new Gigabyte P35K

CES 2014 lenovo announced new slim gaming laptop 15 inch

Lenovo y50 with Nvidia GTX 860M

No benchmarks yet but I'm betting it's going to be on par with the 765m

 

Hello everyone.

I've been following this post recently and even though there has been some negative feedback regarding the build quality of the P35K I took the plunge as the form factor, specification and price made it worth a punt, especially as my Lenovo W510s motherboard cooked and I needed something pretty short notice. I bought mine from OverClockers.co.uk, the CF4 version, 16GB ram, 2 x 128GB msata drives in RAID 0, a TB HDD and a BlueRay writer. The build seems pretty good to me, no more flex issues than on most other laptops, MacPro and my W510 being an exception as both built like tanks. The Laptop is reasonably quite at the moment, definitely louder than the W510 for general use but that Laptop is super quite even under load. I've not tested it under strain but did turn the fans on full blast and if they ever have to operator like that for any extended time I could see how it would get on your nerves! So I'm pretty happy really.

Few niggles though.
Blueray writer comes with PowerDVD10 and can't play Bluerays! Maybe I'm missing something?
Sometimes when I'm typing the cursor seems to jump. I'm sure I'm not touching the trackpad... anyone else noticed this. Think its when i'm hitting the W,A,S,D keys?!

Final thing and something that I've contacted support about but had not response:
I would like to add a second 750GB HDD to my system using the provided hot swappable drive bay in place of the ODD. I have inserted 3 different drives into the laptop using this method, all the drives are functioning as they should and work in my other PC, but don't register anywhere in windows on the P35K. I've check both the device manager and disk manager. They are however showing up in the BIOS. Could you explain how I enable them using this drive bay.

Thanks in advance for you time and help and if you have any questions about the P35K fire away.

UPDATE:

Upgraded the BIOS, as instructed by Gigabyte, and this fixed the hot swappable issue.

 

Please check your messages, the issues seems to do with your RAM

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Does new BIOS reduce fan noise?
There is BIOS update for p34g to reduce fan noise, therefore I wonder whether fan noise reduce in p35k too.

 

How do I go about upgrading the BIOS? I just want to make sure I do it correctly.

Also, any driver updates for the trackpad? I still this its pretty crappy. I am trying to get used to it, but hasn't been very easy. I actually find my google chrome browser window zooming. That is not normal!

 

Just update through Smart Update. Make sure power won't get cut off half way. Computer will reboot automatically.

There are updates for touchpad but don't not help a lot.

 

i already sent it back. it wasn't even booting up. that was the second p35k i'm done giving them a chance. the new Aorus X7 looks interesting but it is gigabyte also let's see if they have better designers and manufacturing.

 

Where is Smart Update?

Are you having the same issues with your touchpad?

 

The new trackpad driver seems to be better. It changed my windows sensitivity and reset all my settings though so I had to re-disable all the useless gestures.

 

It comes with the OEM system. if you wiped it you can download it from Gigabyte's website.

The touchpad, well, just doesn't work comfortably.

 

I had to go from Win8 to Win7. Win 8 was just so so bad. For some reason I can't find Smart Update. Do you have a link?

 

No Smart Update for Win7 seems. But you can get BIOS here: GIGABYTE - Notebook & Netbook - Notebook & Netbook - P series - P35K

 

How do I upgrade? Do i need a thumb drive?

 

Not an IPS screen. They are not being honest. They are AHVA (AU Optronics). We have compared a true IPS screen (Lenovo x220) vs an IPS-alternative like AHVA 1920x1080 (Lenovo T440s) and the IPS blows the AHVA away.

Yes the AHVA 1920 x 1080 looks good straight-on, but the IPS colors were still better and the viewing angle of the AHVA (IPS pretender) has a light glow on the screen at any angle besides straight-on.

