Acer shows off 18-inch gaming laptop with RTX 4000 GPUs: is bigger always better?

At CES 2023 Acer unveiled new models in the Predator Helios range that boast behemoth screen sizes, with the new gaming laptops sitting at 16-inches and 18-inches respectively. The laptop comes equipped with a mini-LED display and a trove of new features and performance updates that are super impressive, but there are bigger things to discuss before we dive into that. 

The 18-inch Helios 18 gaming laptop is huge. It doesn’t sound like a lot on paper (as someone who uses the metric system it didn’t mean a lot to me at first) but the 16:10 display is nothing to scoff at.

The bezels are super-thin so you can take full advantage of the big screen whether you're gaming or watching films. It does make you wonder who exactly needs that much screen real estate. While the screen size is a plus if you’re looking to plonk the laptop down on your desk and use it as a desktop replacement, if you’re going to spend $2,500+ on a gaming laptop you might want to consider simply springing for a full desktop setup. The bigger the laptop, the harder it’ll be to carry around with you if you need to.

(Image credit: Future)

New specs as well

Size aside, the Predator Helios 18 is fully loaded with up to 13th-gen Intel Core i9 processor coupled with Nvidia RTX 4000 mobile series, one of the first instances of Lovelace architecture in a laptop. The Helios 18 will come with Nvidia Advanced Optimus, Nvidia’s graphics-switching technology which allows the laptop to switch between integrated graphics to discrete graphics seamlessly, so you won’t have to reboot or suffer through a sudden black screen as that switch happens.

Helios will also introduce an upgraded version of Acer’s PredatorSense, the utility app that will serve as the control centre for the laptop. The per-key RGB backlit keyboard comes with two extra function keys: a PredatorSense key that takes you straight to the app, and a Mode key. The Mode key will swap between different modes such as eco, quiet, balanced, performance and turbo to meet the demands of any given scenario. 

A fun little add-on is the customizable thermal deco set on top of the rear exhaust vents, which you can take off and paint to match your vibe. Spray paint, stickers and water transfer printing are all great options if you want to make this massive laptop yours. 

Until we can get our hands on the new Predator Helios models, we can only anticipate the kind of performance and power they can achieve. I expect the laptops will live up to the hype and cannot wait to see Nvidia’s new Lovelace GPUs in action in a smaller package. 

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