*** OFFICIAL GIGABYTE AERO 15 OWNERS LOUNGE ***

You won't find anything specific to this machine it's too new unfortunately

 

I'd say the best bet is to order 3m automotive vinyl film and cut it yourself to make your own skins. I did that for my Aero 14. Was easier than expected.

 

Thanks Mate, this saved me a whole install cycle. Just got my machine in. Going to pop in my 960 EVO and do a fresh install after I inspect the machine.

 

Can you guys confirm about what I asked earlier about key pressure required for activation. Test with fusion on flash after key press. Try and press as lightly as possible on a key. Do any require you depress it fully with some force to activate?

 

I found a Tomtoc 360 sleeve that fit well, it's technically for the previous generation Macbook Pro Retina that has almost the same dimensions as the Aero 15. Once you zipper closed, it's almost perfect in size and not too bulky on the outside. I have a pic in the review I just posted:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/gigabyte-aero-15-review.805885/

 

I guess I'm used to a mechanical keyboard and have mine with an extra set of rings...I tend to fully depress so I'm used to bottoming out when I type. My keyboard seems to be registering keystrokes just fine. Even still, on a laptop keyboard with this much feedback, I fail to see how a partial keypress is very possible.

I do not have to use excessive force when fully depressing to get keystrokes to register. I suppose I got a good keyboard.

And, I will report, after updating fusion, Ctrl + Shift + N is registering.

 

Need help, adding the second SSD, there's a thick foam piece in the way and to install the SSD, if I put it in there, i'm afraid it's going to snap. Is this where it really goes?

 

Thanks for testing this. The only consistent way I've found of testing this and replicating it is if I press the key in the top corner they'll all register. But if I try this on my O key it fails to register even after bottoming out. I need to hit that key directly in the middle otherwise it won't register. Thankfully after typing this post I've seen it's not becoming a major issue but I worry if the key might eventually degrade if it's acting like this. With regards to your SSD problems I think the foam was just there to act as a spacer to stop the battery from sliding around when the SSD slot isn't being used. I'd assume you remove that before putting in the SSD.

 

I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new Aero 15. I just unboxed it and after opening the screen the first time, I was a little surprised/disappointed with the screen bounce (lid springboard effect when opening/adjusting screen angle).

I'm been using a 6yr old XPS15 thick and heavy beast and a new Dell Precision 7510 for work that are built pretty solid with a stout feel when opening the screen, so maybe I just have a different expectation of how rigid the screen feels?

I'm thinking it's a byproduct of the hinge design/geometry but wondered if any of the other owners experienced "screen bounce" similar to what I'm describing or does this unit have loose hinges?

I'm also wondering if anyone has used the AERO 15 yet in a vibration prone environment yet (traveling airplane/train)? Based on what i see sitting still on a table, I'm wondering if the screen bounce may seriously affect usability in that environment. I also have to wonder about how it will hold up in the long term.

I had been looking at MSI GS63VR, but went for the AERO for the big battery. Happy with the AERO so far other than the screen bounce.

Thoughts? http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5940766420ea2/20170613_190115.mp4


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

It's not the sturdiest hinge design, but I think no worse than the MSI GS63VR I saw at Best Buy. My Lenovo 900S is a lot sturdier, but it's also a lighter weight 12" display.

 

IIRC, you are supposed to remove that foam piece before installing the SSD. Don't try and depress the foam piece and stick the SSD over it or you're right, it'll probably snap.

 

Yes, I was pretty surprised that they used some fairly stout adhesive to put the spacer in. It was stuck on a connector, so be careful removing it.

 

You're supposed to remove the foam, it's a place holder to prevent the battery from sliding around.

 

Love seeing this This is of course with a bit of tweaking. I used the battery guide in Eason's signature and brightness is at 50% and keyboard lighting off.

 

Is anyone getting BSOD page fault in nonpaged area windows 10 nvlddmkm.sys every 10 minutes or so?

Or has idea how to fix it?

