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Looking at the connectivity on the X22, it's good to see Samsung doing away with some of the more annoying legacy connections on this model. First, on the left, you'll find two USB ports, Ethernet, D-SUB (VGA) and HDMI. The latter is always an attractive addition, especially since it has become so popular to do presentations on HDTVs these days. Alongside these connections there's a memory card reader and above that a 34mm ExpressCard slot, which is ideal for adding an HSDPA card should you need one.

This forms the majority of connectivity on offer, with headphone, microphone, modem and one further USB port joining the optical drive on the right edge. If one were being super critical, it would have been good if Samsung were able to squeeze in a 54mm ExpressCard slot, but at least with the 34mm slot it has done away with the comically large PC Card slots that continue to blight so many notebooks.


Looking at some other aspects of the X22, there's a perfectly capable 1.3-megapixel camera inset above the display. This should be useful for video calls and the like, though unusually the integrated microphone is placed by the touchpad rather than by the camera as you might expect. Having touched upon the reflective glossy finish, it must also be noted that despite this the display on the X22 is generally excellent. Text is sharp and easy to read, colours defined and well toned and overall it's a bright and pleasant to use display.


Less positive things can be said of the speakers, which are situated above the keyboard and pump out a measly 1.5 Watts each. To put this into context, the integrated speakers on most LCD monitors are 2W and we all know how great those are! In short, it's well worth investing in some headphones, or perhaps the Sony USB Portable Speakers that Ed looked at recently.


Provided software is all fairly standard fare, with trial versions of McAfee Anti-Virus and Office 2007. There's also a fairly extensive set of Samsung branded applications, along with Cyberlink DVD and Samsung's own excellent recovery solution. Our system came with Vista Home Premium installed, with other options including Vista Business and XP Professional - which will please Gordon and plenty others besides.

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