Update 7/1/16 by Kevin Parrish: Gigabyte’s new Aero 14 laptop, which made its debut right before the start of Computex 2016, has finally appeared on Newegg here in the States for $1,600. Offered in black, green, and orange flavors, this laptop promises awesome PC gaming on-the-go thanks to a discrete graphics chip provided by Nvidia, an Intel “Skylake” processor, and a meaty 94.24Wh battery. There’s plenty of memory too, making this an awesome portable gaming candidate for mobile PC gamers.
Even though the new GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 releases from Nvidia are tearing up the benchmark charts right now, we shouldn’t discount the last generation of graphical hardware just yet, especially when it comes to gaming notebooks. Gigabyte’s new Aero 14 is a supremely thin gaming laptop that offers up to 10 hours of gaming on its GTX 970M graphics processor.
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The Aero 14 is a powerful and compact laptop. It measures in at just 20mm thick at its widest point and weighs just 4.19 pounds. Much of the frame work is taken up by the 14-inch IPS anti-glare display packing a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, which can handle a 60Hz refresh rate and wide viewing angles, according to the Newegg specs. The screen does not offer touch-based input.
Internally, the laptop is powered by a strong, sixth-generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz) “Skylake” quad-core processor that’s paired up with 6MB of L3 cache, and 16GB of DDR4 memory (32GB maximum via two slots) running at 2,133MHz – which does actually make a difference, as we recently reported.
While Gigabyte is touting this notebook as coming complete with a discrete GTX 970M GPU with 3GB of VRAM, potential buyers will supposedly have a choice between that and a GTX 965M at some point if they don’t quite need as much power. And speaking of power, this laptop comes packing a 94.24 watt-hour battery, meaning it should last for upwards of 10 hours of usage.
On the storage front, the Aero 14 comes equipped with two M.2. PCI-Express SSD slots although only one 512GB SSD is installed. Based on the laptop’s original introduction, storage capacities are determined by region, so expect something different in listings outside the United States. The storage is backed by an SD card reader although the specs do not reveal its maximum capacity.
Back on the outside of the system, the Aero 14 packs three USB 3.0 Type-A ports, one USB 3.1 Type-C port, one mini DisplayPort connection, and one HDMI 2.0 port. There’s no Ethernet port, meaning the laptop relies on Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. Other bells and whistles include two 1.5-watt speakers backed by Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater, an auto-adjusting backlit keyboard with individual macro keys, an HD webcam, a multi-touch touchpad, and Windows 10 Home. The laptop’s overall dimensions are 13.9 x 9.84 x 0.78 inches. Nice.
Finally, the new Aero 14 laptop comes packed with a free, three-month license to Xsplit Gamecaster Premium. This software allows Aero 14 owners to record their greatest gaming moments and even stream live sessions directly to Twitch and other social sites. With the laptop’s embedded webcam, owners can even show their true game face when smacked with utter defeat, or when they’re upstaged by Windows 10 wanting to make an immediate security/feature update.
That all said, customers can get free three-day shipping on this laptop if they are enrolled with Newegg’s “Premier” service. Additional information about this subscription service can be acquired right here.
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