please note that the 2020 17" lg gram keyboard layout has changed. It now have extra row in numeric keypad and one of the shift/return? key is bigger. It's different from the 2019 model.
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BIOS:
Try this:
https://www.lg.com/us/support/sof...re-drivers You may have to type "LG Gram 17" in the search box, but its there. Latest is: W1ZD1250.zip 01/07/2020 |
Matte Screen Protector:
I have the 2019 model, and I knew the glossy screen was going to bother me, so I researched a matte screen protector. I HIGHLY recommend https://www.photodon.co
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The screen is the biggest selling point to me. I like the larger size, great color/contrast and brightness. The real-estate is great for photo editing. The glare does not bother me and the brightness has been more than plenty. It is a huge improvement over a Lenovo Flex 15 I tried out. I also had a Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED 4K laptop to compare to and the LG Gram 17 was my favorite. The OLED screen had an uneven brightness vertical band on the right side and I was always aware of possible burn in. Side by side, the colors and contrast were not noticeably different even though everyone raves about OLED screens being so superior. I much prefer the larger 17" and 16 x 10 ratio and not having to worry about possible burn in.
The chassis on the 2020 model does seem a little firmer than the 2019. They redesigned the monitor hinge and it seems sturdier.
The touchpad is the same. I really like it. Yes, it does depress a bit as some video reviewers point out, but it's not a big deal to me.
Battery life is excellent and I have not had any issues with drain while the computer sleeps. I often just close the screen in the evening, leaving it on battery only and when I return in the morning, the charge status has no significant change. I haven't written down the numbers, but I recall leaving it around 80% at night and coming back in the morning and it being near that.
I really like how quiet both generations Gram 17s CPU fans are. The Aero 15 was annoyingly loud, even at idle or low usage. The fans had a higher pitch that I could not stand.
Heat has not been an issue for me. It does get warm more so in the center, rear near the monitor since that is where the processor is. I use the laptop on my lap a lot and it is not uncomfortably warm.
Here are several test results I have:
Novabench:
2019
2020
You'll see improvements across the board for the i7-1065G7.
PugetBench v0.8 BETA for Photoshop
2019
2020
You will see that the i7-8565U actually performed some of the tasks better than the i7-1065G7.
In real world use, so far I have not noticed a significant difference in power between the two. I haven't tried games yet, possibly later. I tried some on the 2019 and it didn't work well as expected.
To conclude, I am very impressed with the LG Gram 17. This is my favorite laptop I have used.
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iwheela
There are 2 slots for NVMe drives inside so I added a 2TB HP ex950 (one of the fastest SSDs available) and then I did a few basic internal thermal cooling upgrades, which was all very simple to do.
There is 16GB RAM inside, which is in the form of 2 RAM sticks @ 8GB each. One stick is soldered to the board but you can upgrade the other up to 32GB, and have a total of 40GB. I didn't do that upgrade, but it would be super easy to do so.
It has USB-C thunderbolt port which can be used for charging too. I bought a small travel form factor USB-C charger and it charges great!
I didn't do any thermal undervolting(or whatever it's called) but that's supposed to be easy to do on my version, and apparently yields even better speeds etc.
What I can say is this laptop is unbelievably light and the screen is quite nice. If you don't require touchscreen and want large screen real estate in a light and portable format, you can not beat this computer for the price!
As for this version, at $1200 plus tax, then if you add a 2TB SSD (around $250-$350 for top notch drive) you have one hellova computer with storage to spare, even if you can't undervolt (?) this new version to gain more speed...
Alas, it was more difficult than I imagined to try to load macOS so unfortunately my LG Gram 17 just sits unused (with its original plastic wrap still in tact) as it quickly got replaced by a 16" MacBook Pro. (Inset sticker shock emoji here)
Anyhow, I hope this helped someone who was on the fence
From what a few people have said, it's possible that the new Gram has the same throttling problems when hot, even though I think the new one has a slower (aka less heat producing?) processor 🤨
In any case, if you're an average user (aka not a heavy gamer) I'm guessing it won't ever be an issue.
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The moment you upgrade your SSD or RAM, warranty is void. (They advertise this as an upgradable laptop with a second SSD slot, and a slot for RAM.) Also, if there is a problem with the laptop, you have to send the laptop to their Michigan repair center. And it will take upto 10 business days for them to ship it back to you. If you remove your SSD/hard drive before sending in the laptop, warranty is void again. (Your hard drive has all your passwords and all your data in it. They need all of that to repair the laptop)
The moment you upgrade your SSD or RAM, warranty is void. (They advertise this as an upgradable laptop with a second SSD slot, and a slot for RAM.) Also, if there is a problem with the laptop, you have to send the laptop to their Michigan repair center. And it will take upto 10 business days for them to ship it back to you. If you remove your SSD/hard drive before sending in the laptop, warranty is void again. (Your hard drive has all your passwords and all your data in it. They need all of that to repair the laptop)
https://youtu.be/2ao7q0ypCTE
The main difference between the 2020 and 2019 is a faster CPU (10 series), wifi 6 card, slightly bigger battery (80 vs 72), and a little better cooling system. Other than that, they are very similar and are both incredibly well built laptops.
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There are 2 slots for NVMe drives inside so I added a 2TB HP ex950 (one of the fastest SSDs available) and then I did a few basic internal thermal cooling upgrades, which was all very simple to do.
There is 16GB RAM inside, which is in the form of 2 RAM sticks @ 8GB each. One stick is soldered to the board but you can upgrade the other up to 32GB, and have a total of 40GB. I didn't do that upgrade, but it would be super easy to do so.
It has USB-C thunderbolt port which can be used for charging too. I bought a small travel form factor USB-C charger and it charges great!
I didn't do any thermal undervolting(or whatever it's called) but that's supposed to be easy to do on my version, and apparently yields even better speeds etc.
What I can say is this laptop is unbelievably light and the screen is quite nice. If you don't require touchscreen and want large screen real estate in a light and portable format, you can not beat this computer for the price!
As for this version, at $1200 plus tax, then if you add a 2TB SSD (around $250-$350 for top notch drive) you have one hellova computer with storage to spare, even if you can't undervolt (?) this new version to gain more speed...
Alas, it was more difficult than I imagined to try to load macOS so unfortunately my LG Gram 17 just sits unused (with its original plastic wrap still in tact) as it quickly got replaced by a 16" MacBook Pro. (Inset sticker shock emoji here)
Anyhow, I hope this helped someone who was on the fence
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