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It depends on what your priorities are, but I recently bought a LG Gram 17" and absolutely love it. It has a massive 17" 2560-1600 screen, yet is as light as a

It depends on what your priorities are, but I recently bought a LG Gram 17" and absolutely love it. It has a massive 17" 2560-1600 screen, yet is as light as a Macbook Air, and practically as thin too. 13 hour battery life, and super comfortable keyboard. Even the charger is smaller and lighter than any other I've seen. Honestly I've never seen anything like this in my life, and only $1,448 (https://amzn.to/2P2txdv https://amzn.to/2P2txdv) I've also used a Dell XPS 15 9570 for the past year and a half which I spent $2.6k on (similar to this https://amzn.to/33PA53x https://amzn.to/33PA53x). Specs-wise it's awesome and blows the MBP out of the park particularly when you factor in the price. But I've had a lot of issues with it unfortunately, having to get it repaired twice, and then another couple times I've had the screen just start glitching and crashing, both times resolving it via reinstalling Windows (seems to have been problems with the drivers). Outside of that, the laptop itself is a bit thicker and heavier than a MBP, the battery life is pretty weak (4 hours maybe?), it gets very hot and the fans get really loud, and the Wifi card sucks. Although the 4k screen is beautiful with fantastic anti-reflection, I've found that I prefer the 16:10 aspect ratio of the LG Gram and MBP vs. the 16:9 of the Dell since the former feels way bigger and I find having a taller screen more convenient (eg. for coding). Ultimately it comes down to your preferences. Do you prioritize having the best specs? Then between the two you should get a Dell XPS 15 or alternatively a Dell Precision 5540 (very similar to the XPS 15, but more geared towards 3D work). If on the other hand you value portability but love having a large screen, I highly recommend the LG Gram 17. I don't think there's ever been a 17" laptop as light and portable as this one. Ever since I received my LG, I stopped using my Dell. Unless you're doing a ton of video editing, 3d graphics work, or gaming, you really don't need more than 16gb RAM and an i7 processor. For stuff like coding and browsing the web, I certainly don't notice any performance difference (haven't tested more intensive stuff yet).

pkalinowski 7y ago
How do you find the touchpad? I disqualified LG Gram because of it, feels like cheap $500 HP laptop
- duchenne 7y ago
  I have also used an LG gram for 5+ years. The touchpad is just normal. Maybe, you say that it feels cheap because it bends a little bit when you press it. I guess that is the price to pay to have a 17 inches laptop under a kilogram. However, I did not notice any mechanical failure. The keyboard is still as solid as day one. I just had to change the battery at some point, it was super cheap and easy to change by myself with a standard screwdriver. I regularly loose the charger, but it is also cheap to buy a new one.
- JDiculous 7y ago
  Apple laptops have the best touchpads bar none. But the LG Gram's touchpad is fine, certainly no worse than any other non-Apple laptop. My only real complaint would be that it's only clickable halfway down (unlike the Macbook touchpad where you can click it from the top), but as far as I'm aware that's how it is on every other non-Apple laptop (including the Dell XPS 15)
tasuki 7y ago
Never heard about the LG Gram - looks pretty nice! How is the chassis?
antongribok 7y ago
Came here to post about the LG Gram 17 as well. I too have never seen anything like it. I bought mine from Costco for $1200. They seemed to have some exclusive model where the specs are exactly the same as yours, but it only came with a 256 GB SSD, all other specs are the same (the model number has one character different: 17Z990-R.AAS7U1 vs. your 17Z990-R.AAS8U1). The 16:10 screen is excellent. The battery life for me is about 16 hours, enough for a 2-day stretch, and I can go on a short business trip without ever having to plug in. I transferred my 3 year old Fedora install with dd from an XPS 13, and then upgraded from 29 to 30 with zero issues. Edit to add: Mine fits in a backpack meant for a 15" laptop.
least 7y ago
If you open the chassis of a macbook pro, you'll see it packed with components, fitting together just barely, like a puzzle. The lack of flex anywhere on the chassis and machined aluminum make it look and feel premium. The LG gram 17 is a machine of pure compromise in pursuit of lightness. The material is carbon magnesium and pressing down on any part of the machine results in a disconcerting flex. The inside of the chassis you see a lot of empty space. The battery, while certainly more than sufficient, is still quite a bit smaller than it could be (72wh). The space inside could easily accommodate the maximum TSA allowed 100wh battery. The keyboard is cludgy, the speakers kind of suck, and the trackpad is nowhere close to what Apple is doing. Still, the device is in a class of its own. It has a beautiful 17 inch 16:10 display, eschews a discrete gpu for battery and heat improvements which is unheard of in a 17 inch form factor, and is incredibly light, like you've said. I'm glad that the device exists. I hope LG keeps producing it, and I hope that other companies steal the idea.
- JDiculous 7y ago
  Any flex on the chassis is too subtle for me to be noticeable, certainly something one gets used to very quickly. It would be nice to have a larger battery, but I'm content with my 10-13 hours of battery life. The keyboard is the best laptop keyboard I've used in recent memory. Way better than the Dell XPS 15 or the current Macbook lineup with their butterfly keys. I'd say it's comparable to the 2015 Macbook Pro keys. Yes the speakers suck being on the bottom of the laptop, and the trackpad doesn't compete with Apple's (though neither does any other non-Apple machine).

