Budget 90k+ Looking to buy LG Gram 17. Thoughts?

[codelad]

Firstly, have been looking to upgrade my old workhorse Thinkpad W520 with the following considerations:

* Intended use - primarily coding & builds, a bit of 2D graphics, video/sound editing & encoding.
* Will not game, not even casually. Don't need discrete graphics.
* Linux support. Will very likely get rid of Windows, so built-in OS not a factor.
* Decent balance between battery life, portability.
* Decent screen (don't really need the best of the best).
* Upgradability. Would like to avoid soldered memory. Prefer two storage slots (any SSD/HDD combination).
* Better than decent build quality.
* USB-C charging.
* Budget - 1~1.3L

Narrowed down to the LG Gram 17 (Core i7-1065G7/8GB/512GB, ~99K on Amazon), since it ticks most of the above. Still would appreciate comments and actual user experiences, especially with the following:

* Linux support. Supposedly has a kernel driver and documented Linux support. Any actual experiences to share?
* Actual build quality. Believe this is an all metal build, but is it solid enough and built to last?
* Said to have 2 memory slots, 2 storage slots. Can someone share actual specs for these? Is either memory soldered? Intend to upgrade both memory and storage, right away.
* Display & keyboard quality.
* Actual battery life.
* Available/supported accessories.
* Support & service.

Had also considered these, originally:

* Asus Zephyrus G14 (~1.2L) - Great specs, build. Don't need the graphics hardware. Upgradability worries me.
* HP Omen (~1.2L) - Same as above, except for the upgradability.
* Dell XPS 13, Thinkpad X1/P series - Known Linux support. Proven build quality. Overpriced for the specs - poor VFM.

Any other pointers/recommendations welcome too. Thank you.

 

[AINDRASIS_GUPTA]

I'd strongly suggest against the LG Gram. LG has a poor track record for service/support when it comes to laptops.

Instead, I'd suggest getting the Asus Zenbook 13 (costs 1.08 lacs).

ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Rs.109990 Price in India - Buy ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB

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www.flipkart.com

Comes with a beautiful OLED screen, 16GB RAM, Ryzen 7 (8 core/16 thread) and 1TB SSD. Weighs like a Macbook Pro (1.2KGs).

There's also an Intel variant of the same with a lesser price tag and comes with an 11th Gen i7 instead of the Ryzen (costs 1.01 lacs):

ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Rs.128990 Price in India - Buy ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin

Buy ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Online For Rs.128990 , Also get ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Specifications &...

www.flipkart.com

But, I'd gladly pick the Ryzen.

 

[i_rock098]

I'd strongly suggest against the LG Gram. LG has a poor track record for service/support when it comes to laptops.

Instead, I'd suggest getting the Asus Zenbook 13 (costs 1.08 lacs).

ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Rs.109990 Price in India - Buy ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB

Buy ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Online For Rs.109990 , Also get ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin...

www.flipkart.com

Comes with a beautiful OLED screen, 16GB RAM, Ryzen 7 (8 core/16 thread) and 1TB SSD. Weighs like a Macbook Pro (1.2KGs).

There's also an Intel variant of the same with a lesser price tag and comes with an 11th Gen i7 instead of the Ryzen (costs 1.01 lacs):

ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Rs.128990 Price in India - Buy ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin

Buy ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Online For Rs.128990 , Also get ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Specifications &...

www.flipkart.com

But, I'd gladly pick the Ryzen.

Laptop with OLED screen, wow I had no idea laptops came with OLED screens now.

Though won’t burn in be a problem?

 

[codelad]

I'd strongly suggest against the LG Gram. LG has a poor track record for service/support when it comes to laptops.

Instead, I'd suggest getting the Asus Zenbook 13 (costs 1.08 lacs).
...
Comes with a beautiful OLED screen, 16GB RAM, Ryzen 7 (8 core/16 thread) and 1TB SSD. Weighs like a Macbook Pro (1.2KGs).

Thank you. Looking at the LG Gram more carefully, I'm not particularly enthused about the build quality. So I'm pretty much back to square one.

About the Zenbook 13, love the OLED, but also fear burn-ins, especially since I won't run Windows and cannot take advantage of their burn-in protection software. Also, 13" is a bit too small than what I'm used to. And given the same upgradability issues, I may go back to picking the G14 or the HP Omen.

