Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1151081
61 Q3 2019 / CINEMONTAGE 61 Q3 2019 / CINEMONTAGE directly into the PCI bus through an M.2 connection, so they are blazingly fast, leaving spinning HDDs in the dust and even outperforming SATA SSDs. There are actually two M.2 ports in the ZBook Studio x360, each capable of supporting up to 2 TB NVMe drives. And if that isn't enough for you, you can also install a 2.5-inch SATA SSD for an impressive total of 6 TB in the system. That's enough storage to contain the high-resolution footage for lots of editing projects. However, if you require more —say, you are editing several large documentaries with loads of source material — you can always connect extra hard drives or large- scale RAIDs to the machine via the two speedy Thunderbolt 3 ports, an absolute necessity these days for connecting peripherals. An HDMI port and three USB 3.0 ports are also included. FINAL THOUGHTS Aside from being a total workhorse for production and post work, as well as a great tool for digital painting and inking, the ZBook x360 has a lot of other things going for it. To start, its chic-yet-sturdy metal case has undergone over 120,000 hours of testing, including 14 extreme MIL-STD-810G3 (military standard) tests such as include drop, vibration, freeze/ thaw, altitude, temperature, dust, sand, shock and humidity, making it one tough machine. The ZBook x360's keyboard feels great, and it's the first mobile workstation with collaboration keys as well as a noise-cancelling, world-facing microphone. That should help when conducting conferences with your colleagues. Audio, as usual, is designed by Bang & Olufsen and features four large speakers. In addition, the large clickpad feels nice to the touch, is tap- enabled and recognizes multi-touch gestures. For those who are interested in benchmarks for comparison, the ZBook x360 received impressive scores of 3425 cb on CineBench R20 and 31.54 on OctaneBench 4. There is a lot more to like about HP's ZBook Studio x360 convertible, a machine I find fun, useful, professional, practical, creative, sturdy and innovative all at the same time. It might even be the best mobile workstation I have yet had the pleasure to use. More information about the ZBook Studio x360 can be found on www.hpe.com. Oh, and while you're there, don't forget to check out the new Thunderbolt Dock G2, a terrific companion product to the ZBook Studio x360 that offers docking, networking, expanded ports and optional audio features. f Figure 6: Painting on the ZBook Studio x360 with the Wacom AES pen feels great and makes this already powerful laptop attractive to artists. Figure 7: While painting with your right hand, you can use your left to navigate through the image and user interface. That's because the ZBook Studio x360 has a multi-gesture touch screen.