Wednesday, May 10th 2017

Gigabyte is Recalling Its Aero 15 Gaming Laptops (Update: False Alarm)

Update: Apparently, there was a miscommunication between Gigabyte and user Treebsquire's Aero 15 seller, Scan. The nature of this miscommunication - and how this would lead to a report on battery issues - is still up in the air, but it would seem that Gigabyte isn't recalling their Aero 15 laptops after all, so rest easy if you have one of these.

Gigabyte has recently launched the Aero 15, a gaming laptop which really does bring some value to the wording "Aero" through some interesting aesthetics and an amazing thickness (1.9 cm) for the hardware under the hood: packed inside the AERO 15 is the latest 7th gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB graphics, DDR4 ram, as well as a PCIe M.2 SSD (through different configurations.)

It's apparently a good product, having received some respectable reviews, and its 94Wh battery was being touted as a distinguishing feature, as being up to 2x larger than average battery sizes for laptops, which was able to power the laptop through 10 hours of Mobilemark's 2014 Productivity Mode. However, it would seem that this battery is capable of bringing problems to the user, and potentially put their safety at risk. Just one week after release, Gigabyte is recalling their Aero 15 laptops. A user on Reddit brought the issue to the community, saying that a Gigabyte rep he contacted informed him the Aero 15's have a battery fault.
With Samsung's Note 7 debacle still on everyone's minds (even if now it needs to be pulled from them old memory drawers), Gigabyte is taking no chances, and are recalling their laptops before any PR disaster can happen. The user said Gigabyte assured him new, replacement laptops should be sent out soon, but the company was (perhaps understandably) scant with details on what is actually wrong with the batteries. So now, you know: if you own an Aero 15 and haven't been contacted by Gigabyte, make sure to contact their customer support and inquire whether you need your Aero 15 to be replaced - this could be a problem with some batches of the laptop, and not with all production models. But it's better to be safe than sorry. An argument can be made as to properly QA testing parts (especially batteries) before releasing products to the consumers, but there are so many variables in every one consumer electronics that some are bound (almost guaranteed, in fact) to slip through the cracks. However, it's commendable to see Gigabyte taking no time in replacing the laptops as soon as possible (which is naturally in their best interest.)
Source: Reddit @ user Treebsquire
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12 Comments on Gigabyte is Recalling Its Aero 15 Gaming Laptops (Update: False Alarm)

#1
ShurikN
and potentially put their security at risk
You mean safety.
Posted on Reply
#2
lexluthermiester
ShurikNYou mean safety.
Agreed, fairly certain Raevenlord meant safety.
Posted on Reply
#3
Raevenlord
News Editor
Indeed that's what I meant, thank you guys for the heads-up :)
Posted on Reply
#4
Caring1
Judging by the recall, it should be safe to assume the battery is a non user serviceable item and must be changed under warranty.
Posted on Reply
#5
dorsetknob
"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"
Caring1, it should be safe to assume the battery is a non user serviceable item and must be changed under warranty.
Raevenlordand an amazing thickness (1.9 cm)
These Days thats a Given
Builds that thin >>>> would if they had a removable battery>>> would flex to much bringing on their own warranty problems
such as cracking case's / Screens ect
So they make it non removable and Glued into place ( to aid Rigidity as such as it is ).
It Also Restrict the Ability of 3rd party Repairer's to ""Service "" them
Posted on Reply
#6
alucasa
Safety? I think not.

Sanity, you mean. Imagine having such an expensive laptop catch fire on you. You will go nuts.
Posted on Reply
#7
Treebsquire
I was the one that posted the reddit. Just to be clear, it wasn't Gigabyte that contacted me about the recall, it was scan.co.uk, where I bought it from. Scan told me there was a battery fault with the units and they were doing a recall but Gigabyte called me this morning and the chap I spoke to said that this was not the case and an error on scans part. They have recalled some units, but not all and they advised I don't need to send mine back.
Posted on Reply
#8
alucasa
And it seems your sanity as well as safety are intact. That's good news.
Posted on Reply
#9
CrAsHnBuRnXp
alucasaSafety? I think not.

Sanity, you mean. Imagine having such an expensive laptop catch fire on you. You will go nuts.
Or it will burn your nuts.
Posted on Reply
#10
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
Typical Gigabyte quality...
Posted on Reply
#11
lexluthermiester
Caring1Judging by the recall, it should be safe to assume the battery is a non user serviceable item and must be changed under warranty.
Yet another in a long list of reasons to demand manufacturers make their devices with user replaceable batteries. I don't use anything that can't have it's battery easily replaced by the user.
Posted on Reply
#12
CDman
Could anyone confirm if Aero 15 is capable of using external VGA cases thru integrated TB3 ? Is this full 40Gb TB3 or crippled version like in new Dell XPS 15 /20Gbit only/. As I see it, new Aero 15 vs Aero 14 /2017 version/ it does have these 2 main advantages: 2x M2 slots and TB3.

Any test/explanation of TB3 function will be usefull for me /still considering Alienware 13 R3/.

Thank you

P.S: its hard to get any online shop in middle Europe selling new Aero 15
Posted on Reply
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