The X31's maximum resolution is 1024x768x32. Few people out there must be cringing at the idea of running at a resolution that low, but remember that the screen is only 12 inches. Resolutions that are greater than that will need a magnifying glass to read. The Mobile Radeon 7000 that is in the X31 generates crisp images on the monitor, and the color depth is good enough to differentiate between dark and light colors.

At the back, there is a USB 2.0 port, a modem and Ethernet jack on the right hand side and a parallel port on the left hand side. The serial port surprise addition as there are no devices in the system that supports devices but the parallel port makes a bit more sense. The PS/2 port for regular mice and an RS-232 serial port are added in the dock, and not in the system.

A VGA-out connector is also present for use with projectors and other monitors and can be controlled from the standard Windows Display properties monitor. BY pressing a hotkey a five video modes will be present, having a dual display mode that is very handy.

The big blue key is the 'Access IBM' key described previously that allows going into the BIOS setup. The volume controls are next to it, some status lights, and the Power button. The X31 comes with the trademark TrackPoint mouse, which comes standard with a head that is wider and simpler to use than the smaller ones. Optional heads are available if the head wears out or if you don’t like the original one.

On the side there is a singular PC Card slot, and the FireWire and IrDA ports. The left hand side has the second USB 2.0 port, and the 3 jacks for the sound card. Under those jacks is a Compact Flash reader. It is absent from the documents, but CF camera users will find that very handy.