pkalinowski 7y ago

How do you find the touchpad? I disqualified LG Gram because of it, feels like cheap $500 HP laptop

duchenne 7y ago
I have also used an LG gram for 5+ years. The touchpad is just normal. Maybe, you say that it feels cheap because it bends a little bit when you press it. I guess that is the price to pay to have a 17 inches laptop under a kilogram. However, I did not notice any mechanical failure. The keyboard is still as solid as day one. I just had to change the battery at some point, it was super cheap and easy to change by myself with a standard screwdriver. I regularly loose the charger, but it is also cheap to buy a new one.
JDiculous 7y ago
Apple laptops have the best touchpads bar none. But the LG Gram's touchpad is fine, certainly no worse than any other non-Apple laptop. My only real complaint would be that it's only clickable halfway down (unlike the Macbook touchpad where you can click it from the top), but as far as I'm aware that's how it is on every other non-Apple laptop (including the Dell XPS 15)

tasuki 7y ago

Never heard about the LG Gram - looks pretty nice! How is the chassis?

antongribok 7y ago

Came here to post about the LG Gram 17 as well. I too have never seen anything like it. I bought mine from Costco for $1200. They seemed to have some exclusive model where the specs are exactly the same as yours, but it only came with a 256 GB SSD, all other specs are the same (the model number has one character different: 17Z990-R.AAS7U1 vs. your 17Z990-R.AAS8U1). The 16:10 screen is excellent. The battery life for me is about 16 hours, enough for a 2-day stretch, and I can go on a short business trip without ever having to plug in. I transferred my 3 year old Fedora install with dd from an XPS 13, and then upgraded from 29 to 30 with zero issues. Edit to add: Mine fits in a backpack meant for a 15" laptop.

least 7y ago

If you open the chassis of a macbook pro, you'll see it packed with components, fitting together just barely, like a puzzle. The lack of flex anywhere on the chassis and machined aluminum make it look and feel premium. The LG gram 17 is a machine of pure compromise in pursuit of lightness. The material is carbon magnesium and pressing down on any part of the machine results in a disconcerting flex. The inside of the chassis you see a lot of empty space. The battery, while certainly more than sufficient, is still quite a bit smaller than it could be (72wh). The space inside could easily accommodate the maximum TSA allowed 100wh battery. The keyboard is cludgy, the speakers kind of suck, and the trackpad is nowhere close to what Apple is doing. Still, the device is in a class of its own. It has a beautiful 17 inch 16:10 display, eschews a discrete gpu for battery and heat improvements which is unheard of in a 17 inch form factor, and is incredibly light, like you've said. I'm glad that the device exists. I hope LG keeps producing it, and I hope that other companies steal the idea.

JDiculous 7y ago
Any flex on the chassis is too subtle for me to be noticeable, certainly something one gets used to very quickly. It would be nice to have a larger battery, but I'm content with my 10-13 hours of battery life. The keyboard is the best laptop keyboard I've used in recent memory. Way better than the Dell XPS 15 or the current Macbook lineup with their butterfly keys. I'd say it's comparable to the 2015 Macbook Pro keys. Yes the speakers suck being on the bottom of the laptop, and the trackpad doesn't compete with Apple's (though neither does any other non-Apple machine).