Evesham has expanded its Zieo big-screen notebook range with the NX600-HD, a 17in Sony Vaio-esque model that should play well with gamers.

The notebook's 17in WUXGA display provides a 1920 x 1200 resolution and, Evesham claimed, is ideal for HD gaming. Not so movie playback: the desktop replacement only incorporates a dual-layer DVD-RW drive instead of an HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc drive.

The 39.7 x 28.4 x 4.4cm machine has an undeniable touch of style, with a light orange strip running around its edge, helping to highlight the location of its four USB ports. It weighs 3.95kg, so it's useful for lugging between LAN parties, but not perhaps the ideal travel companion.

Under its hood, the basic NX600-HD build runs on 2.2GHz Intel's Core 2 Duo T7500 processor. Nvidia's GeForce 8700M GT chip is also included, along with 512MB of dedicated graphics memory.

A 120GB SATA HDD is included as standard, with the option to upgrade to a maximum of 250GB. 2GB of DDR 2 memory is built in, running at 667MHz.

The Zeio's memory-card reader is compatible with Memory Stick Duo, MMC, RS MMC, SD and Mini SD, while integrated wireless over 802.11a/b/g/n should provide reliable and speedy connection to the internet. A 1.3-megapixel camera moulded into casing above the display is a nice touch, making it suitable for video calls or still image capture.

Evesham's Zieo NX600-HD notebook is available now, with a starting price of £1400 (€2065/$2831).