When somebody gets something right, it's often all too easy to take them for granted. So when Sony Ericsson brings out a new Walkman phone, the temptation is to ignore its impressive but, frankly, familiar attributes, such as an exemplary music player, media features, eye-catching design and fine useability, and search for niggling faults.

But the fact is that there's really very little wrong with this stylish midrange slider. It comes in four colours (white, black, 'urban' grey and pink) which should cover most style bases. Our grey version came with some beautifully understated turquoise detailing in both the backlight and the rear of the slide too. On the subject of lights, there's an additional one that flashes between the sliding sections when a call comes in - it certainly catches the eye, even if it is a little gimmicky, and you can choose from 16 different colours and colour sequences.

There are sliders with a sturdier feel, but it certainly doesn't feel flimsy, and snaps open and closed with a satisfying clunk - a fine balance of form and function, in other words.

Sony Ericsson has at last started producing slimline sliders, being a little slow to fully embrace the thin-slide concept. Compared to the W850i released early last year, the W580i a slimmer design, with clearer controls and additional features.

It's a good-looking handset overall, with a ring control beneath the screen which controls the media player functions, and hints at something a bit more funky going on behind the otherwise minimalist design. There's also a genuinely thoughtful bit of detail in the gentle hook at the back and bottom of the phone which helps when sliding it open -nice to know someone's thinking about these things.

The 262,000-colour screen is perfectly fine, making a decent fist of being legible in sunlight and offering sharp and clear definition of photos. You can control the brightness, by the way, but not contrast.

The "W" prefix tells you that this is a Walkman music phone first, and sure enough, it wears its player controls proudly on the front. You don't have to open the slider to access the music function - simply press the stylised "W" button on the front and you're into one of the most sophisticated mobile music players available.