As with the 1050 model, Averatec's new 4155 notebook has clearly been influenced by the Apple design team.

The £799 price tag suggests it's not going to generate a benchmark meltdown, but hats off to Averatec for creating a stylish, portable laptop.

Inside the reasonably light 2kg chassis is an AMD Turion 64 Mobile MT-30 processor that runs at 1.6GHz and has 1MB of L2 cache.

Partnered by 512MB of PC2700 DDR333 Ram, it made for an overall Sysmark 2004 SE score of 119 and a result of 1,141 in PCmark05.

This makes it quicker than the Averatec 1050, which costs £200 more, but certainly not powerful enough to compete with some of the dual-core laptops we've seen recently.

The integrated Mirage SiS760GX graphics chipset didn't have the clout to run 3Dmark05, but then this notebook isn't designed for games.

An 80GB hard disk is suitable for those intending to use the Averatec 4155 as a portable computer for word processing, browsing and the like, but start loading video on it and you'll soon start to run out of space.

Perhaps the standout feature of this 31mm-tall slimline notebook is its pin-sharp 13.3in WXGA (widescreen) display.

Underneath its dark blue lid is the Averabrite-coated screen, which makes Windows and DVDs look bright, colourful and rich in contrast.

It's a bit flimsy to the touch and appears much brighter when connected to the mains, but for the price it's a good compromise.

Another nifty inclusion is the Active USB port, which allows external devices to draw power and recharge from the socket even when the Averatec 4155 is switched off.

There are a further two USB ports, Firewire, S-video, VGA, 4-in-1 memory card reader, PC card, modem and headphone/microphone sockets on the front.

Bundled software is a tad sparse - just Norton Antivirus, and DVD playback and burning applications - but it comes with a two-year collect-and-return warranty (six months for the battery).

At £799, it's a basic notebook that's portable and looks good. However, you don't have to spend too much more to get an all-singing, all-dancing dual-core laptop that will perform much better.