 

After reading about the concerns lately on this board, I just wanted to share some thoughts on my Gigabyte P35K. I've been on the search for a new laptop for about four months, and the P35K was on my shortlist. I wanted a laptop that could do the occasional heavy gaming, but was also light and compact enough for daily office tasks and traveling. In spite of uncertainties regarding its build quality, the P35K ticked virtually every other box and in the end won out over all other candidates. I have not regretted my choice for a second.

I bought my P35K directly at a store during a visit to Taipei about 5 weeks ago. The first thing I checked after opening the box was to see if there was a crack on the corner of the DVD opening. No cracks. I've now been using the machine for 5 weeks and it still looks brand new. Detailed thoughts are below.

Build quality

The exterior and interior surfaces are almost all made of metal. Only the interior bezel surrounding the screen is plastic. First impressions are of a very sturdy and business-like machine. Lifting the laptop off the table, even with only one hand on a corner, does not produce any flex or squeak. All four rubber "feet" rest squarely on the table surface. It is not flimsy, but I can't say how well it would fare were it to be dropped three feet onto a concrete floor. The metal finish and keyboard attract oily fingerprints easily, but I wipe down the computer every few days with a soft damp cloth, and afterwards it looks brand new again. There is no obvious wear to either the keyboard or touchpad surfaces. The only manufacturing issue is a small ripple on the edge of the screen bezel, something you'd never notice unless you were actively hunting for flaws.

Screen

The screen is good, but not superb. There is a little light bleed, including a couple faint vertical "stripes", which are only visible in a pitch dark room with a black gif on fullscreen at more than 50% brightness. They are not noticeable during normal usage or movie-watching. It is semi-glossy, which strikes a good balance between matte and full glossy. Someone mentioned that early P35K's came with a 700:1 contrast screen, and later versions come with 400:1. I verified my screen model using Everest and mine is the latter. For fun, I compared specs between both versions (LP156W4-SPB1 and LP156WF4-SLBA), and interestingly, discovered that the signal pin and mounting hole configurations are different between the two. If early models did come with the 700:1 screen, Gigabyte made motherboard and case changes for the later models and it won't be plug-and-play to retrofit the better screen. Both versions, by the way, are AH-IPS. Perhaps gaiusgracchus confused the P35K for the P34G, which has an AHVA panel. See here for more info.

Normal Usage

The P35K is very quiet during normal usage, meaning internet browsing, word and spreadsheet processing, and photo and movie viewing. Gigabyte provides a helpful utility, called "Smart Manager", which provides quick onscreen shortcuts to 16 common functions, for example WiFi, Bluetooth etc. One of the these shortcuts is fan speed, which at the "Stealth" setting keeps fan noise to a minimum. It is not completely silent, but I would have no qualms taking it to a library. The keyboard is surprisingly comfortable, has a number pad and two backlight settings. It is well laid out, with full-size direction keys and dedicated Delete, Home, PgUp, PgDn and End keys. Battery life is more than satisfactory, but is no MacBook Pro. The touchpad is the one sore component. As someone mentioned, the new driver last week seems to have made it perform better. On a positive note, the touchpad is made from a scratch-resistant material. Unlike some touchpads I've used in the past, this one is showing no wear on the surface.

Gaming Usage

Open the Smart Manager, set fan speed to "Turbo", and "Ultra Boost" to on, and the P35K is ready to rumble. I'm able to play Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider at high detail levels. The laptop is loud but very stable and can endure hours of gaming without issue. If it does get too loud for your taste, set fan speed to the middle setting, "Auto", and the fan will only kick into high gear during demanding game segments. The Windows key and touchpad locks are life-saving features. Battery life takes a big hit, but that's true of any unplugged gaming laptop. Regarding sound, don't be fooled by the word "subwoofer" in the advertising - it's just a small thumbdrive-sized rectangular component under the hood - but it's better than my old laptop. 3DMark 11 score is 4622. Notebookcheck says that the average score for the NVidia 765M is 4155, so this seems to be a very good result.



