IBM's latest notebook in the X series is the ThinkPad X22, which earns high praise from TechTV Labs. It offers portability mated with performance to bring the road warrior close to the long-awaited dream machine. The form factor hasn't changed noticeably from previous X-series notebooks, but the core gets a welcome refresh and the results are an impressive engineering marvel.

Performance

The X22 is powered by Intel's latest low-voltage mobile Pentium III-M 800-MHz processor. The system we reviewed ran on 256MB of memory, with expandability up to 640MB. The resulting performance is nothing less than the best we've seen in an ultraportable. Testing business applications with Business Winstone 2001, the X22 scored 32.9, 15.4 percent better than the HP Omnibook 500, its closest competitor. On Content Creation Winstone 2001, which we used to test multimedia applications, the X22's score was an equally impressive 44.1, 19.5 percent faster than the Omnibook 500.

IBM delivers a first in the ultraportable market by including ATI's Radeon Mobility video card with 8MB of memory for graphics performance. The Radeon Mobility provides OpenGL and DirectX 8 support for the latest 3D and graphically intense applications, such as computer aided design (CAD). Traditionally, notebooks in this category aren't capable of performing our 3D benchmarks, but the X22 changes the paradigm. With "Quake III," the X22 managed 26 fps at 640x480 resolution and 11.1 fps at 1024x768 resolution. The X22 didn't have sufficient memory to run MadOnion's "3DMark2001" with 32-bit color, but managed to produce scores in 16-bit mode.

While benchmarks aren't a critical feature of ultraportable notebooks, the X22 performs notably and its scores are worth mentioning. The 3D scores may not appear stellar, but for an ultraportable the ability to complete the benchmarks is noteworthy. The graphics capabilities are displayed on a 12.1-inch TFT display with a native resolution of 1024x768.

The most important aspect of ultraportables, as the name implies, is portability, and this is where the X22 shines. The 3.7 pound, 11 inch by 8.9 inch by 1.2 inch package is any road warrior's dream, but IBM takes it a step further. In our battery tests, the X22 managed three hours 52 minutes, almost an hour longer than its closet competitor, the HP Omnibook 500. For any ultraportable to live up to the name, battery life is paramount. The IBM ThinkPad X22 is the current champion.