One of the first laptops to sport Intel Centrino mobile technology, the Samsung X10 is a beautiful, sleek machine that turned heads everywhere it went.
To put its embedded 802.11b technology to the test, I wrote most of my stories this week on the X10 in PCCW hot spots such as Pacific Coffee cafes while chugging down grande lattes - tough job, but someone has to do it.
Obviously inspired by Apple's PowerBook designs, the X10 sported the same tough but elegant looks. Just 23.8mm thick and weighing 1.8kg, the X10 claims to be the thinnest and lightest two-drive notebook computer in the market.
At its heart spins an Intel Pentium-M 1.3 gigahertz or 1.6GHz processor. The 1.6GHz model I road-tested was loaded with 256 megabytes of double data rate random access memory, 30 gigabytes of hard-disk storage and a combo DVD-Rom and CD-RW combo drive. It came with a Nero DVD-Rom burning CD, so you can burn CDs that can be played on most DVD players.
The X10 comes with a wide 14.1-inch thin-film transistor display, a Memory Stick slot and two USB ports. This is the first non-Sony laptop that I have seen with an MS slot. I managed to upload 79 images from a 128MB Memory Stick on to an online photo site, Ofoto.com, in just under eight minutes using Wi-Fi at the Pacific Coffee in PCCW Tower, connecting at about four megabytes per second. Using Wi-Fi with the X10 was smooth. To fire up Wi-Fi connectivity, you hit one of four labelled hotkeys at the top of the keyboard. The Centrino immediately detects that you are in a hot spot.
With its Centrino technology, Intel is finally marketing what other chipmakers have been saying for years - that clock speed is not the only determinant for PC performance.
Despite having a processor with a relatively low clock speed, the X10, which runs Windows XP, started up in 27 seconds and launched applications quickly even when there were multiple windows open at the same time. One of the promoted benefits of the Centrino is the promise of extended battery life due to lower power consumption while giving higher performance. However, battery life with the X10 using the three-cell battery unit it comes with was disappointing.