The good: Slim and light design; above-average audio quality; excellent price for a Core 2 Duo system.

The bad: Integrated graphics; no onboard multimedia controls; poor battery life; no ExpressCard slot.

The bottom line: The Samsung X11 does not have many of the bells and whistles present in contemporary entertainment portables, but for those who value style and portability above all, the X11 has few competitors.

Read full review of the Samsung X11-Core 2 Duo »

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Nov 13, 2006

The Samsung X11 comes in two configurations, a Core Duo model with discrete graphics chipset and a Core 2 Duo unit with an integrated video card. They cost S$2,299 (US$1,632.35) and S$1,999 (US$1,419.34), respectively, with Windows XP Home Edition operating system. Billed as an entertainment portable, the X11 is up there with the likes of HP Pavilion dv2000 and Compaq Presario V3000. Though the Samsung may not be as feature-rich as some of its competition, the main attraction of the X11 is its exceptional thinness and lightness for a 14.1-inch mobile.

	The Samsung X11 is easily one of the lightest and slimmest 14.1-inch portable. (Click for larger image)

Design
Its slim profile and magnesium-alloy body are expected of the X11, since it belongs to the same ancestry as the first 14.1-inch notebook from Samsung, the X1. It also shares the same silver chassis with black trimmings that eludes class. With a heft of only 2.17kg, it is significantly lighter than the HP Pavilion dv2000 and most other 14.1-inch portables. The X1 is also one of the thinnest portables around with the maximum height capped at around 33mm and a footprint of 339.5 x 257.6mm.

In order to save space, rather than locate the battery under the unit, a unique cylindrical power cell is snapped to the rear of the machine. An LED indicator on the cell itself displays the remaining charge. A side benefit to this design is that the ports line the sides and front of the X11, making them easy to access.

For a multimedia-centric portable, there is a distinct dearth of multimedia controls on this the Samsung. Though the addition of a mini remote control eases the blow somewhat, the 14.1-inch display means the viewer would probably have to sit close to the machine and would appreciate onboard controls.

Features
As an entertainment notebook, it has most of the key features required for movie viewing and audio playback. Users who insist on a more feature-rich portable should go for the HP Pavilion dv2000 which offers a discrete card option, mini remote control and integrated Webcam, while consumers who prefer a sleek design coupled with a high portability factor will go for the Samsung X11.

Not everyone likes to wait for a notebook to boot up before watching their DVD or listening to their music files stored in the hard drive. Samsung proprietary AVStation Pro software offers a pre-boot feature that plays back discs via its optical drive and allows for access to multimedia files without the need to enter the Windows operating system. The DVD Super Multi writer reads and writes to almost all DVD and CD formats.

Music is piped through two tube speakers located beside the battery. (Click for larger image)

The 14.1-inch widescreen display is powered by an integrated Intel Graphic Media Accelerator 950 graphics chipset which shares up to 128MB of system memory for video rendering. The transflective display has a brightness level rated at 200nits with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels, which is about average for most notebook LCDs. The Samsung X11 will have no problems decoding video and audio files, though gaming is not a forte of this system unless you prefer older titles.

The audio quality, however, is where it shines. Piping music out via its speakers, which are located on either side of the battery compartment, is an above-average experience for a portable device. Even more audio settings can be adjusted through its SRS WOW XT and TruSurround software interface.

The Samsung X11 has all the usual connectivity options expected of a modern portable. It has 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios with wired Ethernet and modem ports as alternatives. Three USB and a mini-FireWire port handle external peripheral. We had hoped the PC Card slot was of the future-proof ExpressCard variant, but we found a Type II PCMCIA one instead. The keyboard and touchpad are comfortable and full-sized, permitting long usage without cramped digits. The X11C model has silver-nano techonolgy embedded in the palm rest and keyboard, which prevents bateria buildup for a more hygenic computing experience. This unit retails for S$2,299 (US$1,632.35) with Windows XP Professional and 1GB of memory.

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