Ports and Connections

This is one of my favorite aspects of the P35K. It is a thin and portable laptop, but manages to pack a full complement of ports that would rival machines one or two pounds heavier. It includes four USB's (2 of which are USB 3.0), HDMI, headphone AND microphone ports, VGA port (for business users), ethernet port and SD card reader. No one is left wanting. The USB ports are very robust. Cables snap into them with a healthy click, and are held snugly.

Upgradeability

The P35K is reasonably easy to upgrade (but be careful). Immediately after buying my machine, I installed a Plextor 256GB mSATA card into one of the laptop's two mSATA slots, and cloned Windows over to it. It has a DVD drive that's upgradeable to Blu-Ray, or you could put a hard drive into the space. The battery is not hard to replace either - just unscrew the bottom cover. RAM can be had up to 16GB. Gigabyte provides a helpful utility, "Smart Update", that collates all your hardware driver info in one place, shows which ones have new drivers available, and lets you pick the ones to update. It doesn't update them automatically, which is a plus (sometimes it's better to stick with an older driver). I run Smart Update every two weeks or so.

Conclusion

Knowing that the P35K is a rather fragile machine, I have treated it gently and carefully in the 5 weeks I've owned it, and it's stayed in tip-top shape. I've owned MSI's, Sagers (aka Clevos), and Asuses among others, but this Gigabyte is perhaps the most exciting new laptop I've bought. Proof: I haven't written a review for any laptop other than this one. How on earth were they able to fit so many features into such a small package? To add an additional assurance, it's backed by a two-year global warranty (unlike most manufacturers). Highly recommended for both gaming and business users. Any questions, fire away.

TIP for new owners: Go to System Restore and enable it. Gigabyte disables it from the factory for some reason. System Restore has saved me more than a couple times (not on this machine, but others) and is well worth keeping enabled.

 

hey guys, for all of you who get disturbed by the fan noise, there is a programm called Notebook Fan Control. You have to wright a config for the P35k, but it should work. Unfortunately i'm not the best at this
maybe some of you can give it a shot? you can find the programm here: [Vorstellung] NoteBook FanControl (NBFC) - ComputerBase Forum

if you can get it running for the p35k I would really appreciate it, if you would share! ty

 

I'm in love with my P35K, but there's one small problem. The webcam just doesn't seem to work.
This has been the case from day 1 and it's a feature I actually need. Is there anyone else with this problem or who had this problem and managed to fix this? I've asked on the Facebook page for GB NB. They told me to download the Smart Manager which didn't do anything.
Thanks in advance for your reply!

 

Hey all. I've been lurking since the first mention of the P35K. It's almost the perfect laptop (imho).

I have a question regarding the integrated and dedicated graphics. Other laptops sporting both iGPU and dGPU, the MSI GS70 for example, will change the color of the on/off switch LED to reveal to the user which GPU is currently being used. Does the P35K also have this feature? Apologies if this has been asked before. I've tried my best to find an answer before posting.

It's not a deal breaker and I know that these settings can be changed via the nvidia control panel, but as I'll be using it for gaming and video editing, I like the idea that I can quickly determine what GPU is being utilized.

I'm currently located in China, and the P35K hasn't been released yet. The P27K was only released late December here. I wish that I knew what date it was made available in the States, so that I could guesstimate when the P35K may show up in China.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

CramerGG: You've made sure you've turned on the webcam, right? Fn + F12? Or alternately, pressing the Webcam button in Smart Manager? If Webcam is on, next thing to check is Device Manager. Do you see "Imaging devices", and underneath it, "HD WebCam"?

Loepan: No, there's no visual cue that shows which GPU is in use at any moment. I agree it's a letdown, but far from a deal breaker. An older laptop I have with NVidia Optimus even has a dedicated GPU switch: you can change from AUTO, iGPU-only, to dGPU-only. Miss that feature.

 

oops wrong post

 

The power switch isn't illuminated, and there is no visual indicator to show you which GPU you are using. P35K came out around October in USA I think.

