Gigabyte build quality and warranty questions

Hello,

I am considering an Aero 14 Kaby Lake or an Alienware 13 Kaby Lake.

I am attracted by the small size and long battery life of the Aero but I am concerned about the long term.

I typically keep my laptops 5+ years. For a similar price, if not a bit cheaper, I can get the Alienware with 3 years onsite warranty. I understand the Gigabyte only comes with 2 years warranty but I don't think this is as comprehensive?

For those of you who have had Gigabye laptops, how do they fair over time and what are your warranty experiences?

Thanks.

 

The AW13 is MUCH more durable at least as far as the chassis is concerned. The Gigabyte Aero 14 does have some flex and it's mostly plastic compared to the aluminium and carbon fibre construction of the AW13. Add to that the overall better customer support from Dell and the actually longer warranty and the answer is clear. For a longer-lasting machine, the AW13 is the better choice.

EDIT: As for personal experiences. A friend of mine had a Gigabyte P35Wv3 - the bottom started warping due to intense heat and eventually the motherboard died to static electricity.

 

I'd hesitate to compare the Aero and P series, they may as well come from different companies as far as issues go. Also the only part of the Aero case that's not metal is the colored section of the lid according to Gigabyte.

 

True - the P series are lower end models. Though every review I've found describes the base as being made from plastic. And considering the deck does have a bit of flex, I'd say it's likely some sort of plastic variation. Though the Aero 14 does run warm, that one is a given.

 

The AW's main strength advantage that I can see is it's got a squarer thicker design. A lot of the newer metal ones seem to be cosmetic only anyway, the thinner metal panels will flex like plastic and permanently deform instead of breaking when bent too far. I just checked out an Aero in our production facility and it feels like metal on the bottom case, but the entire lid is plastic.

 

That's the thing - the OP wants to keep it for 5 years. I mean, I honestly don't expect most modern laptops to last much past the 3 year mark but at least with the AW13 he has a longer warranty and won't have to worry about the display breaking due to him opening it sharply from the side or putting something on top of it (I've heard of that happening - put a bit too much pressure on the top lid and the LCD panel bricks)

+ OLED panel. I mena, who can argue with OLED?

 

For last 10 years I had a Clevo m860tu (15 inch) which has broken from the hinge but generally faired well for 7/8 years. Prior to this I had a Dell (15 inch) for around 7/8 years which also broke from the hinge. I can't remember what kind of screen the Dell had but I fire it up today and it still looks amazing!

 

Agreed on the warranty. OLED though, I'd have to use the tech more before I could agree or disagree. Side by side with IPS, I was not really wowed, I'm assuming the advantages are more in power use or refresh. They both look way better than TN to be sure.

 

Advantages of OLED are black levels. Even high end IPS screens can't achieve such deep and pure blacks as OLED.

 

Don't forget OLED response times are considerably faster.

 

Indeed. Though their maintenance is a bigger hassle cause of the "Burn-in" effect.

 

Interesting. My limited use didn't really show the blacks difference, but I'll take your word for it. Sorta reminds me of plasma TVs, with the better blacks and potential for burn in. The don't weigh a ton and don't seem to run at a million degrees though, so definitely a better product there.

 

I'm going mostly off of information found at NoteBookCheck and LaptopMedia as well as a few youtubers such as Andrew Tran and Dave2D

 

Wish there were more in B&M stores so people could do side-by-side comparisons in person. It puts online reviews into perspective.

 

One thing I have done, though, is compare a 45% NTSC IPS to a 72% NTSC IPS - the difference is VERY noticeable. I'd also say anything with less than 250 nits of brightness is a big no-no.

 

Agreed. Though I think the 45% is on its way out.

 

Good ****ing riddance. The same should also happen to TN panels as a whole. Contrary to popular believe, a 6ms response time vs a 1ms response time is utterly and completely irrelevant.
Take it from someone who plays CS:GO and SC2 on a 40ms IPS

 

As long as TN panels are still cheaper and can hit a slightly lower number there will still be a market for them. Those days are numbered though.

