GIGABYTE P34 v5 Gaming Laptop Review

Display

The 14-inch display itself is an IPS model made by LG and is capable of producing some very nice, rich colors. The 2560x1440-pixel resolution is sufficient at this size, and you'll be hard pressed to pick out individual pixels at all. Details were crisp, and Windows seemed to scale well at this pixel density of 210 PPI. It's a little dim compared to what some might be used when the brightness is turned all the way up, capable of only 288 cd/m^2 of brightness. That's not terrible, but it also means it's not readable in direct sunlight. Though I'm not sure why you'd want to take this, or any laptop, out and orient the screen towards the sun anyway.

Testing it with an X-Rite i1Pro Basic 2 showed that the screen is capable of nearly 77% of the sRGB color spectrum, which translates to around 49% of the AdobeRGB 1998 spectrum. When calibrated, we noted a contrast ratio of 731:1 with a black level of 0.36. It's not the best screen on the market, but not terrible either. What might be off-putting are the bezels, which are fairly thick, though the color of them does help to minimize their appearance when you're actively concentrating on what you're doing on screen.

The resolution itself is fantastic for desktop work, and can even do well for games, but let's be honest and practical. It's not going to always be capable of playing all your favorite games at that resolution, and thankfully it scales well to 1920x1080 with minimal problems. There's a slight bump in brightness, but text is more than legible, and the screen still looks great despite it not being the native resolution.

Keyboard & Trackpad

A good trackpad can make or break a laptop. Maybe I've been spoiled by the smooth and well-designed trackpads on Macs for the past few years, or maybe I'm just a trackpad enthusiast. Either way, if the default method of interacting with your shiny new device doesn't quite work so well, then it can become frustrating very off putting. The Elan-sourced touchpad is a bit strange to use compared to the Synaptics or even those made by Apple. The surface itself is smooth, but even with sensitivity turned up, it's difficult to move around as much as I'd like. The software is also a bit less intuitive, and there are issues with the pointer jumping at times when you're trying to perform any of the Windows multi-touch gestures. You'll likely appreciate plugging in a mouse here.