LG Gram 16 - Photos of device disassembled

[britechguy]

Base with feet and all screw covers removed. Several of those screws were in there with a lot more torque than I would have expected, and with the truly micro Phillips heads, took a bit of doing to get unscrewed (even with a correctly sized bit).



Base Cover, interior side. One big (and very thin, but rigid) pressed sheet of magnesium with a plastic frame glued to it as well as held in place with several applied tabs as well. The fan exhausts through the grate shown at the top of this photo, and that grate is, of course, plastic. Almost all of the videos out there showing removal of the base show people struggling to get the grate off without breaking anything, and many pry at the couple of bits that act as hooks on to the body of the machine itself. But, I found it much easier, once all of the edges were released, to just push on the leading edge with both thumbs, and it just pops off with zero struggle at all.



Interior. Note soldered RAM. No upgrading here.



Side view. Note that the bottom cover is really just the bottom cover. The magnesium structure that surrounds the sides, front, and most of the back stays exactly where it is when you take the bottom off. I haven't seen this with any plastic bodied laptop, including business-class ones. It certainly makes it easier to deal with inserting USB drives, etc. with the bottom cover just resting underneath when you're doing testing of various sorts.

 

[fincoder]

The fan exhausts through the grate shown at the top of this photo

Minor quibble (but I believe you're into quibbles!): Isn't that the fan intake? The exhaust appears to come out the rear by the look of the cooling system with the bottom cover removed.

Really nice laptop, and great to see it's easy to add or replace M.2 drives and battery.

 

[britechguy]

Isn't that the fan intake? The exhaust appears to come out the rear by the look of the cooling system with the bottom cover removed.

No, the intake is via a perforated opening on the bottom of the case and keyboard gaps. The exhaust comes out of that plastic grate which, when the base cover is installed, sits where the screen meets the base.

You don't need to believe me, as it's well-documented elsewhere, too. Quite a few of the reviews mention cooling air intake and exhaust paths.

And to be clear, I was referring to the plastic grate that runs along the top edge of the base cover in that photo. That bit of perforation you see in the metal part of the base cover is, indeed, one intake path.

 

[fincoder]

No, the intake is via a perforated opening on the bottom of the case and keyboard gaps.

Yes that was what I thought you called the exhaust since it also is a grate and is near the top. Sorry I didn't even see the exhaust grate at the very top (rear edge). Again, my mistake and thanks for the pics!

 

[britechguy]

Again, my mistake

But you weren't mistaken that I'm into quibbles, and I have no issue when people bring them up in pursuit of clarity/correctness.

I'm really loving these machines. They are light as air, yet tough, too. LG claims they meet MIL-SPEC (can't remember the number) for ability to take abuse, and I believe it. Not that I'm giving mine any. I try to be as gentle as reasonably possible with all computers. They invariably last longer and give me fewer problems that way.