LG Releases Gram 17 Laptop: An Ultra-Thin Notebook with a 17.3-Inch Display
by Anton Shilov on December 6, 2018 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Notebooks
- Intel
- LG
- Laptops
- Core 8th Gen
- LG Gram
- Whiskey Lake
Due to their size and lack of portability, 17-inch notebooks are not exactly popular among road warriors. Instead this is largely the domain of desktop replacement-class machines, which in turn has caused 17-inch laptops to be built bigger still in order to maximize their performance and emphasize the replacement aspect. Every now and then however we see a 17-inch laptop that still tries to be reasonably portable, and this is the case with LG's latest gram laptop, which hit the market this week.
Equipped with a 17.3-inch screen featuring a 2560×1600 resolution, the LG gram 17 comes in a dark silver Carbon Magnesium alloy chassis that is only 17.8 mm (0.7 inches) thick, which is thinner than most 15-inch notebooks (in fact, this even thinner than the ASUS ZenBook Pro 15). Meanwhile, the laptop weighs 1.33 kilograms (2.95 pounds), which is in line with many 13-inch mobile PCs. As a result, while the 17-inch gram still has a relatively large footprint, its still a relatively portable laptop.
Moving on to the guts of the unique laptop, the LG gram 17 is based on Intel’s quad-core Core i7-8565U (Whiskey Lake-U) processor with the company’s UHD Graphics 620 iGPU, and is paired with 16 GB of DDR4-2400 RAM as well as 512 GB SATA SSD. Unlike the vast majority of 17-inch notebooks, the LG gram 17 does not have a discrete GPU, which will be missed by gamers and performance enthusiasts, but the removal of which helps keep weight and power consumption down for road warriors.
When it comes to connectivity, the LG gram 17 has a 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth module, three USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB Type-C connector that can be used for charging (there is a special power connector too), an HDMI output, a microSD slot, and a TRRS jack for headsets. The notebook is also outfitted with a webcam featuring an IR sensor for Windows Hello as well as a fingerprint reader, thus offering two ways of biometric authentication.
| Specifications of the LG gram 17 | ||
| 17Z990-R.AAS8U1 different products will offer different configs |
||
| LCD | Diagonal | 17.3" |
| Resolution | Brightness | Features | 2560×1600 Wide viewing angles |
|
| Color Gamut | 100% sRGB (?) | |
| Touch Support | ? | |
| Protective Glass | Corning Gorilla Glass NBT (?) | |
| CPU | Core i7-8565U (4C/8T, 8MB, 1.8/4.6 GHz) | |
| Graphics | UHD Graphics 620 (24 EUs) | |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4-2400 (onboard) | |
| Storage | 512 GB SATA SSD | |
| Wireless: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, NFC, and GPS options | I802.11ac (2x2) Wi-Fi + Bluetooth | |
| USB | Type-A | 3 × USB 3.0 |
| Type-C | 1 × USB 3.1 Gen 1 | |
| Thunderbolt | - | |
| Card Reader | microSD | |
| Camera | Front | Webcam with IR sensors |
| Fingerprint Sensor | Yes | |
| Other I/O | Microphone, stereo speakers, TRRS audio jack | |
| Other Sensors | ? | |
| Battery | 4-cell, up to 19.5 hours | |
| Dimensions | Width | 38.1 cm | 15 inches |
| Depth | 26.67 cm | 10.5 inches | |
| Thickness | 1.778 cm | 0.7 inches | |
| Weight | 1.33 kilograms | 2.95 pounds | |
| Launch Price | Starting at $1,699 | |
One of the key features of this year’s LG gram laptops is a high-capacity battery, which in the case of the 13.3 – 15.6-inch models allows up to 22.5 hours on one charge. LG does not disclose capacity of the battery it uses for the LG gram 17, but only says that the machine can operate for up to 19.5 hours on a charge.
LG’s gram 17 notebook is currently available from BestBuy for $1,699, which looks like a rather competitive price for a laptop that weighs like a 13-inch machine, yet features a 17-inch display panel.