 

Good day Guys,

In the market to purchase a new laptop. Seems like the gigabyte is a good pick. However, I'd like to know if the fan issue has been alleviated as yet or if its still a problem for most users (how loud and annoying it gets).

Thanks.

 

I've tried turning it on with FN+F12, Went to device manager to see if there were any unrecognized or faulty devices, nothing. Went into the bios, camera was turned on there aswell. No imaging devices whatsoever in the device manager aswell. My guess is that the camera isn't connected to the motherboard. Am I the only one with this problem? :/

 

I don't think anything will ever be done about it. It is probably functioning as designed. If you need to use this laptop in a quiet environment, you should look elsewhere or wait 6 months for the next generation of gaming laptops.

 

CramerGG: Might have to get on the phone with tech support. :-(

Deathwinger: Personally I haven't been bothered with the noise levels at all. It's not going to be dead silent like a tablet. It's a gaming laptop masquerading as a thin-and-light business machine after all. But unless you're actually gaming, or using it under the sun, the fan stays within whisper-quiet range.

 

I want to add a 500gb Samsung Msata to the P35k. I was wondering how do you go about reinstalling Windows 8 on a different hard drive? Windows 7 was so much easier with advanced tokens manager.

Am I going to have to 1. Purchase the Windows 8 media from Gigabyte or 2. Purchase my own copy of Windows 8?

 

You can get samsung drives with a disk and transfer cable (i have one) it simply clones your drive onto your new one. No hassle, really easy to do (im no tech head and i done it!) once its done just swap over the drive.


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Hi,

I picked up a gigabyte p-35k a few weeks ago and overall I'm quite pleased with the machine. Anyway, I'm interested in swapping the cd-rom out with a blu-ray drive and I was simply wondering if anyone was aware of any blu-ray drives that are compatible with this particular laptop. For instance, will something like this work?:

Amazon.com: Panasonic UJ262 UJ-262 SATA Blu-ray Burner/9.5mm BD Writer: Computers & Accessories

Will any 9.5mm blu-ray drive work? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

What I did was after installing my mSATA, I used Macronis Reflect (a disk cloning software) to clone Windows 8 over. Lots of information and walkthroughs available on the 'net. You don't need cables or anything since the mSATA sits in its own slot on the motherboard. Once it's done, you can format the hard drive and use it as pure storage.

If you actually want to reinstall Windows, not just clone it, then you can do this: clone the hard drive to the mSATA with all the original partitions. One of these is a recovery partition. Then, follow the procedure to restore Windows to its original, factory state. That's the closest you'll get to a complete reinstallation without buying an actual consumer copy of Windows.

 

I'm at a dilemma right now.

I'm at a point where I could either get this laptop now, or wait for summer for new lightweight gaming laptops. The only downside I have so far for this laptop is the low battery life, and the delicate way I would need to handle it to not get the crack on the CD bay.

Should I get the P35k now? Or should I wait for something better to come out.

 

The problem with waiting is simply that in 6 months you will again.......wait.

There is no point in waiting, just do it.


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There's always the Y50....

 

Well......mine arrived today, well package........and its bent, badly. Returning for refund. Not impressed.


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I received my computer yesterday from GenTechPC (P35k-CF3) . I played with the laptop all evening, where at some point I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and after I saw that there was a BIOS update on Gigabyte site , so I downloaded and installed this update via Windows directly. Upon restart, Windows crashed and since it is impossible to start the computer. When I press the power button, the motherboard made 2 "beep" a brief silence , and 2 other "beep" and nothing is displayed or charged, the screen remains black. So I can not enter in the BIOS , or perform any actions (eg format or go into safe mode ) , I have a "black screen" and nothing is loaded, I tried to boot from windows 8 DVD (original one) and nothing work. If the motherboard does not recognize any component is that my BIOS is corrupted, I think ?

Is there a way to reset the BIOS "factory default" with this laptop ?

