The LG Gram: A Thin-And-Light Beauty Aimed At The Ultraportable Market

Ultra-thin devices definitely have their advantage. They are light, they are easy to carry around, and thanks to the Macbook Air, they have proven their mettle in computing power. LG already churned out thin and light laptops way before the Macbook Air, though they produced that for the Japan market in the 90’s. Now, they are taking on the American market, specifically the space that the Macbook Air is currently dominating with their “Gram” notebooks.

The LG “Gram” branding for the notebooks seems to be an attempt at creating clever branding: The word was chosen because these notebooks are aimed to weigh under a kilogram, with the use of magnesium alloy for the chassis. The current Macbook Air line has devices that weigh around 2.38 lbs for the 11-inch version, 2.96 lbs for the 13-inch version, and 2.03 lbs for the latest 12-inch version. Meanwhile, the LG Gram models both weigh at 980 grams or 2.16 lbs for the 13-inch and 14-inch versions. Not bad, considering that these are full-sized devices.

The LG Gram attempts to outdo the Macbook Air’s previous generations in the display department, though. Both models sport 1920 x 1080 IPS screens, while the Macbook Air 11-inch has only 1366 x 768 pixels in resolution, and the Macbook Air 13-inch sports a 1440 x 900 LED-backlit screen. With just 157 ppi in pixel density, though, the LG Gram laptops would not be able to beat the 12-inch Macbook Air’s Retina Display, which packs in a 2304 x 1440 resolution with 226 ppi in pixel density.

The display is not what counts in the long run, though, as there are other aspects to the device:

LG Gram 13”, 13Z950-A.AA3WU1, $899.99:

Processor/Chipset: 2.2GHz with Turbo up to 2.70GHz Intel i5 5200U processor (Broadwell)

RAM: 8GB

OS: Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit

Hard Drive: 128GB SSD

Connectivity: WiFi: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 (802.11 agn/ac, 2x2); LAN: 10/100 Megabit (micro-USB port with RJ45 gender); Bluetooth 4.0 LE

Ports/USB Slots: 1 SDXC slot, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 HDMI port

Display: 13.3" IPS LCD with FHD resolution (1920 x 1080)

Camera: 1.3MP

Battery: 2-Cell, 4555mAh Li-Polymer battery capable of a max of 7.5 hours of output

Goodies: Magnesium/Polycarbonate shell, comes in Snow White

LG Gram 14”, 14Z950-A.AA4GU1, $1,399.99:

Processor/Chipset: 2.4GHz with Turbo up to 3.00GHz Intel i7 5500U processor (Broadwell)

RAM: 8GB

OS: Windows 10 Home, 64-Bit

Hard Drive: 256GB SSD

Connectivity: WiFi: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 (802.11 agn/ac, 2x2); LAN: 10/100 Megabit (micro-USB port with RJ45 gender); Bluetooth 4.0 LE

Ports/USB Slots: 1 SDXC slot, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 HDMI port

Display: 14.0" IPS LCD with FHD resolution (1920 x 1080)

Camera: 1.3MP

Battery: 2-Cell, 4555mAh Li-Polymer battery capable of a max of 7.5 hours of output

Goodies: Carbon Magnesium/Lithium Magnesium chassis, comes in Champagne Gold

If the end-user is looking for a powerful Windows ultraportable, then the LG Gram is the perfect choice. If the end-user would rather have a lean, usable laptop for surfing the Web, a Chromebook is definitely a more sensible choice. And if you’re an Apply Fanboy who ambled over to Droid Report because you are scoping out Android news, by all means, stick to a Macbook Air.