Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you
Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you
Gigabyte Aero 2019

Gigabyte’s Aero brings big screens, performance to creatives

Not all laptops are created equal, and if you need the power of a desktop made to go, there may be a new option or two on the way from component and computer maker Gigabyte.

Various laptops fit various purposes, but there’s rarely a “one size fits all” approach that you can necessarily apply on the whole if you’re someone who classifies themselves as a creative.

If you’re not and need a laptop to surf the web, use some productivity tools, and email and talk to friends, any laptop should do, with your main focus likely to be on battery life and size.

But if your work entails graphics, be it through Photoshop or 3D animation, or if you’re a creative that craves a big screen much like a desktop, you’re probably looking at something else. The whole “anything will do” approach likely doesn’t match what you need.

There are numerous machines in the workstation category, and it’s an area Dell throws itself into alongside HP, while Apple’s MacBook Pro 15 grabs attention here, too, but they’re not the only brands.

Component maker Gigabyte has been getting into laptops over the past few years, and its latest take on its Aero laptop appears to focus on mobile workstation computing to deliver big performance with big screens, even bringing to life a 17 inch version for people who need a massive screen on the go.

Unsurprisingly, the 17 inch version will be big, but there will also be two 15 inch variations, with the Aero 15 and the Aero 15 OLED, the latter using a dynamic OLED screen for a computer, something we don’t see as often as LCD screens.

Across the range, it’s fairly clear Gigabyte is focusing on creatives, with Pantone certified and calibrated screens, high-end Intel Core i7 and i9 processors, and an included GeForce graphics chip, either in the GTX 16 or the RTX 20. As such, it could be ideal for creatives or even gamers, with folks looking for raw power the target here, complete with support for WiFi 6 using a Killer brand module there, and even support for hard-wired Ethernet too.

The hardware itself uses a combination of parts to keep the processor and graphics chip cool, while the body is crafted from aluminium. There’s even support for an AI component from Microsoft Azure — a world first in a laptop, apparently — that optimises the power and performance of the software being used at the time.

About the only thing that may give you pause on the Gigabyte Aero series is the size and weight, with the 15 inch models starting from 2.1 kilograms, while the 17 inch Aero sits closer to 2.5 kilograms.

You’ll find the Gigabyte Aero computers in stores soon with pricing from $3799.

Read next