Home page » Notebooks

Search Notebooks:

Refine search for Notebooks

Aesthetically, the Samsung X22 is an interesting thing to behold. Exciting it isn't, but then business orientated notebooks rarely are. However, there's definitely something distinctively different about the X22. Finished entirely in graphite grey, it's probably not to everyone's taste and it does take a while to warm to the design, but the curvature and matte quality of the finish give it a sleek, low profile look that has its own unremarkable appeal. Personally, I feel it has echoes of the giant obelisk from 2001 A Space Odyssey - though regrettably using the X22 doesn't result in any mind bending time travelling.

Divergent film references aside, it's everything one would normally expect from a business notebook: simple, clean and unfussy. One interesting aspect of the design, however, is the external finish, which has a slightly rough almost sandpaper like texture to it that's strangely tactile. Importantly it's durable and won't scratch easily, pick up fingerprints or become completely decimated from heavy use.

Moreover, unlike the NEC Versa S970, the overall build quality belies the price because the X22 looks and feels studiously solid and well put together. One thing it does lack, however, is any kind of enhanced protection for the screen. This means it is slightly vulnerable to external pressure, though no more so than any other ‘standard' notebook.

Otherwise the X22 exudes a sense of understated quality, a fact only enhanced when you open up the notebook and are greeted by the brushed aluminium finish. It's a near identical finish to that found on the Q70, and it's both great to look at and a pleasant surface to rest one's hands on while working. If one were to make a complaint though, rounding off the front edge and corners ala the Sony SZ would make the X22 even more comfortable for day-to-day use.

Of the many good things about the X22 though, the keyboard and touchpad are among the best. Keys have a wonderfully crisp and responsive feel to them, with no flex at all. As a rule the layout is very good too, with offset cursor keys below a proper size Shift and Return keys. Unfortunately, Samsung continues to place the Fn to the left of the Ctrl key. This is wrong, please fix. Please! No such complaints can be made of the touchpad. It's placed slightly off centre but directly below the Spacebar, while the surface is effortless smooth and buttons crisp and responsive.

These, combined make using the X22 a pleasure, but gallingly Samsung blights its copybook by using a glossy finish for the 14.1in display. Fine, it may enhance colours and contrast for video viewing but, as with all glossy screens, it suffers from no small degree of reflections. For a business notebook this is hardly ideal and Samsung ought to take a leaf from its competitors, restricting such finishes to its consumer targeted models.

Add your comment

© 2003-2008 TrustedReviews | About Us | Contact Us | Legal | Privacy | RSS