 

The build quality of Gigabyte laptops.......I love the concept but they arent there yet. They still use cheaper battery cells that die out quite quickly compared to other brands and they cut corners in various areas of the laptop. For example if the laptop has an aluminum palmrest (aluminum sheet metal only unfortunately) then they have a fairly big cut out with a plastic tray for the keyboard. This saves costs for them so that they only need to manufacture 1 palmrest version for all model and only create various keyboard version with their own layout cut out in plastic. But it would be so much better if the key cut outs where made in the same aluminum palmrest sheet. It would be stronger, it would look cleaner and most important of all, no 1mm gaps around the keyboard tray that collects dust (in the P34,35,37 series you can see the motherboard through those gaps very easily).

Also the hinges that are glued on instead of screwed into the screen lids screams cheap manufacturing.

I havent used modern TN panels that are now present in game laptops. But I own a 27inch gsync TN screen and out of the box it has 71% adobe RGB and 104% srgb values. This can be improved after calibration thus being an excellent panel. Contrast is 1:981 which is pretty decent. So no TN isnt as bad as it once was. The only downside is when you sit lower than the screen, color start to slowly invert depending on the angle.

BUt I bought it ofcourse for the 165hz refreshrate in games. Once you go high refresh rate you never want to go back.

 

Or trying for unnecessary thinness any more, there's got to be a point where stubby screws and thin grommets mounted in plastic is either as weak as a clipped in/glued on bezel, or become a weak spot.

 

I fully agree with this. maybe a fused metal on metal construction woul dbe very durable.

Thats the one thing with Apple laptops that they do very right regarding thin laptops. Their hinges are very well done.

 

What I'd like to see: Metal lid fused to the hinge, screen mounted to lid, front bezel installs with easily disengaged clips. Then you could still have a serviceable screen without adhesive/welding.

 

Something like the Y50 screen, yeah, but with the hinges being part of the lid so as to not break as with the Y50

 

Sort of. Even though I'm not fond of those clips, they might be less likely to break with a metal bezel.

 

Hey guys. I have a Macbook pro. I am now considering the XPS 15 because its layout and build is almost the same, which I am also looking for because it seems more secure in the longevity of the machine. I can be rugged with my laptop sometimes, dropping it and hitting it on surfaces. There are actually a couple of dents, and a few scratches, but imo, my Macbook is still running great.

The price of the XPS 15 that I am looking at will actually cost me almost the same price as I will be paying for the Aero 15. For some reason, I only pay half of the tax to Newegg in contrast to Dell costing full tax. The difference is that XPS have the body that I look for, and also a 4k display, but the Aero 15 have the much more advantageous GTX 1060 which I also want.

I really like the Aero 15. I have been looking at it since it first released in Newegg, and been watching it ever since until now, about to go out of stock for the second time. The specs is excellent for its kind. But I am concerned that its build will not be as reliable as the XPS' or the Macbook pro's. Has anyone here have experience with both laptops or can give me their review about the build of the Aero 15? I heard the build is not bad, and heard there is confusion whether it's plastic or aluminum, but I will only know when I get a hold of one.

How is the build of the Aero 15 compared to the XPS 15 or Macbook pro 15?

Thanks

 

I got to briefly play with one here. My initial impression was that it feels exactly as light as it looks, that it's pretty solid, though not quite as solid as the MBP or GS63VR. Also just like the first gen, totally subjective, but I love the black with the orange stripe, love the orange, do not like the green at all.

 

GS63? I mean, from what I've seen of the device, it has a LOT of flex on the lower deck and screen - definitely a far cry from the Aero/XPS/MBP

 

The stealth is the one I had the least time with, but I don't recall that much flex from any of them.

 

IIRC the bottom deck actually cracked under the durability test when LHz were reviewing it here on NBR.

 

I just went and got one and I'd like to know what they were doing to it, didn't seem like you'd crack the case unless badly misusing it

 

I believe they applied pressure to the sides and centre. As a result, the casing around the ports on one side cracked. And honestly, it doesn't surprise me - it's the same thing as Asus' UX501/G501 machines. The aluminium used is quite thin and bends without much force required. As a result, when you push it a bit harder, it can crack and break. That's what I really like about Apple's unibody designs, they are incredibly durable considering the slim profile.

 

Makes me miss the old thicker aluminum panels that would just deform and then never bend back quite exactly right from previous generations.

 

But those were also much harder to bend and twist in the first place

 

Yeah, and were heavier. I think the best solution would be some sort of composite/plastic.

 

Or, you know, charge 2000$ for entry-level with macbook-like chassis

 

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.

 

well my P34w V3 drama has got me to the point where I am seriously thinking of 'writing off' the laptop. It has made me a bit wary of 14" laptops....