DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 75deep-gray finish—its sole color option—is on
the drab side, there’s no edge-to-edge glass
over the laptop’s display bezels, and the
magnesium chassis feels somewhat cheap.
Although the laptop’s bottom portion feels
sturdy, the display lid flexes easily.
But those lightweight materials help the
LG Ultra PC 17 hit that feathery 4.3 pounds.
HP’s Envy 17 (go.pcworld.com/h17t), by
comparison, weighs just over 6 pounds
(with an inferior GPU), and Dell’s XPS 17 (go.
pcworld.com/de17) weighs 5.53 pounds in
a configuration with a comparable GTX 1650
GPU. Despite its size, the Ultra is light
enough to use comfortably in long stretches
on your lap.
LG also deserves kudos for spurning 4K
in favor of a 2560x1600 resolution display.
Few laptop
makers do
this, because
they’re drawn
to 4K’s
marketing
power (go.
pcworld.
com/4mkp).
LG
recognizes
that splitting
the difference
between
1080p and
4K yields
vastly better battery life with hardly any
discernible drop in sharpness. The Ultra PC
17’s display is crisp and bright, with a peak
brightness of 500 nits. The 16:10 aspect
ratio affords more vertical real estate than
typical 16:9 displays for web browsing and
document editing. LG’s Control Center
software also has a handy display
temperature slider to make the screen’s
colors cooler or warmer.
The laptop does have one annoying
design quirk: The left side has a power
indicator light that blinks at odd intervals
when the power is on. It’s not noticeable on
a table, but the light can bounce off your leg
when it’s on your lap and becomes
extremely distracting. LG says there’s no way
to turn it off.A lack of edge-to-edge glass keeps the laptop light, though it’s not the classiest look.