Control/Dimming Ion XE vs Gio @5

[gafftaper]

I'm debating purchasing an Ion XE vs a Gio @5. There are obvious physical differences in the two: built in screen, buttons on the screen, 5 motorized faders, differences in channel capacity. Based on my theater's needs, I think an IonXE with the upgraded channel count and a fader wing matches all my needs just fine. But after you add that channel upgrade, the price difference between the two is not much, so I haven't ruled out Gio. Based on my booth design I would actually prefer to have a monitor off to the side, I think it would be difficult to see the stage over the Gio @5's screen and hard to see the screen with it folded down. Although I have a nice growing collection of LED's and movers, I'm still very much a conventional house. So Gio is probably overkill for my needs. This all leaves me leaning heavily towards ION XE with a fader wing. But I thought I would check to see if there are any more subtle differences between the two that either make a difference in performance (for example does Gio have a better processor, more RAM, larger SSD, etc...) or are there any differences between the two that you feel as a user over time, but aren't obvious at first?

Thanks!

 

[aeh20s]

I'd get the Ion Xe 20. I'm a big fan of have 20 built-in faders. Functionality wise there isn't enough difference between the models that if not have a built in touch screen doesn't hurt you, then you don't need the Gio.

 

[sk8rsdad]

I'm in the exact same boat. I would prefer to have the Gio@5 but the form factor of the Ion XE works better for my shallow booth. I'm considering the Ion XE with 10 motorized faders instead of the Ion Xe 20 with manual faders though. We have had an Ion Classic with the 2x10 manual fader wing for a while now and it is underutilized. 20 faders isn't really enough for busking and page swapping without motorized faders is a bit of a struggle.

The internals of the Gio @5 are probably a little beefier but I can't prove it. It has 3 display ports and supports more external monitors than an XE can, possibly more than would be required. In my case we have several client and/or Nomad dongles so it's not a reason to buy one.

This article gives some hints about the internals of the Gio.