The Fujitsu Siemens (FSC) Amilo Pi 3625 (£599 inc. VAT) is worth a look for those seeking a desktop replacement machine.

Its 17-inch display is matched only by the HP for size, and features the same 1440 x 900-pixel resolution.

As such, it's ideal for working with multiple documents, spreadsheets or simply watching films, as there is lots of space onscreen.

Images are bright and colourful, and reflections from the glossy Super-TFT panel were never too intrusive.

Large keyboard

A little disappointingly for such a large machine, graphics are handled by an integrated GPU, so you won't find any more multimedia performance on offer than on smaller machines. It does help to keep costs down, however, and the battery life of over three hours is reasonable for a machine of this size.

The keyboard is spacious and is a pleasure to use. The keys are large and responsive, and there's a dedicated numeric pad for data-entry.

Only the directional keys let it down, where form is placed ahead of function, and tiny arrow keys make it all too easy to hit the wrong button.

Cool running

Build quality is excellent throughout – the black plastics aren't the most exciting, but they are tough and don't flex or groan, even when the machine is picked up from the corner. Most impressive is how cool the chassis remains to the touch.

The thick lid provides plenty of protection for the display, although the glossy finish picks up scuffs and scratches too easily.

Reasonable performance

You'll find a mid-range Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4096MB of memory within the chassis, and it helps to provide the FSC with reasonable performance. We found the system ran smoothly and only noticed some slight lag when running several intensive applications simultaneously.

The 320GB hard drive provides excellent storage space for your media collections and other files.

You'll find four USB ports for adding peripherals dotted around the chassis, and there's also an eSATA interface for backing your files up on an external drive. Those wanting to connect an older monitor or projector may have to buy an adapter, however, as there's only a digital DVI port in place. You should also find it easy to access files taken on your camera, as there's a 15-in-1 media card reader.

If you're not seeking multimedia performance, there is a great deal to like about the FSC Amilo Pi 3625. It is a real shame it doesn't feature a dedicated GPU, but its large screen, comfortable keyboard and decent performance make it worth a look.