 

Did anyone notice weird bright spots on the display? They are mostly around the corners. I have the brightest one just on the left side of the webcam. It looks like white pressure marks, blotches.

It's kinda hard to spot so make sure you got something dark on your screen and room lights off to avoid reflections.

I have a feeling I'll have to send it back..

Edit: Seems like it is worse than I thought it was....

 

Mine showed up a few hours ago. Keyboard looks good, came with a LiteOn SSD. Had to go out and buy a T6 Torx screwdriver (didn't have smaller than T8!) and the SSD screws were a PITA but everything went smoothly with the standard '960 EVO + RAM' upgrade. Backed up the color profile and did the Smart USB backup (note to Gigabyte: maybe get a proper English version of this app as it was a combo Chinese/Engrish).

I like the size and the keyboard (so far) though haven't had it under heavy use yet.

 

Yours is a bit more severe than what I saw. It's usually caused by the bezels being clamped too hard and putting too much pressure on the panel. In LCD TV sets, it's pretty common and mostly at the corners, and often called "flashlight" because of the appearance. In large screen TVs, there are sometimes external screws you can loosen at the corners to reduce or possibly even eliminate the effect. No such luck with notebooks, unless perhaps you are very handy and disassemble the lid section completely.

 

Sadly, in a lot of laptops the light bleed is in fact down to the inner metal frame that surrounds the panel itself & is manufactured onto the screen - and not always the outer plastic bezel itself. I remember replacing a panel on a friends MSI GS60 last year due to severe light bleed and even after taking off the plastic outer bezel, (which we first suspected was the cause) the light bleed was still present.

I imagine the screen on the Aero 15 is manufactured in a similar way to the XPS 15 where it's a complete manufactured unit (panel + bezel all glued together). Therefore panel replacement may require the total screen assembly to be swapped out altogether.

I'm waiting on a YouTube video to surface at some point to document a total disassembly of the unit, it'll be interesting to find out for sure.

Liam.

 

As an addition to the above, make I had to format the drive as FAT32 in order for the BIOS to recognize it at boot.

 

Very unfortunate. On our Samsung big screen, I was able to reduce the effect with external screws that loosened the panel, but could never eliminate it as others had claimed was possible.

 

So I am enjoying my Aero 15. Only concern is high temps for the CPU(85-86s, 25C ambient with signs of thermal throttling, even with a laptop cooling pad, then again I am running 1440p on a external monitor) during gaming sessions(GPU is just fine 70-75C). I had my fan control on Gaming, would switching to "Normal" make it better? I have no idea how they differentiate these two fan profiles.

Also, I heard that there are people with undervolting mods for Aero15, where can I find them?

 

What RAM should I get that will match with the stick that comes with the laptop?

 

The laptop maker may change brands or models within a production run, certainly over many production runs they might use different make / models, so you need to not go by what someone else's laptop has - you need to check for yourself.

You can use CPU-Z to look at the memory make / model, here's an example:

You can download CPU-Z here:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

Re: the keyboard modifier keys issue - with fusion firmware v1.1.5 Ctrl + Shift + N works. However, I remap my Caps key to Ctrl for development work, and Caps + Shift + N, along with several other combinations, do not work.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897578.aspx (remap tool for Windows, but I actually dual-boot Ubuntu 16.04 LTS/Win10)

Support essentially told me that they don't consider my 'unusual' setup valid. This setup works on every other laptop I've owned, as well as external keyboards.

Sadly, this is a deal-breaker for me, and I'll likely return/resell the laptop.

Is there an aftermarket, drop-in replacement keyboard available for the Gigabyte Aero 15?

 

When installing the SSD i removed the foam from the SSD spot. Am i supposed to remove the foam next to the battery too? I am worried because the foam next to the battery puts pressure on the SSD.

 

@vinceboiii , I assume that you are referring to this guide. What is the application that creates the green battery icon on your taskbar to the left of the notification area which can be seen in the screenshot you included:

Also I notice a difference in the display of remaining battery life (5:40 vs. 9:58). My Aero 15 is more like 5 hours when I'm just "browsing the Internet".

