The case is expertly built and ready for travel. Like the screen on its inner surface, the two-toned metallic lid stands out. The X360 squeezes a lot of ports into the case as well: VGA and HDMI for video, an ethernet jack, a modem, 802.11n Wi-Fi , Bluetooth., three USB ports around the sides, a five-in-one flash card reader, a PC Express card slot, and headphone and mic jacks. Throw in the 1.3-megapixel Webcam and the fingerprint reader, and you have a fairly robust package.

The sound is surprisingly big--strong enough to fill a small room and annoy cubemates. There's no proper subwoofer, but the mids and highs work well, and the volume reaches a high enough level that headphones aren't your only listening option.

People who loathe bloatware will appreciate that the X360 comes without much preinstalled software. It's not completely barren, however. Our test unit came with Samsung's one-step diagnostic and system recovery software, a quick troubleshooter for analyzing installation problems and getting you back to a factory-fresh state. You can also quickly reinstall important Windows files while keeping your data intact. The other programs on board consist of a speed-stepping shortcut that lets you quickly toggle between battery-saving and power modes, as well as the OmniPass security software, made to work in tandem with the built-in biometrics.

Samsung's X360 certainly doesn't come cheap. But with the 128GB SSD drive on board, you wouldn't expect it to be a huge bargain. Overall it's a solid machine for indoor and outdoor use. Lenovo's X200 now finds itself facing much stiffer competition.