There are two areas where LG gets this laptop wrong, though, and it’s not just the lack of a touchscreen or the slightly older Intel chipset, both details we’re actually fine with.
No, it’s the usability side of this laptop where LG needs to seriously spend some time improving.
We’ll start with the mouse, and since there’s no touchscreen, Windows 8 seriously needs something decent.
In the LG Ultrabook, you’ll find a wide trackpad, but one with no physical buttons.
Rather, the entire thing is a touch panel, but that means there is absolutely no tactile physical buttons for the mouse, which not only lessens the mouse experience, but almost makes it feel like you’re grasping at nothing.
Scrolling through menus and moving the mouse also comes off with a delayed feeling, almost as if the mouse is responding a quarter of a second after you tell it to, which is really noticeable when you’re trying to work through the Windows 8 menus.
Other times, you’ll find you’re accidentally making gestures that change programs, and make the whole usability of Windows in this machine frustrating.
Even the distinction of the trackpad from the rest of the wristpad is a little problematic, with only a faint ridge separating this input device from the plastic that comforts your arms when you’re typing.
The keyboard is also another place this laptop needs work, as the keys just feel too soft, essentially lessening the keyboard experience to the sort of thing you would get on a netbook or tablet keyboard.
There’s also no caps lock light, another pet peeve of ours, but since this is becoming all too frequent on PC laptops, we’re not totally bothered by this omission.
What does throw your hands off, though, are LG’s extra set of keys, buttons that come with an instruction (make sure to hold the keys down “for more than 0.2 seconds” otherwise they won’t work) and activates the Windows 8 gestures. This extra column of keys sit on the side, when they really probably should go along the top.
The power charging brick is also a little out of date for us.
Sure, it’s smaller than your traditional laptop charger, but nothing has changed about its design, and we’d like to see a design shift that makes these necessary carry-on pieces easier to take with you.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that LG gets aspects of this Ultrabook right, and we’re big fans of the simplicity in the design, the high-resolution screen, and even the microSD expandability on offer here.
We’re not fans of the mouse, though, as that’s one area where usability can feel slightly hampered.
Despite this, LG’s first Ultrabook is worth checking out, but be warned that the mouse can be very, very hard to get used to.
