PRICE: £1409 (inc. VAT)

Samsung has reinvented itself this year as a company that specialises in ultraportable laptops. This doesn’t mean simply making them as small as possible, as the 14-inch screen of the Samsung X1 (£1409 inc. VAT) proves. Rather, the company has designed some stunningly slim and lightweight machines, as the 24mm chassis, which weighs 1.7kg, attests too.

To get a chassis this slim, Samsung has had to move the optical drive away from the side of the casing and place it on the mainboard. So when you press a button, the drive lid pops up. This makes getting discs in and out easier, but doesn’t allow for any upgrade path. Fortunately, the dual-format DVD rewriter is as cutting-edge as you’ll find, so this won’t be a problem.

Power user

At the heart of the X1 is an ultra-low voltage solution based around Intel’s Pentium M 753 (ULV), which runs at 1.2GHz. While they come with the same branding as standard Pentium M chips, you’ll find ULV processors use a 400MHz Front Side Bus, so you’ll find the system runs slower than expected. To this end, the X1 returned a MobileMark 2005 score of 168, which reflects this slower configuration.

It’s not only the styling of the chassis that is different, as the Super-TFT screen is supplied with a 300NIT brightness rating, making for stunning image clarity. Graphics are handled by the 915GMS chipset, which is an integrated solution and offers average performance.

The main problem with the X1 is navigation, largely due to the keyboard. It’s not just that the keyboard is stuck at the front of the machine, making it feel cramped, or the tiny mouse keys, either. Anyone new to using a laptop will find it takes a little time to grow accustomed to smaller keys and a pointing stick, rather than the usual touchpad. However, the X1 feels as though it’s been designed by someone who has never used a keyboard before. For instance, the F-function buttons have been placed on the left-hand side of the keyboard, which centralises the keyboard, but makes it awkward to use everyday shortcuts, as you’ll simply end up mis-striking keys.

When it comes to battery life, you’ll find two batteries supplied. The standard pack offers up to 237 minutes, under test, of battery life. The extender battery takes the weight of the system to 2kg and juts out of the back of the laptop. However, we managed to get 331 minutes from this battery pack. So, in theory, if you’re willing to take both on the road with you, you’ll get in the region of 10 hours of battery life.

Expansion is on par with what we’ve come to expect from an ultraportable, but it is the inclusion of stereo speakers and media buttons on the chassis that offer a touch of multimedia accessibility to the X1.

It’s neat and slim and the design is in a league of its own. However, we’re just not convinced it’s a league anyone else wants to play in, as the Samsung X1’s navigation is fl awed, making this more a design folly than a design classic.

ROCESSOR INTEL PENTIUM M 753 ULV
MEMORY 512MB DDR2 SDRAM
HARD DRIVE TOSHIBA 60GB
SCREEN SIZE 14-INCH SUPER TFT
DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1280 X 768 (WXGA)
GRAPHICS CARD INTEL 915GMS
DIMENSIONS 331 X 233 X 24MM
WEIGHT 1.7/2KG
WIRELESS LAN 802.11A/B/G
ETHERNET 10/100
MODEM YES
USB PORTS 3
FIREWIRE 1 (MINI)
STANDARD WARRANTY 1 YR C&R
URL www.samsung.co.uk

3DMark 2003 1000
MOBILE MARK 2005 168
BATTERY LIFE 191 mins 

OVERALL 7