Asus Zenbook NX5. Apple Macbook Pro Retina and Dell XPS 1. Theres a growing demand for high end portable multimedia laptops and manufacturers struggle to get their best in front of potential buyers. The portable aspect is the real problem here, as a multimedia laptop needs to be fast, but cramming powerful hardware inside a thin body is not an easy task. One of the new launches in this segment is the Asus Zenbook NX5. Ive reviewed a while ago. With a start price of above 2. K wide gamut screen and a capable audio system. But how does the NX5. Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display and the Dell XPS 1. Well, thats what well talk about in this article. I could have included the Gigabyte P3. Gigabyte Aorus X3 or the MSI Ghost GS6. Asus Zenbook GX5. NX5. 00. So well leave them for another post. Asus Zenbook NX5. Create and enhance your photos, images, and designs with Adobe Photoshop CC, the worlds best imaging and photo editing software. Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro Core i7 2. Late 2013 DG. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more. You can download a 30 day free trial of Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Windows, and a a free trial of Adobe Photoshop CS4 for MAC at the Adobe website. Matthew Panzarino October 27, 20161122 am Ciao, thanks for tuning in Matthew Panzarino October 27, 20161122 am Were off. Can the latest MacBook Air handle a large external screen Is the Air powerful enough How is the response Is there any flicker To find out, we tested the new. JKApple Macbook Pro Retina Mid 2. Dell XPS 1. 5 Touch 9. Screen. 15. 6 inch, 3. IGZO IPS, touchscreen. IGZO IPS, non touch. IPS, touchscreen. Processor. Intel Haswell Core i. HQ CPUIntel Haswell i. HQ i. 7 4. 87. HQ CPUs. Intel Haswell Core i. HQ CPUVideointegrated Intel 4. HD Nvidia Ge. Force GT 8. M 2. GB GDDR5integrated Intel Iris 5. HD Nvidia Ge. Force GT 7. M 2. GB GDDR5integrated Intel 4. HD Nvidia Ge. Force GT 7. M 2. GB GDDR5. Memoryup to 1. GB DDR3up to 1. 6 GB DDR3up to 1. GB DDR3. Storagetwo M. PCIE slots 8. 0 and 6. PCIE slotm. SATA slot and 2. Connectivity. Wireless AC, Bluetooth 4. LAN with adapterWireless AC, Bluetooth. Wireless AC, Bluetooth 4. Ports. 3x. USB 3. While we wish it had a better display, the 2015 MacBook Air is superfast and lasts longer on a charge than any other ultraportable today. Theres been a number of complaints in forums about MacBook Air heat problems and fan noise or fan running constantly. What causes these heat issues The MacBook Air remains an excellent ultraportable choice for students and other macOS fans with basic computing needs, but despite killer battery life, it. SD card reader, HDMI, mini Display. Port, RJ4. 5 with the included adapter2x. USB 3. 0, SD card reader, HDMI, 2x Thunderbolt 2, Mag. Safe 2. 3x. USB 3. Asus Zenbook NX500 vs Macbook Pro 15inch. The one thing youll notice the moment youll have these two side by side is that the Zenbook has a larger footprint. Compares the graphics and gaming performance of the Late 2007 Santa Rosa MacBook models equipped with the GMA X3100 graphics processor to previous models with the GMA. USB 2. 0, SD card reader, HDMI, mini Display. Port. Battery. 96 Wh. Wh. 619. 1 Wh. Operating system. Windows 8. 1. Mac OS X Mavericks. PS_retina.png' alt='Photoshop For Macbook' title='Photoshop For Macbook' />Windows 8. Size. Weightabout 2. Price TBAstarts at 1. Asus Zenbook NX5. Macbook Pro 1. 5 inch. The one thing youll notice the moment youll have these two side by side is that the Zenbook has a larger footprint and is also marginally heavier. These aside though, the two feel and look spectacular, with their aluminum cast unibodies. I/51dTPJ4G9ML.jpg' alt='Photoshop For Macbook' title='Photoshop For Macbook' />Asus went for a darker hood and a textured finishing, with their concentric circles spreading from the logo, while Apple sticks with a simpler approach, but a glowing Apple logo in the middle. Both the Zenbook NX5. Macbook Pro look and feel premium. Theres nothing to complain about the build quality of these two either, so they each get a point for the first impression. Opening the lids, youll notice that they share a common layout, with a keyboard placed in the middle, without a Num. Pad area, flanked by the speakers. Asus went with some drilled perforations spreading away from the Caps. Lock and Enter keys and the end result looks nice, but I cant say the speaker grills on the Macbook look any worse. Or sound worse, for that matter. Notice that both laptops feature a long screen