Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1100392
www.postmagazine.com 46 POST MAR/APR 2019 REVIEW he lines between tablets and laptops have been blurred for some time now. A good pen and tablet solution is important to an artist, so the idea of a mobile workstation and tablet combo had me at "hello." Some artists though, find working with a pen/ tablet to be more conducive to their workflow, but need more power than a traditional tablet. HP aims for that au- dience with the ZBook Studio x360 G5 convertible mobile workstation. Aimed for users who need both, the Studio x360 may fill an important need, com- ing in the mid-range of HP's multiple studio offerings. A LOOK INSIDE The unit I reviewed featured an impres- sive Intel Xeon-E-2186M hexa-core @ 2.9GHz CPU. Xeons are long-known for mission critical and workstation needs. A few CPU options can be had with the x360 G5, including budget-friendly i7 and i5 CPUs. Graphics are handled in this review unit by a Quadro P1000M with 4Gb of memory which, while being no slouch, is a more entry-to-mid-level professional card from Nvidia. The Intel UHD Graphics P630 handles less inten- sive tasks to save power, as most mobile systems do. Of note with this review unit is its 32Gb of memory, which is fantastic and rivals my desktop setup. This allows us- ers to run memory-intensive tasks as well as multiple apps together with relative ease. I stressed this system using benchmarks from UL Benchmarks/Futuremark and Chaos Group's V-Ray. PCMark 10 is a benchmark for general office and me- dia use, from video conferencing to digital media content cre- ation tasks and showed a respectable 20 percent increase in performance (give or take) compared to a similarly equipped ZBook Studio G3 — which has two less cores and is two gener- ations older. Screens are also super-im- portant to me; I've professed my love of HP's DreamColor displays. While this unit is not equipped with a DreamColor option, it is available for the x360 G5. Regardless, this unit's 4K UHD multi-touchscreen is bright and clear. I have a problem reading 4K in any display smaller than 24 inch. This is not an issue when using Windows' built-in scaling feature, however 3D apps such as Maya and 3ds Max's interfaces don't play well with scaling just yet; I don't recommend 4K on a workstation laptop unless you're literally an eagle, so go with the non- 4K DreamColor display, especially for color professionals. This is no fault of HP, it's something these apps need to bet- ter catch up to. TESTING, TESTING When stress- ing the graphics system using SPECViewPerf 13 at 1920x1080 resolu- tion, the P1000 card performed well enough for basic to intermediate 3D application use, posting about 15 percent better than the similarly equipped but older Studio G3. However, at 4K, many of the tests would throw errors and halt, show- ing me that the P1000 is not enough for intensive 3D applications at full 4K. For a lot of 3D users, it will do just fine, though I feel this x360 G5 as equipped for the review is better suited for 2D artists. In that vein, graphics performance in the Adobe suite is subjectively good, even at 4K; Photoshop/After Effects/ Premiere all load and run zippy fast. The display is super crisp, sharp and clean to look at, especially when scaled by Windows in 4K, which doesn't cause issue with Adobe apps. Colors are vibrant and remain consistent with the 15.6-inch IPS panel, even at off-angles. Multi-touch gestures are responsive and accurate, and the x360 G5 is easy to use in tablet mode, as well as a touchscreen laptop. FEATURES The included professional-grade Wacom AES pen is more responsive than a finger, and fun to use on the x360 G5. Strokes on the display reg- ister immediately with very little lag, a little like Cintiq response times. Using the pen with TV Paint, Photoshop, Sketchbook, or any other pen-editing HP ZBOOK STUDIO X360 G5 BY DARIUSH DERAKHSHANI VFX SUPERVISOR, LECTURER LOS ANGELES KOOSH3D.COM A GREAT FIT FOR A WIDE RANGE OF DIGITAL ARTISTS & STUDENTS T