 

[t3chg33k]

Laptop with OLED screen, wow I had no idea laptops came with OLED screens now.

Though won’t burn in be a problem?

I had the Dell XPS with OLED screen and even if nothing happens over the short term, the fear of the taskbar burning into the screen if you keep working on it for hours is a real concern. You end up having to think about protecting the screen which is frankly not worth it.

 

[codelad]

Ended up ordering this Zephyrus G14 model on Amazon - https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08SRQHM4W

They apparently don't have it in stock yet, so there's a few weeks wait time. Still, this seemed the best bang for the buck among anything else I've looked at.

Now for a bit of a rant. Having been a longtime Thinkpad user (my first model was something from the late-90s), my initial desire was to get a Thinkpad X or P series machine. I guess the higher end Thinkpads always were premium-priced. Still, I'm surprised at how ridiculous their prices now are, for the specs they offer - even given their superb build quality and performance. Was just impossible to justify getting one.

 

[vishalrao]

Lenovo has steadily diluted the thinkpad brand by launching cheaper priced and lower quality models like the E15... I'm even wary now of the X and T models.

 

[babhishek]

I'd strongly suggest against the LG Gram. LG has a poor track record for service/support when it comes to laptops.

Instead, I'd suggest getting the Asus Zenbook 13 (costs 1.08 lacs).

ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Rs.109990 Price in India - Buy ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB

Buy ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Online For Rs.109990 , Also get ASUS Zenbook 13 OLED Ryzen 7 Octa Core AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700U 5th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UM325UA-KG701TS Thin...

www.flipkart.com

Comes with a beautiful OLED screen, 16GB RAM, Ryzen 7 (8 core/16 thread) and 1TB SSD. Weighs like a Macbook Pro (1.2KGs).

There's also an Intel variant of the same with a lesser price tag and comes with an 11th Gen i7 instead of the Ryzen (costs 1.01 lacs):

ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Rs.128990 Price in India - Buy ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin

Buy ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Online For Rs.128990 , Also get ASUS ZenBook 13 (2021) OLED Core i7 11th Gen - (16 GB/1 TB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX325EA-KG701TS Thin and Light Laptop Specifications &...

www.flipkart.com

But, I'd gladly pick the Ryzen.

any benchmarks on above variants leading to ryzen choice? I'd pick the Intel I7 every time, personally.

 

[AINDRASIS_GUPTA]

any benchmarks on above variants leading to ryzen choice? I'd pick the Intel I7 every time, personally.

You can refer to this blog post:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/R7-5700U-vs-i7-1165G7-vs-R3-5300U_12978_12118_12985.247596.0.html

Moreover, the Ryzen is far better in energy efficiency, leading to better battery life.

Laptop with OLED screen, wow I had no idea laptops came with OLED screens now.

Though won’t burn in be a problem?

Thank you. Looking at the LG Gram more carefully, I'm not particularly enthused about the build quality. So I'm pretty much back to square one.

About the Zenbook 13, love the OLED, but also fear burn-ins, especially since I won't run Windows and cannot take advantage of their burn-in protection software. Also, 13" is a bit too small than what I'm used to. And given the same upgradability issues, I may go back to picking the G14 or the HP Omen.

Congratulations on the G14!

However, contrary to popular beliefs, protecting OLED screens is relatively easy these days. Just avoid static icons & control brightness, and you'll be good to go.

For Windows - Auto-hide taskbar, keep desktop free of icons & use FLUX.
For Linux - XScreensaver & FLUX.

 

[codelad]

Congratulations on the G14!

Thank you.

Had a change of mind and ended up ordering this grey variant from Flipkart. With the screen on my W520 dying, the ETA (~28th June) on my Amazon order was just too far away for comfort. Also, had to consider key backlighting issues reported on the white variant that was bothering me. Did have to make a compromise with the smaller 512GB storage vs 1TB on the other model - a future upgrade might salvage this.

However, contrary to popular beliefs, protecting OLED screens is relatively easy these days. Just avoid static icons & control brightness, and you'll be good to go.

For Windows - Auto-hide taskbar, keep desktop free of icons & use FLUX.
For Linux - XScreensaver & FLUX.