hinge, meant to keep it properly in place, and also notice that the bezel around the display is slimmer on the MBP. Around the sides youll find a fair share of ports on both of these. There are however only 2 USB slots on the Macbook, while the Zenbook offers 3. Besides these, both feature HDMI connectors and card readers, but while on the NX5. DP port, on the Apple device there are two Thunderbolt connectors, which leaves room for more options when it comes to connecting various peripherals. Even so, theres not much to complain about the Zenbook, which offers all the needed connectors, plus an USB to LAN adapter in the pack, in case youll ever need to connect to the Internet via wire. Keyboard and trackpad. Lets get back to those keyboards now though. They also share the same layout and button placement, including the power button as the top right key and the compact arrow keys. However, theres one thing youll get on the Macbook and not on the Zenbook contrast. Apple chose black keys which look a lot better on the silver body, and also allow the white illumination to be more visible in a dark room. On top of that, the actual typing experience is somewhat superior on the Macbook as well, mostly thanks to its firmer and better feeling keys. As for the touchpads, you can notice that both manufacturers went with clickpads and the one on the MBP is marginally larger. That shouldnt make a difference, but the everyday experience will, and again the Macbook Pro steps in front here with its more responsive and accurate implementation. The NX5. 00s touchpad is not bat at all, but the surface still misses occasional taps, which can get a bit frustrating. Keyboards and touchpads. Screens. When it comes to screens, the match ends in a tie. On one hand, the Zenbook has a higher density panel, with its whopping 3. Retina display on Macbook 2. At the same time, the Zenbook gets a wider gamut panel, able to cover 9. Adobe. RGB spectrum, with an Delta. E of just 0. 8 the panel is factory pre calibrated, while the panel on the MBP is not as impressive, but again, trails is closely enough to never perceive the difference in actual use. On the other hand, the Apple laptops gets a 1. NX5. 00 gets a 1. Besides these, the Retina panel is brighter 3. Last but not least, the Zenbook packs a touch screen covered by a layer of reflective glass, while the Macbook Pro offers a non touch screen with an anti reflective coating which does a decent job at cutting of reflections and glare, but is still not a matte finishing by any means. More pixels and richer colors on the Zenbook, but a brighter panel on the MBP, with deeper contrast. Hardware and Performance. Both units run quad core Intel Haswell processors with dedicated graphics and can take up to 1. GB of RAM. However, there are a few things to consider. First, the Zenbook is available with a factory overclocked Nvidia GT 8. Preschool Program Model on this page. M graphics chip which is a faster solution than the Nvidia GT 7. M chip offered at the moment on the Macbook Pro. However, while the processors powering these two devices are close in terms of raw performance, Apple opted for newer silicon, with Intel HD Iris 5. Intel HD 4. 60. 0 graphics on the Core i. HQ. And that matters for two reasons. Number 1, the 5. 20. Macbook will kick in less often, which is going to help save battery life. And number two, it allows Apple to offer a basic version without the dedicated chips, which relies entirely on the Intel graphics. Besides these, I mentioned that both laptops can take up to 1. GB of RAM, but while the Zenbook comes with 8 GB of memory soldered on the motherboard and an extra slot that can take an up to 8 GB stick which you can later purchase yourself, the entire amount of RAM is soldered on the Macbook. On top of this, both devices feature fast PCIE storage, however, Asus chose to use standard M. SSDs on their laptop and there are two slots that can take an 8. Apple went with a proprietary SSD connector single slot, which makes further upgrades very difficult because youll have a hard time actually finding something that will be compatible with the MBP. The NX5. 00 leaves more room for potential upgrades. At the end of the day, the Zenbook offers the faster graphics solution and is easier to later upgrade. That means that you could buy a more basic version and then add more RAM or increase the storage space yourself. With the Macbook Pro though, your options for upgrades are limited, so youll mostly have to stick with what you get in the beginning, thus choose carefully.