This floor is part of our newFuture of Gamingseries , a three - site looking at at gaming ’s most pioneering technologies , players , and God Almighty .
This is the third 18 - inch gambling laptop computer I ’ve reviewed in 2023 ( although the first for Gizmodo ) . It ’s a trend that ’s hopefully blend in to mystify around well into the future tense , as having admittance to an almost desktop - monitor - sizing cover , plus top play components , is precisely what laptop computer gamers need right now .
Many recent play laptop have shrunk down to 15 - inch covert , which can be more portable and less expensive , but the overall experience pales in comparison to play the same plot on a bigscreen TV through a $ 500 PS5 or Xbox Series X. Bumping your laptop computer screen up to 18 diagonal inches makes games palpate much more immersive , as I discovered when playing new game like Starfield or Baldur ’s Gate 3 .
Photo: Dan Ackerman
The shape try out here features an Intel Core i9 - 13900HX CPU , Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU , 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD .
I ’ve antecedently tested 18 - in systems from Alienware and Razer , and both of those make have their fans . configure each system of rules as identically as possible , both the Acer Helios 18 and Alienware M18 can be had for around $ 2,999 , while the Razer Blade still charges a sizeable premium of almost $ 800 more . To be fair , it ’s the squeamish designing of the bunch , but it ’s not $ 800 much nicer .
Acer Helios 18
Photo: Dan Ackerman
An 18 - column inch gaming laptop with just about everything .
What it it ?
A gaming laptop computer with an 18 - inch show
Price
$ 2,999 , but once in a while on sale
Like
Photo: Dan Ackerman
Very good value for the components and the huge screen is fantastic for gaming .
Dislike
No pick for the more - sophisticated Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU .
Photo: Dan Ackerman
take note that Best Buy presently has this modelling on sales event for several hundred dollars off , but it shows up as currently out of neckcloth . If you may snag one at this discounted cost , it ’s a no - brainer . There ’s also a $ 1,999 interpretation ( on cut-rate sale at Best Buy aright now for $ 1,699 ) with an Intel i7 - 13700HX , 16 GB RAM , an Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and 1 TB SSD .
Design and build quality
consider the Acer Helios palpebra domiciliate a Brobdingnagian 18 - inch screenland , it ’s impressively flex - free . The matte black body picks up a few fingerprints here and there , but the overall looking is sophisticated and hold back the entire thing from looking too gamer - y. That read , I prefer some of the more interesting color options I ’ve seen in some Alienware laptops over the past few geezerhood , include a very sharp - look matte white .
The lid hinges are inset , leave behind a part of the trunk behind it when the clamshell is opened . This gives the system better balance when open and let for more efficient cooling . The little bit of the laptop computer that extend from the buns holds many of the system ’s ports and connections , including the exponent port and two USB - C ports , and it has some build - in lighting that ’s nice without being intrusive .
Other ports are on the left and right sides , include a rarity these days , an ethernet diddly-shit , plus a sum of three USB - A ports and a microSD card one-armed bandit . A massive power brick provides 330W of power , so be sure to make room in your bag for it if you plan on toting this thing around ( it wo n’t gage for long off the battery , which is distinctive for back laptops ) .
That big display
The literal whizz here is the 18 - inch QHD+ IPS display . It ’s a miniLED panel with a fast 240Hz refresh rate , which is dandy for competitive gamers .
Of course , even with the Nvidia 4080 GPU , playing raw games at the eminent item levels at the max 2,560 X 1,600 declaration will keep you closer to 60 - 100fps in something like Starfield .
play game , editing exposure or web surfriding , the screen was bright and frosty , although I kept the brightness cranked up most of the time . A 1,920×1,200 resolving power version is also usable , but that feel low for an 18 - inch screen design to sit so close to your face .
Performance and gaming
A combination of factors facilitate this system be one of the fastest I ’ve test . The Intel Core i9 - 13900HX processor is part of Intel ’s HX line , which are almost screen background - grade 55 - watt chips ( compared to Intel U - serial publication chips found in super - slim or budget laptop computer , which are rated at 15 watts ) .
My current personal computer go - to game are Starfield and Baldur ’s Gate 3 , both of which can be challenging to run at high resoluteness and high-pitched detail preferences . We also ran , among other benchmarks , 3-D Mark Time Spy to liken this to other mellow - end gaming systems , and three-D Mark Wild Life Extreme just to show how it compares to non - gaming laptops .
If you ’re looking to spend less on a gambling laptop , that ’s easy . you may find something like a 15 - inch Dell G Series and a configuration with an Intel Core i7 and Nvidia RTX 4060 for under $ 1,500 . If you ’re go all - in on an expensive system of rules that will last you through the next few generations of secret plan and play hardware , I love the big cover , high - end components and the fact that this makes a great all - day , every solar day electronic computer that feels more like a semi - portable all - in - one PC than a laptop computer .
See all the latest computer hardware newsworthiness and reviews from Gizmodo here .
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