Since I use tmux (and with tiling window managers) quite a lot, with static separator lines and status bars, burn-ins are near-impossible to avoid. After around 10 years of such usage, this has actually left persistent marks even on my Thinkpad LCD display. OLEDs would be too much of a risk.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Firstly, have been looking to upgrade my old workhorse Thinkpad W520 with the following considerations:

* Intended use - primarily coding & builds, a bit of 2D graphics, video/sound editing & encoding.
* Will not game, not even casually. Don't need discrete graphics.
* Linux support. Will very likely get rid of Windows, so built-in OS not a factor.
* Decent balance between battery life, portability.
* Decent screen (don't really need the best of the best).
* Upgradability. Would like to avoid soldered memory. Prefer two storage slots (any SSD/HDD combination).
* Better than decent build quality.
* USB-C charging.
* Budget - 1~1.3L

Narrowed down to the LG Gram 17 (Core i7-1065G7/8GB/512GB, ~99K on Amazon), since it ticks most of the above. Still would appreciate comments and actual user experiences, especially with the following:

* Linux support. Supposedly has a kernel driver and documented Linux support. Any actual experiences to share?
* Actual build quality. Believe this is an all metal build, but is it solid enough and built to last?
* Said to have 2 memory slots, 2 storage slots. Can someone share actual specs for these? Is either memory soldered? Intend to upgrade both memory and storage, right away.
* Display & keyboard quality.
* Actual battery life.
* Available/supported accessories.
* Support & service.

Had also considered these, originally:

* Asus Zephyrus G14 (~1.2L) - Great specs, build. Don't need the graphics hardware. Upgradability worries me.
* HP Omen (~1.2L) - Same as above, except for the upgradability.
* Dell XPS 13, Thinkpad X1/P series - Known Linux support. Proven build quality. Overpriced for the specs - poor VFM.

Any other pointers/recommendations welcome too. Thank you.

AFAIK, the Gram 14 has one soldered slot. I dont see LG making it any different. One slot is expandable with 16GB or 32GB (unconfirmed). I can update on this by weekend, when I get one.

Build quality depends on what you are looking it. I am just waiting to get Dells back in stock, till then the LG is a stop gap arrangement.

Linux support should be good pretty sure. To my knowledge it doesnt use any of the Intel RSTe shit. There is an app for battery 80% - cant be sure has Linux support.

2 NVME, 1 RAM.

Display and KB should be good. Display should be, considering its an LG display

Battery life is ok as well

Comes with a USB-C ~ Ethernet connector, but not always. Supports USB C charging.

Support - I dont think anything is there!

Coming to the list of other laptops, Thinkpad X series has soldered slots and I hate that as well.

 

[codelad]

AFAIK, the Gram 14 has one soldered slot. I dont see LG making it any different. One slot is expandable with 16GB or 32GB (unconfirmed). I can update on this by weekend, when I get one. 2 NVME, 1 RAM.

Have since done a bit more digging around, and can confirm the one soldered slot with 8GB. And the other should allow for up to 32GB. And yes, 2 NVME slots, both user-upgradable.

Build quality depends on what you are looking it. I am just waiting to get Dells back in stock, till then the LG is a stop gap arrangement.

To be fair, in the end, it was the screen size that turned me away, just as it had attracted me to this model in the first place. The more I thought about it, 17" just felt a bit too unwieldy for my primary purpose - coding. Ordered the G14, but continue to have a soft spot for the 17" screen (and this model in general) and probably wouldn't have regretted, had I bought this.

...
Coming to the list of other laptops, Thinkpad X series has soldered slots and I hate that as well.

Guess the Thinkpads now are either ridiculously priced, or are not good enough. Coming from my trusty old W520, I had my mind set on getting one again. Not to be.

 

[superczar]

AFAIK, the Gram 14 has one soldered slot. I dont see LG making it any different. One slot is expandable with 16GB or 32GB (unconfirmed). I can update on this by weekend, when I get one.

Build quality depends on what you are looking it. I am just waiting to get Dells back in stock, till then the LG is a stop gap arrangement.

Linux support should be good pretty sure. To my knowledge it doesnt use any of the Intel RSTe shit. There is an app for battery 80% - cant be sure has Linux support.

