 includes one item not often found on a laptop at this budget - an integrated fingerprint reader. This may not sound particularly useful, but think of all those passwords and login details you've built up over the years - these can all be consolidated into one split-second finger-swipe, which is an incredible time and brain-saver you'll soon rely on. There's also an integrated webcam sitting above the screen on a rotating bar, so you can focus on your face, whatever your height and viewing angle.

The 100GB hard disk should keep you going for some time to come and even if you do manage to fill it to bursting point there's a dual-layer DVD writer ready to offload any data. Plus, future expansions are an option thanks to the presence of both a standard PC Card slot and the newer PCI-Express version, an Expresscard slot. Expresscard is far more versatile than its predecessor, but though current applications are simple everyday components, such as remote controls, wireless cards and TV tuners, other far more exciting applications are in the pipeline.

All in all, there's plenty to like about the Evesham Quest A425. It's very comfortable to use, particularly so the well-organised keyboard, and it even has the added security and convenience of a fingerprint reader. The laptop may not be blisteringly fast in 2D applications and the battery life is certainly disappointing, but the warranty is superb and the whole package comes at a price that won't break the bank. When you factor in a powerful graphics chip you've got a bargain laptop on your hands.