Related Reading:
- Best Laptops: Holiday 2018
- LG Gram 2018 Laptops Unveiled: Quad-Core i5/i7, TB3, ~2.2 Lbs, 22 Hrs
- Razer Unveils New Blade Stealth 13: Quad-Core Whiskey Lake, dGPU, 4K UHD
- HP Launches Ultra-Thin HP Spectre 13 x360: Quad-Core i7, Gigabit LTE, 22.5 Hr Battery Life
- Intel's Customized SoC for HP: Amber Lake-Y with On-Package LTE Modem
- Apple Announces 2018 MacBook Air: Entry-Level Laptop Gets Essential Refresh
- ASUS Unveils Ultra-Thin ZenBook Pro 15 with Six-Core Core i9, GTX 1050, Calibrated 4K LCD
Source: Best Buy (via Tom’s Hardware, Liliputing)
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iwod - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Surely this 17" Laptop is roughly the same as some 15" Laptop in the pass due to thinner bezel?Edit: Turns out not true, all the 15" MacBook Pro from 2008 till now is still smaller than this one.
Given many users are now literally using MacBook as a Desktop anyway, I wonder how will a 17" MacBook Pro Sell?
hfm - Friday, December 21, 2018 - link
I have a EVOC 1080 (Eurocom F5 Tornado) 15".. This thing is almost the exact same footprint as my 15. Granted my laptop has a 7700K and a GTX 1080. I have been wanting to switch out for something lighter and pair it with a Core X eGPU. This appears it's going to have TB3 on that thunderbolt port. This sounds like a REALLY good option.hfm - Friday, December 21, 2018 - link
Er.. (ENABLE EDITING!) I meant to say "TB3 on that USB-C port"jay6rey8 - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Charging more than $1000 for a laptop in 2018 without 4 lanes of Thunderbolt 3 is ridiculous. In terms of actual performance, this offers little more than a $600 system with an AMD APU unless you give that option of external graphics.jmunjr - Saturday, December 8, 2018 - link
the 15 inch Gram has a thunderbolt option, so maybe there will be one in 17 as well. Keep in mind the primary focus of this laptop line is to be as lightweight as possible, so it drops stuff that adds weight, including fans. This thing's CPU would over heat and throttle itself big time with a GPU or thunderbolt graphics added and used.hfm - Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - link
It's not going to throttle with TB3 added. It's also not going to throttle just because an eGPU is connected to a TB3 port. Depends on the game you are playing. At 15W TDP they should have PLENTY of room to put a decent heat management solution. Alas, if we're going by past performance with LG, the 16GB 15" Gram model with the TB3 port specifically, the heat management was extremely poor. Replacing the TIM helped quite a bit, but there was SO MUCH room for a bit larger heat sink and pipes that was wasted in the 15" model. I had never seen a more anemic heat sink than the one in the 15" Gram. Seeing how this 17" model has pretty much no extra features over the 15" it's probably almost all hollow inside given even the 15" had plenty of room to improve the heat management as it was.I am going to quote Ars Technica, who says the 17" DOES have a TB3 port, this just got exciting..
QUOTE:
The 17-inch LG Gram will include standard ultrabook specs: 8th-gen Intel processors, up to 16GB or RAM, and up to 512GB SSD. It will also have one Thunderbolt 3 port in addition to three USB-A 3.1 ports, HDMI port, microSD card slot, and an audio combo jack. An IR camera for Windows Hello isn't mentioned in LG's release, but the laptop will include a fingerprint reader (as the original Gram did).
END QUOTE
So here's hoping, if it has 4-lane TB3 this will be a REALLY good ultrabook that could be paired with an eGPU for some good gaming. Lets just hope we can reapply TIM and try to keep the clocks on that 8565U from dropping much...
Calista - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
The march of progress.. The only 17" inch laptop I have had (a Core 2 Duo back in 2008) had a weight of 3,5 kg. This is more or less a third of it.Cheako6486 - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
According to FCC testing, the laptop comes with the same 72wh battery as previous generations. It may also be configurable with a 512 NVMe and TB3.Source: https://fccid.io/BEJNT-17Z990/Test-Report/DTS-Repo...
Ankou - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Seems like once we pass 1,000 grams (1,330 grams here) the name LG Gram should change ;)hfm - Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - link
I wonder if they have a display model at Best Buy if they would let us install AIDA64 on there to see if that USB-C port is hiding some TB3 4-lane goodness.