2 NVME, 1 RAM.

Display and KB should be good. Display should be, considering its an LG display

Battery life is ok as well

Comes with a USB-C ~ Ethernet connector, but not always. Supports USB C charging.

Support - I dont think anything is there!

Coming to the list of other laptops, Thinkpad X series has soldered slots and I hate that as well.

I have the Gram 14 since last Nov that replaced a surface pro- for the price, its a great machine - and a far far better buy than my outgoing surface pro 4 was.
The low weight is a massive bonus , the screen and KB are acceptably good and the trackpad - while not a Macbook level - is one of the best you can find on a windows machine.

The C slot is TB compliant and works well as a single port docking solution - The same C wire gets me an extended 4K40 screen , gigabit ethernet and other peripherals on both the gram and Macbook without a fuss.
The 3 year warranty is an added bonus.

The overall hardware /sw package is surprisingly (although relatively) bug free for a windows machine - haven’t faced the usual windows woes .
The battery life too is good by windows standards.

On the flip side, It’s not a performance beast by any stretch - its not meant to be either.
Also, it is priced way too close to the M1 Mac that is significantly better than it in at every single aspect except storage upgradeability and weight

But as far as windows ultrabooks go, its easily the VFM champion at that price point

 

[red dragon]

Exactly same thoughts about Gram, coming from world of Macs was really apprehensive ( have an old 2019 14 inch model)
It works perfectly for a Windows laptop. Travelled pretty extensively ( considering the plague: 2 trips to India and intra European travel only) and since I don't baby gadgets, it is still doing pretty good.
For the weight ( it's crazy) the build is exceptional, the lid flex actually helps. Broken enough MacBook Pro and Air's screen to know this.
LG's service for laptops are rather good even in India ( contrary to popular belief) Don't know why few people here talks about things other than their own experience.

 

[Ebil]

Is there a problem with mac M1? Super nice productivity laptop. Another option is X1 Carbon. I wouldn't look further than these.

 

[red dragon]

Is there a problem with mac M1? Super nice productivity laptop. Another option is X1 Carbon. I wouldn't look further than these.

M1 Mac is possibly the best option for everything except audio work ( that too a problem of other SW makers and the port situation. Logic now works almost perfectly, still some issues with Live 11 and Studio One)
X1 carbon is very expensive in India ( last time I checked) in fact both T and X series are.

 

[codelad]

I have the Gram 14 since last Nov that replaced a surface pro- for the price, its a great machine - and a far far better buy than my outgoing surface pro 4 was.
The low weight is a massive bonus , the screen and KB are acceptably good and the trackpad - while not a Macbook level - is one of the best you can find on a windows machine. ...

Exactly same thoughts about Gram, coming from world of Macs was really apprehensive ( have an old 2019 14 inch model) ...

Afraid I never did consider the smaller Gram models. Eventually it was the Gram 17's screen/keyboard/battery vs the G14 and HP Omen's performance/compactness, with all these in a similar price bracket (with a ~10k variance). These would have resulted in a totally different user experience (an interesting thought, when I look back). In the end, I went for power/compactness. Still, as I said, I would have not regretted buying any of these.

Is there a problem with mac M1? Super nice productivity laptop. Another option is X1 Carbon. I wouldn't look further than these.

Mac - Won't quite do, since I would need to run Linux.
X1 Carbon - Did consider it, but was not happy with the price-performance. Also, had not originally intended to get an ultrabook. Just turned out this way.

@quaratineinthesejeans - Regularly follow your good work in the Covid threads, but restrain myself from posting on the Covid/politics threads. Well done! Truly hope and pray that you (and your companions) stay safe.

 

[red dragon]

Why restrain? Modi can detain me very easily, but not you ( assuming you live in India)...

 

[codelad]

Why restrain? Modi can detain me very easily, but not you ( assuming you live in India)...

Ah no. Modi doesn't scare me. It is just that I abhor politicians and find it depressing to see otherwise well-meaning folks justify (worst still, glorify) their mistakes and turn confrontational.

About Covid, I guess we discuss it a bit too much in real life (my father being a doctor). So I try to stay away as much as I can - social media and TV news in particular.

A cowardly and escapist stance. But that is how it is.