@uberdev , that's great news but how do I get this Gigabyte Fusion firmware? My Gigabyte Fusion displays "VER 4.1.6 FIRMWARE 1.1.4" and Smart Update does not provide any more recent drivers.

Speaking of Smart Update, after updating it to 3.5.9 it displays an error message when starting " GMSG has stopped working". Anybody else observed this issue?

Update 2017-07-16: After updating Smart Update to 3.6.2 the error message is gone and Smart Update works as expected.

 

To get 1.15
Open Gigabyte Fusion then click the gear next to minimize and close

 

Yes, that is the guide I followed. The program is batterybar. You can get it at https://batterybarpro.com/ I know I'm getting more than 5 hours with browsing probably 6 hours still really good.

 

IMPORTANT HEADS UP FOR OWNERS LOOKING INTO UPGRADING TO THE LATEST CREATORS UPDATE

Guys, I was meant to post this up the other day after my initial findings but I've only just remembered to now. I first discovered this on a brand new 7700HQ Aero 14 that I was working on for a friend the other day - before commencing with the Creators Update, it is imperative that you do a complete backup image of all the original Gigabyte partitions FIRST beforehand. The reason for this is that after upgrading to the Creators Update, the original Gigabyte partition is somehow messed up / corrupted in the process and if you attempt to carry out either the F9 factory reset / Reset this PC option to restore back to factory default, the built in Gigabyte recovery program simply kicks you out of it when you attempt to start the process.

Even though I discovered this on the latest Aero 14, I imagine that this is highly likely to also affect the Aero 15 considering that they are near enough identical laptops in terms of specs and the overall software setup.

This may be automatically rectified by Windows / Gigabyte in time but for the time being - please bare this in mind before upgrading. In order to backup your original Gigabyte partitions, download & install the free version of Macrium Reflect free in order to carry this out. The complete partitions together as one image (I believe there should be five partitions in total, as per Disk Management within Windows) should take up around 60GB on a backup drive.

Many thanks - Liam.

 

So I just did a clean install after installing my 960 EVO... it appears that those partitions may beginning 2 different SSDs...is this problematic?




One problem I'm having is that I ordered the upgrade to Windows Pro. Upon clean install with my new SSD as the primary, the new Pro OEM key won't activate. I guess it only gets one MoBo/SSD ID combo or something?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

Aw man... Too late, just did the creator's update last night. =(

I did do the Gigabyte smart back-up before that though?

 

It looks like it's really hard to find another stick of CBD24D4S7D8MB-16.

Must be some OEM only model.

 

Shame about the creator's update, but is a restore really necessary? From my experience, re-installing W10 is fairly painless and the greatest time-sink is doing all the updates and app-installing post install.

Does the recovery image rectify that?

 

I'm only advising to back up the original & recovery partitions in the event that you need to factory restore the laptop if say you get a virus or corrupt Windows itself and no other option to repair the installation, plus restoring the factory defaults is expected if you need to RMA or send in for repair - plus it looks better if you sell the laptop on as well.

Restoring to the factory image in question via the F9 key in the BIOS is fairly painless and much quicker than reinstalling Windows manually as well - it takes literally 10 minutes from the start to arriving back to out of the box state, I.e. brand new & all original drivers already pre-installed with the recovery image.

@Meetloaf13 - The original key that the laptop comes with is tied with the motherboard and eventually linked to your Microsoft account. Depending which version of Windows 10 yours came with, a reinstall of Windows will automatically install either Home / Pro straight away without giving you the option to choose your version.

Liam.

 

You should also be fine in that case as I believe the Smart USB recovery is basically the recovery image & all partitions ported as a back up USB, it should work in a similar way to the F9 function in the BIOS.

Liam.

 

I can confirm what Liam is saying is true. Have just tested my machine and hit F9 for recovery and can see creators has screwed up my recovery partition.

 

Is there a simple way to prevent Creator's Update? Did a google search but nothing looked particularly intuitive for windows 10 home. I just did a gigabyte smart backup usb since his aero hasn't updated to creator's yet.