Any ideas guys ? I really need your help

 

As with any product there's always good batches and bad batches... the happy customers usually don't speak out on the forums, so it makes the product seem worse than it actually is. My P35K is past the seven-week mark - it's in great shape and I'm still as happy as a clam.

Sorry to hear about the bent. Doesn't look like the main chassis is affected - just the screen is slightly convex. Mine has a small ripple in that area too (as mentioned in my review). Doesn't affect its operation or bother me at all.



Jg93: You should call GenTec tech support. Sounds like something got messed up during the BIOS update. Good luck.

 

It is the main chassis, the screen is fine. The picture doesn't really show it properly. But the screen is straight. Im amazed it passed quality control. When you put if on a table the middle of the laptop touches the table and you can rock it.


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Just got the P35K, and I want to cover a few things. I'm living in China and it finally became available here. Price: 10,999 RMB (~1800$). There's a VAT tax in China so you really shell out some cash for imported stuff. Regardles, I'm extremely excited.

Things I want to cover:

I. How to do a clean install of Windows 8.1 on the P35k

II. Impressions - Good and Bad

It's quite a long post, so sit tight.

I. How to do a clean install of Windows 8.1

This is an incredibly simple guide, and I hope that it proves helpful for you. There was a lot of mixed information out there, but this definitively works for the P35k and probably the other Gigabyte gaming rigs. The reason I went this route is because the Windows 8.1 update kept hanging at 63%, and I don't like cloning.

First, and this is critically important, use Gigabyte Smart Recovery to make a recovery USB. This will allow you to completely restore the laptop to the original Gigabyte Windows 8 installation, and it will automatically create the original recovery partition while installing Win8. You'll need a 16gb USB drive. I played with it, and it installed on the HDD and not the SSD. The HDD is drive0 while the SSD is drive 1. I would imagine if you pull the HDD, it will default to the SSD for the installation. I didn't bother to test this.

After you've created the smart recovery USB, I highly advise making a disk image of the recovery USB using something like Power ISO, and then store the image in a safe place.

Second, you need to find a Windows 8.1 RTM ISO and a generic activation key for Windows 8 Core. These are readily available online and legal to obtain. I won't post the links however in case of breaking forum rules.

Third, use the ISO and Windows 7 USB Boot Tool to make a bootable USB. I tried with a 4gb USB as that always worked wonders with Win7, but for Win8.1 you need something slightly larger so go with an 8gb+.

Fourth, you need to download a program that will tell you your Windows 8 product key. I used Belarc advisor, but there's other programs available. Write down your product key.

Fifth, restart your laptop and press F12 to bring up the boot menu. Choose the Windows 8.1 USB that you created and install Windows 8.1. Delete ALL of the partitions on your SSD. Once they're all deleted, make a new partition using all of the space on the SSD.

Finally, go through the motions of installing Windows 8.1. When it asks for a product key, use the generic key that you found online. This will not activate Windows, and it is NOT an illegal key. It's just a generic key used for beta and the like. Once you've installed Windows 8.1 activate using your actual key. It will then pull your activation from the BIOS.

Congratulations, you've done a clean install of Windows 8.1.

WARNINGS:

1. After doing all of this, the first thing that I installed was smart update. It immediately prompted me for a critical update. After it downloaded, it turned out to be a BIOS update. This was a white knuckle moment for me because I had already updated the BIOS from the previous installation of Windows 8, and I wasn't aware that a BIOS update was needed again for Windows 8.1. I held my breath throughout the update, and it went smoothly. You may want to try the same. =]

2. My bass speaker popped after restarting and shutting down. I was really worried the first time that I heard it because I didn't know what it was. I had also just opened the case to peak inside, so my heart took a plunge for a moment. Anyway, installing the sound drivers fixed the issue.

3. Windows 8.1 would sometimes restart with a black screen and a cursor. The only way that I could fix this was to first install the Intel video driver and then install the nvidia driver supplied through smart update. The beta drivers didn't fix it for me. (EDIT: It was Smart Update that was causing the black screen. I uninstalled and all is great now. I may try to reinstall or just forget about it and update manually.)

