And when you open this device, there is a screen all the time. This is the only screen. I’m not going to say anything about this part of the laptop that you wouldn’t imagine from the phrase ’17-inch’, but in case you’re wondering, it’s great to have this much space. You can have two or even three windows or applications open at once. You can zoom in on text as much as you like while reading or writing – there’s so much in this panel that you won’t want to go back to a 13-inch personal computer. It has a high resolution (2560 x 1600) and a matte texture with no glare.
In terms of performance, Gram’s Core i7-1260P is a step down in power from the processors in Dell machines. Aside from the weight difference, the power difference is the main differentiator between the Gram and the XPS. While the XPS has the advantage in professional work and gaming, the Gram has a huge advantage in battery life: the 1260P is more than sufficient for office and internet use and covers most of my own workload.
The Gram does not have a discrete GPU, but it can lend a hand with content creation if required. The device scored a reasonable 323 in PugetBench’s Premiere Pro (for integrated graphics), completing a typical export test in 10 minutes 45 seconds (which is slow, but not painfully fast). To be clear, we would not recommend this device if you frequently use Adobe software such as Premiere. This is because, in general, we found it a little unresponsive and slow.
The magnesium alloy chassis not only reduces weight, but also withstands some abuse to meet MIL-STD-810 durability tests for shock, vibration and temperature. While not quite a rugged laptop, the Gram 17 can be used on the go and its jet-black finish makes it business-ready for all occasions.
Another feature is the 17-inch display, with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels – better than Full HD, with 350 nits of brightness and excellent clarity thanks to IPS panel technology. A screen of this size provides ample visual area for everything from web browsing and media streaming to photo editing and detailed work on documents and spreadsheets.
When we tested this panel, we were quite satisfied with its performance: with 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 colour reproduction, it delivers the highest levels of colour quality. The only thing missing is touch functionality. LG achieves this by using magnesium for a large part of the construction of this laptop, which you may not like. Magnesium is much thinner than aluminium, yet very strong. That is why it is often used in these very light laptops.