 

As far as I know Creators Update is still only available via Windows Update to those who have the compatible hardware. However those who want to proceed with it at their own risk can still do so via the Windows Upgrade Assistant program.

Either way Microsoft don't force you to download it, we all had the update arrive via Windows Update on all of our machines at work and still gave us the option to install.

Liam.

 

Perfect- I thought it would be one of those automatic downloaded items that installs on its own and you only know when you reboot and it starts telling you about new features...

I did find the Windows Update -> Advanced Options -> "Defer Feature Updates" and clicked that as well, just in case.

EDIT: Apparently this option is on my desktop because I have Pro, but not on the Aero because it shipped with Home...

 

UPDATE GUYS - LOOKS LIKE GIGABYTE ALREADY ISSUED A FIX THAT RELATES TO THE FOLLOWING A FEW DAYS AGO:

http://www.gigabyte.us/Laptop/AERO-15#support-dl

Navigate down to the utility section of the downloads page - "GIGABYTE Recovery Tool Fix".

Many thanks - Liam.

 

There are a few hits on google:
https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=CBD24D4S7D8MB-16

But, this isn't unusual, you can get the specs off the label on your SODIMM (or a photo online, or a spec list if posted online), and then find a spec matched part from the same manufacturer production family - usually many parts show up on the manufacturer's web site for a family of parts ranging in GB/SODIMM and are easily available online or in parts stores.

It takes a little digging, but so far it's always been possible.

If not, then buy a pair (2x or 4x depending on laptop sockets) of what you do want - I'd at least pick the same speed - and replace the OEM memory completely - don't try to mix make/model.

Please do post what you find and how it works out

 

Is there an easy way to create a recovery partition? I don't think I have a valid partition currently for my OS.

 

Does Gigabyte provide the recovery media? Can you order it?

Asus and MSI have tools included with the OS image that will create a recovery boot USB drive, with a full install of the original out of the box OS image.

Many people ignore the pop'up's to run and create the image, but it's there and available.

With Asus / MSI if you don't create the recovery boot USB flash drive and you delete the recovery partition, you are mostly out of luck. You can send in the laptop to MSI / Asus and they will restore the original image including the recovery partition.

I'd open a ticket with Gigabyte/Aorus support for their guidance.

 

meh, I formatted the original SSD without thinking and have installed on my 960EVO.

I can clean install easy enough and then go back and do a backup with Macrium or the like. I do have a Win10 image from the DVD.

Thanks

 

Does anyone else have issues with the laptop staying in a closed state?

When i put my Aero 15 in a laptop sleeve it seems to open a little when it's in a vertical state and i worry as i keep it in my backpack or whatever it will be flopping about. or if i should get a new one, the hinge seems weak. Maybe it's because i don't have a sleeve which fits perfectly, it's a bit large...

 

For those situations, where the hinge is stiff or floppy and it won't stay closed, I have large elastic bands, and keep one or two around it when closed and packed in the bag.

The bad thing that can happen is the screen will pop open a bit and turn on in the bag or something will get between the screen and the keyboard - turning on the laptop, which can take hours to discover and bake the screen... I've seen it happen, fortunately not to me - I learned this early on and keep the laptop closed however necessary while in the bag.

Elastic band to keep notebooks closed will work on a laptop

Bethany Mota Notebook Rubber Bands - Turquoise and Black
https://www.target.com/p/bethany-mota-notebook-rubber-bands-turquoise-and-black/-/A-50607362

Notebook Rubber Bands - Set of 6
http://www.nanamipaper.com/products/notebook-rubber-bands-set-of-6.html

Darn they are out of stock, here is another source, but you gotta buy a *big* box quantity
http://www.monotaro.sg/g/00007522/

 

Do you happen to have one of those sliding shades over the camera eye? If so, removing it helps a bit;-)

 

Sliding shade over the camera eye?

Better to disconnect the camera / mic from USB internally and put a happy face sticker over the hole

 

Electrical tape was my fix of choice, but you get the shades as swag at trade shows now...