MAY 2020 PCWorld 61The Aero 17’s is 720p—the resolution
you’ll find on the vast majority of laptop
webcams. It’s the standard for video calls—a
1080p webcam may get a finer image, but
the file size will be huge. We appreciate the
slide cover to black out the camera.
Unfortunately, the low-mount design
creates an awkward default angle for
videoconferencing, emphasizing your nostrils
and double chin rather than your designer
eyewear. It also makes your coworkers think
you’re not even paying attention when, in
fact, you’re staring right at your screen. You
can see this illustrated in the picture above.
Despite staring directly at the laptop’s
screen, it looks like I’m staring out into space,
wishing I had looped video of myself into this
never-ending meeting (see page 113). The
camera itself seems OK, though I noticed a
fair amount of compression and noise.AERO 17 UPGRADE
OPTIONS
The Aero 17’s design is fairly friendly for
upgrades, with the RAM and SSDs accessible
once the bottom is removed. In the image on
the next page (provided by Gigabyte), there’s
a free M.2 slot should you need to add
internal storage. RAM is right there, too. You
can also see the cooling for the laptop.The Aero 17’s webcam will make your boss think you’re not paying attention even when you’re staring
smack-dab at the screen.