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LG gram: The Ultra-Slim Windows Laptop with 'Wow Factor'

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My son is in the market for a new Windows laptop. Because he’s not particularly versed in computers -- nor does he care to be -- he enlisted me to help him shop around and explain the differences between models and decide what features he needs for school.

I personally haven’t shopped for a new model in several years, so I was curious to see what was available. After narrowing down models and brands online -- based on his particulars -- we visited a few stores to test some laptops out in person. “It almost doesn’t matter which brand you get these days,” a Best Buy rep told us in a dumbed-down kind of way. “It’s the features, like the processing power, chip type and memory that really make a difference in performance.” Not sure I fully agree that's a complete answer, but I will say that like machines seemed to perform similarly to one another.

Ultimately we decided on a model bearing an intel Core i5 processor, as it seemed to be fast enough for his needs -- particularly because he likes working with several windows open at once. Besides, stepping up from the less-robust i3 models wasn’t going to break the bank.

One model we didn’t ultimately buy but that I really liked, however, was the ultra-slim LG gram, which the manufacturer touts as “among the lightest 15-inch laptops” in the world. It weighs only 2.16 pounds. When I first picked it up, I was shocked at how deceptively lightweight it was for its size. In fact, several people came by and picked it up. I heard the word “wow” from every last one of them. The body is made of a durable magnesium alloy, which likely contributes to its lightness. That of course translates to excellent portability.

It’s noticeably thin and sleek at 0.7 inches and has a luxe-looking champagne gold matte finish that really catches eyes. The 15.6-inch screen is not only gorgeous but showcases the 1920x1080 Full HD resolution from pretty much all viewing angles. A narrow bezel around it makes the screen look even larger. And it contains software that optimizes screen conditions for reading or watching movies.

The model I spent some time with (15Z960-A, $1,099) had 8GB of RAM with a 256GB SSD SATA3 hard drive. I really liked the spacious keyboard and the springy keys -- something I'd typically not notice, but it was so comfortable that I had to mention it. There are two USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0, as well as a micro-SD slot and an HDMI connector.

And while I’m not much of a Windows 10 fan, the operating system performed the way I initially expected it to when 10 was first released by Microsoft. Everything is simply zippy. Even the voice-controlled Cortana works properly, something my son had issues with on his previous laptop. That said, Google’s Chrome browser was exceptionally faster at loading web pages than the included Microsoft Edge on this machine.

Overall, this laptop made me think that if I ever stray back to a Windows machine from my Chromebook, I might well consider this model. Toying around with it was a completely pleasant experience.