Review: Samsung X22

Samsung has produced some great laptop designs of late and the X22 continues this style with a semi-lightweight machine anticipated for power users on the move. As revealed by us on one of the articles earlier, we take this opportunity to share with you our experience with the Samsung X22 and hence a complete review on the product; let’s jump in to walk it.


Design


Other models that we've got to see from the cradle of Samsung have had a glossy finish but this most modern machine has a matt-black finish, which we felt was more durable. The 2.2kg chassis is condensed and feels tough to the touch. It's made from plastic so will definitely stand out to the rigors of time on the road.


Performance


When it primes up to performance, this is a striking machine compressed in a compact design. You'll discover an Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 chip, which clocks at 2.2GHz and punches the raw dual-core power. Backed with 1GB of memory, we found this laptop could handle any task we set it forward too. Right from editing photos to running manifold tasks, with no real signs of slowing down. The 160GB hard drive is a little standard for the price.

Open the reassuringly solid hood and you'll stumble on a 14.1-inch Super-TFT screen. It's not the brightest of panels but we found it spiky enough for office works during the day and watching the odd movie over the night. An integrated camera sits right above the display. The keyboard is of a real good handy size and compiles the main body of the machine. We found the keys to be highly responsive enough and comfortable to employ. The touchpad and mouse buttons are also of a good decent size and easy to utilize. Considering the hyper portable capabilities of the X22 we were hoping this would be a real great machine to take on the road. Sadly, the result of the commanding specification is a rather pedestrian and lower graded battery life. Even in Vista's Power Saver mode we only scraped to achieve as little as mere 2 hours from the battery. Run this laptop in Performance mode and it's drastically lesser battery life than that. When it comes to graphics, the dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400, which as the name suggests, offers hold up for high-def sources.

Other accessories comprise a dual-format DVD rewriter, which supports Light Scribe so you can make your own labels directly scribbled on to the disc.

Taking into consideration the power on offer here, we were satisfied with how cool the system ran, only getting noticeably warm after prolonged usage for a couple of hours. At the asking price of £880 this is an impressively multitalented laptop.


Overall


The Samsung X22 is an influential and portable machine that misses out on Hot-shot Product status only because its battery life is less than idyllic. If, however, battery life is not a botheration, then this is a great all-round laptop at an excellent bargain price.


Pros


+ Ultra Portable
+ Good speed
+ Light scribe feature
+ Amazing value for money


Cons


- Poor Battery

Value For Money

Our Rating