4. When/If you need to open your case to unplug your HDD to do a smart recovery or any other stuff. Please first open the RAM door on the bottom and unplug the bass speaker from there. I knew that the bass screwed to the bottom of the chassis, and, after carefully opening it and peaking inside, I realized that I could access the plug from the RAM door. Be careful also because there's another long wire that's connected to the battery button that's also connected to the bottom of the chassis. It's long enough that you don't need to unplug it.

5. After setting up all of your drivers and installing the latest Windows 8.1 update, I would suggest doing a system image just in case. I always do one, but then end up doing another clean install anyway. But for peace of mind, you may want to consider it.

II. Impressions

1. Good

- The laptop feels solid. I'm pretty rough with my laptops, and I will grab them from the top of the screen or one handed from a corner to pick them up . I've only owned MBP 13" laptops for the last 5 years and am used to their build and quality. For the sake of comparison, I would say that the build quality of this machine is around 85% that of a MBP. The aluminum isn't as thick, but overall it's top notch.

- It's fast and smoothe. I was worried about the responsiveness when I was playing with the Gigabyte factory install of Win8. I thought the SSD was slow as programs would open rather sluggishly compared to my other computers with SSD's. After doing a clean install of Win 8.1 it's as snappy as my other Windows installs (one using a Samsung 840 and the other a Crucial M4).

- The touchpad is not as bad as people say. I'll make a confession, I mainly used Win7 via bootcamp on my MBPs. I'm very fast with it like it's an extension of my arm. This touchpad, while not as responsiveness, is, in my opinion, very similar. You must update the drivers and play with the settings. I set the palm tracking to minimum because I rarely accidentally bump the touchpad and felt that the feature was interfering with my regular use. Also, I set the sensitivity to the highest possible.

- The screen is extremely good. I use a Dell u2412m on my gaming rig (also IPS) and the screen quality is comparable. I'm very pleased. It also puts my non-retina MBP to shame.

- The bluetooth and wireless are amazing as well. I use the LG HBS-730 bluetooth headset. I have no trouble listening to music on this laptop from a distance. Also, I haven't experienced any of the wireless issues that others have talked about.

- Noise. This is a mixed bag. Just doing regular office tasks with the Smart Manager set to Auto, it's super quiet. Once I hit turbo, it's a wind tunnel. I can deal with that.

2. Bad

- The keyboard does have some flex, but not while typing (unless you really pound it).

- In the bottom right corner of my trackpad it feels empty. The bottom left will actually click when you push the very corner, but the bottom right corner can be pushed far beyond the chassis and never click. It makes me wonder what things will eventually build up under there.

- The bottom of the chassis is plastic...

- Above my power button there are two dings, like someone took a hammer and a nail and hit it twice. It's rough and the paint is chipped. See the attached pictures.

- The feet are so thin that the laptop doesn't get much air circulation. I'm currently using a laptop cooler until I can buy some laptop lifts as suggested by another poster.

- Windows 8/8.1 is pretty strange and borderline awful in its approach to productivity, but with classic shell installed and rocket dock I literally never have to go to Metro.

- Black surface and keyboard keys are oil magnets.

- The chassis will flex between the right side of the trackpad and the edge of the laptop even if you push it with little force. Just more proof that the aluminum is way
too thin. I guess when you fit this kind of hardware into a laptop and want to make it thin, you really have to sacrifice some things.

- The keyboard again. This is the first thing that I've really typed on the keyboard and I've gotten used to it for the most part. There's something about the keys. I type very fast and accurately on the MBP, my desktop keyboard, and even my colleagues' old Dells, but this keyboard leaves me prone to mistakes and miskeys. It's almost like they're not thick enough and too shallow or maybe slightly too close together.

- It's LARGE. This is very subjective as I've said that I'm coming from years of 13" MBPs. I didn't think that a 15.6" would be such a huge leap. I need a larger backpack for starters. I'll attach a picture for comparison.

