Gigabyte Aero 15 (7700HQ, GTX 1060, FHD) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Slim and powerful. After the successful Aero 14, Gigabyte presents its next high-end notebook with stylish design. Once again, the Aero 15 is attractive thanks to its slim design and long battery runtimes. Learn in this review how the device compares to its competitors from Acer, Dell, MSI, and Razer.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Gigabyte-Aero-15-7700HQ-GTX-1060-FHD-Laptop-Review.215364.0.html

[Anon]

So many Pros.

[dthrp]

Not bad, not bad at all. Though I wonder if you can completely disable Nvidia Optimus in BIOS, like Clevo laptops.

[carl]

When the 4k comes it will be the definite XPS killer. Can't wait to get my hands on this.  ;D ;D ;D

[AC]

This looks fantastic! Been waiting for this combination of specs for a while now. Though you don't mention, can it charge over USB (using USB power delivery)?

[VR dev]

I'm also really excited for the 4k. As long as the 4k option isn't a pentile display, I'll be upgrading to a new machine much earlier than expected.

[hieu]

Please fix the content.
This laptop equiment the panel VA (WVA) not IPS

[phattio]

my next laptop will absolutely have a thin bezel/'bezel-less' screen. it appears there are two options at this time: dell xps and gigabyte aero 15. am i missing any? thanks!

[dthrp]

@phattio:
Samsung and LG have had slim bezels for a few years now. Samsung's Notebook 9 line and LG's Gram line are good thin&light laptops. Lenovo and HP's premium consumer lines - Yoga, Spectre - and business lines - Thinkpad X,T, Elitebook 8x0,1xx0 - have also begun featuring somewhat thinner bezels since last year.

[phattio]

@dthrp:
thanks for the reply!

in order to narrow down my choices, are there any other laptops that combine a bezel-less screen with a GTX 1060 or 1070 like the dell xps and gigabyte aero 15?

[dthrp]

@phattio:
That's pretty much it.

Personally though, I'd take decently sized bezels any day over the bezel-less design.
First of all, there's the whole webcam position issue. But more than that, thicker bezels are more convenient when adjusting the screen angle. I can better protect the lid by grabbing the lid by the side bezels with one hand, and base with another, instead of just holding the sides of a base with both hands.
The exterior casing may provide greater durability against the screen getting bumped or dropped. Also might make it much easier to replace in case it does break.
And from what I know, sensors and signal antennas are usually located inside the top and bottom bezels of a lid, which I'm guessing are optimal positions for performance.

Of course I'm no engineer, so it's all just an elaborate conjecture.

[phattio]

@dthrp:

i'll take that into consideration. thanks for your help!

[Alexey]

I am having issues with my new Aero 15, looks like keyboard ghosting when using left CTRL,SHIFT or ALT in such combinations do not get recognized:
LCTRL+LSHIFT+SPACE
LCTRL+LSHIFT+Z
LCTRL+LSHIFT+X
LCTRL+LSHIFT+C
LCTRL+LSHIFT+V
LCTRL+LSHIFT+B
LCTRL+LSHIFT+N
LCTRL+LSHIFT+M
LCTRL+LSHIFT+,
LCTRL+LSHIFT+.
LCTRL+LSHIFT+/
LCTRL+LSHIFT+UP
LCTRL+LSHIFT+DOWN
LCTRL+LSHIFT+LEFT
LCTRL+LSHIFT+RIGHT
LCTRL+LALT+X
LCTRL+LALT+E
LCTRL+LALT+D
LSHIFT+LALT+X

Did you guys find any of these issues in your review? Also seems like an issue with Optimus and Windows UAT dialog causes freezes during pop up as its trying to switch go GPU mode.
Some links:
My post on kb issue: http://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/1102/aero-15-keyboard-issues
Optimus GPU issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txQZWfWFhlc

[4004]

Now if only they managed to cram a 1070 into it (making a bit thicker), it would be very close to a dream machine. A shame that you have to trade off GPU performance for size in 2017

[dthrp]

@4004
Good news, is that there're already plenty of light, < 2.6 kg 15" laptops with 1070 dGPU. The bad news though, is that all of them feature Nvidia G-SYNC, not Optimus, which is roughly 2 hours on-screen time at best. (And even with iGPU switch, it'll take more than the 100 Whr of airline battery limit to get all-day battery life) This is mainly because majority of people willing to buy those laptops would sacrifice battery life, for better gaming experience. There is a modification to allow both, to enable end users to switch between the two modes in BIOS, as Clevo has done with some of their laptops. But unfortunately, other ODMs just don't bother with it.