I've used gram 17 and I would have to say that it's just amazing. Super wide screen, super light weight and super compact size! It's even smaller than my previous 15.6 laptop!

No AMD = no purchase from me and I own the LG gram 2019 and it has been the best Windows laptop I have owned.

Have the 17-inch 2017 model with the 8565u. Still the best laptop I've ever owned hands down bar none. Literally amazing, I'm still impressed almost every single day I use it. Not even a shill but LG should honestly pay me for how much I talk up their stuff. I have a V30 as my phone, rooted and custom roms etc and no plans or desire to upgrade to anything different. Years ago when I had an lg G2 I remember thinking at the time it was the #1 favorite phone I'd found yet. Idk how LG does it but they've just got a knack for engineering

No touchpad buttons, no LG Gram. Also poor cooling for Tiger Lake won't be acceptable - will drag down performance further vs AMD.

AMD, 16:10 or 3:2 and good speakers! I'll buy 2 if it had all that.

It would be so disappointing it did not have an AMD chip. If it's intel I am 99% going to go with Lenovo or Asus.

Like everybody else, I was these things:
1.  Better speakers.   2.  Better cooling (no noisy fans PLEASE)  3.  Better camera.   4.  Get rid of the non-standard charging brick.  USB-C charging.

Quote from: hfm on November 29, 2020, 20:25:23
I have a 17 with an 8565U, still love it. Have an RTX 2070 in an eGPU as well, games fantastically.

That's great and all but most are not complaining about it's capabilities or anything but its average screen and subpar cooling.
Great laptops but very overpriced.

I have the 17 2020 version and I absolutely love it. Can't wait to see the 2021 version. We need AMD version with good speaker and it will be a blast.

We are in an age now when all those things like good speakers and webcams are all possible. How can an iPad have better speakers and a webcam than a laptop that has so much more room?

As for durability, the Thinkpad T-series upwards are also quite good, although their keyboards are better IMO than the LG Grams. The lids and chassis are also a bit firmer than the LG Grams. I don't really have a preference between the two aside from the keyboard and trackpoint advantage on the Thinkpad.

AMD + good speakers and it is a done deal to me. From reviews, it seems like the cooling has gotten a bit better over the last several generations. Speakers and webcam are an important point for work these days as I don't want to lug speakers or webcams from room to room for meetings and the built-in speakers need to be loud and clear for my work and the built-in camera needs to be able to show a good enough image in all lighting conditions indoors. I can probably dodge using webcams but can't dodge the speakers because I frequently have meetings with at least 1 more person in the same room as well.

I have a 17 with an 8565U, still love it. Have an RTX 2070 in an eGPU as well, games fantastically.

Microsoft has a deplorable warranty policy that ANY cosmetic blemish... Even a scratch voids the warranty. Meaning anyone who buys them is a fool. My company bought 2 a couple years ago, both had overheating issues from day 1... M$ refused to fix them due to scratches on the case. We are a high level microsoft partner and still would not help.

HP consumer devices have atrocious firmware issues. I would never buy them again. My worst was a descrete laptop that could not switch between onboard to discrete in under 30 seconds... HP never fixed the issue and kept building computers with that issue, the fix was to disable the discrete card.

I have owned two LG Grams. My 2015 14" model does get hot. But my 2017 15" does not get hot. I am a traveling consultant. Two address the limited port issue I just carry a multifunction USB hub ($25).

Both of these get abused and still work. The 14" got a glass of water spilled on it at a conference. I got a replacement keyboard on alibaba for $25 and replaced it myself. My 2017 has been knocked off high tables twice over 5' drops at least twice... Other than scratches no issues with it. The cases really are military grade and LG believes in 'the right to repair'. I have also replaced the GPS attena in an old LG phone and their dishwashers install so easily.

Yes the speakers and webcam are not amazing... But these computers were intended to be well performing, TOUGH, light weight, workstations I think they do an extraordinary job at that.

I like many things about the LG Gram series, but the lack of AMD Ryzen, decent quality speakers (upward firing) and poor cooling kept me looking away. Centered keyboard would also be very nice for my use.

My experience with the LG Gram (early 15" and recent 14" 2-in-1) is really nice keyboards, probably the best in consumer class next to HP Spectres and Microsoft Surface. Battery life, upgradeability, I/O and weight are also currently better than any other flagships from Lenovo, HP, Dell and Apple, coming at 1kg with 72Wh batteries, socketed DDR4, and 2 NVMe slots which is unheard of. On top of that the Grams are crazy durable because of their unique unibody carbon-magnesium alloy chassis design.

Unfortunately poor speakers, webcam and microphone - some of the worst on any laptop I've used as LG haven't upgraded them in years - and poor cooling system combined with only average screen is not worth the premium price, especially as you begin to spec-up the laptop. Recent i5 base model with TB3 is maybe okay but not over $2k for i7.

Some other drawbacks include no Fn function lock, very uneven keyboard backlight with only 2 levels, and only 1 USB-C port on 14" and lower models. Also all existing 5 models from 13-17" use outdated plastic display bezel (or B-cover) implementation, which results in unavoidable backlight bleed and the screen being the weakest point on all the laptops. The rest of the chassis feels surprisingly solid, except for the display which is a shame.

If LG acknowledges and resolves 3 major issues - the cooling, audio and display - going forward and decides to offer AMD Ryzen SKUs, they will be worth considering but as of now, the rest of the competition at this price is simply too ahead on all 3 fronts.

I've been stalking the Grams since they came out, never pulled the trigger due to concerns about a few things, most notably the keyboard. Will be very interested to see this year's version, maybe I'll take the plunge. Thanks for the article.