Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central
Best 17-inch Laptop Windows Central 2021
Once upon a time, 17-inch laptops meant huge, lumbering things that weighed the same as a small moon. But that's not the case any more, in part thanks to the superb LG gram 17, which is a 17-inch laptop unlike nothing else. It combines a large display, high-end specs, and the sort of portable form factor that was, at one point, unthinkable. And it's also one of the very best Windows laptops available.
- Best Overall: LG gram 17
- Best for Gaming: Alienware m17
- Best for Professionals: Dell XPS 17 (9700)
- Ultimate Laptop: Razer Blade Pro
Best Overall: LG gram 17
Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central
In our review of the LG gram 17, Executive Editor Daniel Rubino simply fell in love with this big laptop. The experience of using a 17-inch, high-resolution display is something special, but the gram makes this an experience you can truly take anywhere. And while the original model was excellent, the updated versions get a little better every single year.
It has to be felt to be believed. The gram 17 is lighter than some laptops with much smaller displays, thanks to the nanocarbon and magnesium mix that makes up its chassis. You honestly can toss this in any bag and take it on the road with you.
Add in Thunderbolt 4, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD with a vacant slot for a second drive, and the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 with Xe graphics, and you have a laptop that oozes performance, despite its incredibly thin form. It also packs a huge 80Wh battery, which clocks it in at a full day of real-world use, which is nothing to sneeze at. This is truly a laptop you can take on the go.
Reasons to buy
- 17-inch display
- Great battery life
- Incredibly light
- MIL-STD-810g durability
- Thunderbolt 4
Reasons not to buy
- No dedicated graphics option
- Quite pricey
Best Overall
LG gram 17
Finally, a truly thin and light 17-inch laptop
The gram 17 is essentially a high-end Ultrabook, with a slim chassis, powerful specs, and skinny bezels, but also a huge display.
Best for Gaming: Alienware m17 R3
Source: Dell
The m17 is the thinnest Alienware 17-inch laptop ever, and despite this, it's still packing an incredible amount of hardware. A laptop this may be but inside beats the heart of a desktop rig.
But part of the m17's strength is its broad range of specs and prices. At the entry point, you can get a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 and an AMD RX 5500M for a very attractive price, while still getting a 144Hz display, fast storage and 16GB of RAM.
But if you have a larger budget or loftier aspirations for your gaming, you can get up to a 10th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and RTX 2080 Super, paired with up to 32GB of RAM, up to 4TB of storage, a 4K display, and even Tobii eye-tracking technology. All wrapped up into a package you can carry around without getting backache.
Reasons to buy
- 17-inch display
- Slim for a gaming laptop
- Lots of spec and price point options
- Core i9 and RTX 2080 Super available
Reasons not to buy
- Gets expensive
- Styling splits opinion
Best for Gaming
Alienware m17
Gaming performance and a large display
10th Gen processors and either AMD or NVIDIA RTX graphics add up to a large, powerful gaming experience.
Best for Professionals: Dell XPS 17
Source: Dell
Dell's latest XPS laptop takes everything so good about the XPS 13 and XPS 15 and pairs it with a massive 17-inch display. But because the same design language applies, with those super skinny bezels, it doesn't feel like a 17-inch laptop to wield.
Yes, this is a 17-inch Ultrabook, and while the entry-level model is fairly well equipped and reasonably priced, it's the professional market and the creators who will really relish what this laptop has to offer.
At the higher end, you're getting 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processors paired with a 4K touch display and a whopping great NVIDIA RTX 2060 6GB Max-Q GPU. It's not designed to be a gaming laptop, though it will certainly do that, instead offering graphics horsepower for creative and professional-grade applications while remaining incredibly portable.
Reasons to buy
- 17-inch display
- Compact form factor
- NVIDIA graphics options
- 4K display option
- 10th Gen Intel processors
Reasons not to buy
- Gets expensive
- Entry model a little lackluster
Best for Professionals
Dell XPS 17 (9700)
A big entry to the XPS lineup
The XPS 17 (9700) features a massive 17-inch display, but thanks to its thin bezels, its body is the size of many 15-inch laptops. It pairs that large display with powerful internal options for creators.
Ultimate Laptop: Razer Blade Pro
Source: Razer
Razer has been putting out large, hugely powerful laptops for several years and continues to make its range-topping Razer Blade Pro better and better. There are several options to choose from, but the latest and greatest is really where it's at. Whether you're a professional, a creator, a gamer, or all three, the Blade Pro is a beastly 17-inch laptop.
You're now getting a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor paired with an NVIDIA RTX 3060, 3070 or 3080 and either a 1080p 360Hz display, a QHD 165Hz or a stunning 4K 120Hz panel with touch.
Everything else is trademark Blade Pro. Sleek, stylish exterior, fast storage, plenty of RAM, an excellent keyboard, and the latest ports, including USB 3.2 and Thunderbolt 3. There are less expensive options that include 9th Gen Intel processors and less powerful GPUs, but the latest top-spec is truly the ultimate laptop.
Reasons to buy
- 17-inch display
- Sleek, stylish design
- NVIDIA 30 series graphics
- High refresh rate displays
- Good port selection
Reasons not to buy
- Expensive
- Still using 10th Gen Intel processors
- Not the largest battery
Ultimate Laptop
Razer Blade Pro
Big, expensive, but an ultimate laptop
Razer's 17-inch Blade packs an insane amount of hardware in its body, including a 4K 120Hz display and an RTX 2080 Super Max-Q GPU.
The bottom line
The LG gram 17 rewrites the rulebook for 17-inch laptops. Recent years have seen the space dominated by large, heavy gaming machines, but LG proved things can be different. The gram 17 is an Ultrabook for people who want a large display, and that's a remarkable feat.
The latest refresh didn't do much to alter the winning formula, instead of refining and fixing some of the previous issues, notably the slow SSD storage. It's now a big speedy laptop that can go everywhere you go.
There are some great alternatives, though, whether you're a gamer, a professional or a creator, or someone looking for a desktop quality laptop. Big laptops are back and truly better than ever before.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Richard Devine is an Editor at Windows Central. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him covering all manner of PC hardware and gaming, and you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Daniel Rubino is the executive editor of Windows Central. He has been covering Microsoft since 2009 back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Surface, HoloLens, Xbox, and future computing visions. Follow him on Twitter: @daniel_rubino.
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