All in all, I'm incredibly happy with my purchase and I look forward to gaming on the road with this beast.

Please feel free to ask questions.

Pictures: I've attached some pictures of the inside along with pictures of the dings above the power button, the thunderbolt port rubber stopper, the Chinese power cord, the packaging, specs, and comparison of 13" MBP. If you're worried about changing the hard drives, the VOID sticker barely hangs over. Easily by-passed.

Pictures were taken with my Note 2 in poor lighting. Apologies.

 

Looked at this laptop, budget went down to ~$1k, bought the N550JV. Love it....

And then Lenovo announces the y50, starting at $1k.


There's always a bigger fish...:cry:

 

Updating my P35K to Windows 8.1 was a little nerve wracking for me also. I started the process after cloning the original Windows 8 onto the mSATA, formatting the original hard drive, and making sure everything was running like a top. The installation "froze" at some percentage for what seemed like hours. But after leaving it on overnight, the update completed successfully by morning.

I agree that the laptop's rather large for a 15-incher. Not in thickness, but in width and depth. There's an inch of "dead" space surrounding the screen. But not a biggie.

 

Thinking of getting a P35K-CF1 and upgrading the SSD to240GB and the memory to 16GB. Any gotchas while performing the upgrade?

 

Any one has the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE BSOD problem? I had this issue when I was using newer drivers from nvidia website, so I rolled back to the old version from gigabyte driver download page as it seems to solve the problem. Days ago gigabyte smart update released a newer driver for nvidia gpu so I upgraded. Today I got another BSOD with same problem. WinDbg and bluescreenviewer points all these BSODs to nvidia driver files and pci.sys. I'm running the windows 8 comes with the laptop and all drivers and BIOS up to date.

The weird thing is the BSOD never happened during gaming or other situations might cause GPU to be unstable. It happened during normal lightweight use like browsing webpage or even when idle. Anyone has ideas about this? Could it be a hardware failure or software problem? I've own the laptop for more than 2 months now and this problem happened about 5~6 times and reinstall system doesn't fix anything.

 

I didn't realize how large this system was until I got it. I just saw 15.6" screen and thought it would be the same size as all other 15 inchers. While it is noticeably thinner, it is much wider and longer. The bezel around the screen is huge. I think they could probably fit a 17 inch screen in this chassis, but probably didn't, to cut costs or make this machine compete with smaller systems.

 

Like I said in the email, BIOS update is the last thing you want to do, if it's not broken, don't fix it.

 

I'm thinking of getting this laptop, anybody aware of any issues/annoyances with installing Linux on this system?
Also, if I perform a clean install, would there be any problem with removing the recovery partition? I don't think I will need a recovery partition, but not sure if EFI/recovery system would crap out if I remove it (still in BIOS world).

Regarding size, the dimensions listed on Gigabyte's page is accurate, correct? I only own one 15.6" laptop, but the dimensions listed is comparable to my laptop's dimensions (except the thickness part).

 

Yung, read my post about doing a clean install. You should make a usb recovery partition. Then you can image it for later. It can be used to restore the pc back to the factory install including the original recovery partition.

In other words you will be able to wipe the ssd of all partitions for your Linux install.

 

Loepan, thanks for the post. Really appreciate the detailed review/guide. I hadn't read the section about recovery in detail, so missed the part about making a recovery USB.
I'm not so concerned about the recovery partition as I prefer clean installs over recovery, just wanted to make sure I can get rid of the recovery partition (and save ~20GB of space).

 

Np. I'm keeping an image in case I ever need to restore it. In the event I need repairs, I will definitely take out the extra drives and restore.

 

Does windows 8.1 media exist?

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You can download Windows 8.1 and create installation media from Microsoft's website. It says you need a Windows 8.1 product key, not sure if it'll work with the embedded key

 

As far as the videos say, just be careful while disassembling the laptop's bottom as there is a cable (for the subwoofer I think?) that is connected to the bottom panel.