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Samsung X11 Core Duo notebook reviewed
Samsung seems to be on a roll with the Core Duo laptop gig, so it's not surprising to see the X11 taking some heat for not quite living up to the standards set by the well-received Samsung Q35. While you can customize the notebook to your liking, TrustedReviews' test unit packed a T2300 Intel Core Duo 1.66Ghz processor, 80GB hard drive, 512MB RAM, 14.1-inch 1,280 x 800 glossy display, and uninspiring integrated Intel 945GM graphics. The X11 has a fair amount of ports, featuring VGA and S-Video out, a trio of USB 2.0 inputs, 4-pin FireWire connector, and the obligatory WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0. Reviewers didn't find all this hardware incredibly thrilling, however, and the X11 seemed to underperform across the board. Although the benchmarks weren't awful in any one category, it got knocked for its overall lack of style and the (understandably) annoying "sticking spacebar." The two biggest performance digs came from the "lack of sharpness" the LCD provided and the 2 x 256MB RAM setup that was "a bit 2004;" TrustedReviews felt that dual 512MB DIMMs would have been more appropriate, but noted this was an available option if you pony up the extra coin. Ultimately it was deemed that the Samsung X11 could "get the job done," but was priced too closely to the Q35 to be considered a solid value, and at £799 ($1,492) -- only £81 cheaper than the aforementioned little sibling -- we can't find much room to disagree.
