Medion laptops, not many yet (Medion Technology recently started developing notebooks), are a good deal of notebooks featuring glossy widescreen displays, great specs and connectivity. At 5 pounds, it’s reasonably compact and the battery life is great (2.5-3 hours when using it at full power), and the screen resolution fitting the 14″ widescreen is not too big, nor too small. The Medion Akoya EX definitely looks different: resembling a large college textbook in its shape with the battery noticeably sticking out the back, covered in a case made from white plastic that feels solid, but which can get scratches quite easily.

The screen locks in place when closed, but it tends to oscillate slightly when given a push in its open status. Otherwise, it has glossy coating to provide richer colours - Image quality is superb and it’s even possible to use it outside. The speakers located directly under the screen give a mediocre sound. The keyboard is full-sized, with the exception of the function keys and the four arrows and one curios thing is that the letters are actually stickers. The presence of the Fn key gives shortcuts to an array of features (screen brightness, audio volume, Wi-Fi).

This notebook has an inability to run demanding 3D games because of the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 chipset, but with the 1.7 GHz Pentium Centrino Processor with 512 MB of DDR memory, it provides a great experience doing everyday tasks. The case gets warm during intensive use. It does not have Bluetooth, but following connectivity options are available: PCMCIA Type II slot, 3 USB 2.0 ports (2 in the back, one on the left side), VGA out, DVI out (DVI-D dual link type), IrDA (infrared link), IEEE 1394 (Firewire), 10/ 100 Mbit Fast Ethernet LAN (network) port, 56k V.90 Modem, Microphone input, Line out with S/P DIF. The Multi-format dual-layer DVD burner is one of the strengths of this laptop.
Medion Akoya EX Specifications