17- and 18-inch laptops

A desktop replacement

The largest size built as a laptop: 17.3 and 18 inches. These machines are not meant for daily carry — they sit on a desk and replace a tower plus a monitor. There are 9 on the shelf, almost all from gaming lines.

• Weight. From 1.6 kg upwards, typically 2.3 kg, with the heaviest over 3 kg. With the charger that is about four kilos in the bag.
• Graphics. Most carry GeForce RTX, usually an RTX 5060, topping out at the RTX 5090. That is exactly what the large body is for.
• Cooling. A big chassis holds clocks up longer than a 15-inch machine with the same chip, and under a long load you hear the difference in the fans too.
• Memory and storage. 32 GB on 5 models, 16 GB on three; drives are 1 TB or 2 TB, with nothing smaller fitted here.
• Battery. 70–90 Wh, but a large screen and an RTX chip drain it quickly: away from a socket, count on a couple of hours.

Measure the bag before you buy

A 17- or 18-inch machine will not go into an ordinary laptop bag. Look at backpacks and compare the internal size with the body's width and depth rather than the diagonal — bezels differ between makers.

Neighbours

Most powerful models today are 16-inch, where you find the same graphics in a lighter body. If you specifically want a gaming machine, see gaming laptops. The full range: laptops.

Frequently asked questions

Is an 18-inch laptop really portable? Technically yes, but it travels from home to the office and back, not on your back every day. If weight matters, take a 16-inch model with the same graphics.

Why are there so few models? The large body is a niche: the same chip now fits a 16-inch chassis that is half a kilo lighter, so 17 and 18 inches are left to top-end graphics.

Would a desktop make more sense? If the machine never moves, the same money buys a desktop computer that is faster and quieter. The laptop's win is that the screen and keyboard come with it.