17-inch laptops are about as big as they come (except for the insane Predator 21X) — and they aren’t exactly in vogue right now. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t great. HP’s Envy 17 is the best 17-inch laptop as it lets you see all of your work on a big screen but won’t weigh you down or cost you an arm and a leg.
But that’s not the only 17-inch laptop we like. The MSI GS75 Stealth is fantastic for gaming, while the Dell Inspiron 17 3000 is an awesome choice for those on a budget. It none of those strike your fancy though, read on to check out some alternatives.
At a glance
| Product | Category | Rating |
| HP Envy 17 | Our pick | In progress |
| MSI GS75 Stealth | The best 17-inch gaming laptop | 3.5 out of 5 |
| Dell Inspiron 17 3000 | Best budget 17-inch laptop | In progress |
| LG Gram 17 | Best thin and light 17-inch laptop | 3 out of 5 |
Our pick
HP Envy 17
Why you should buy this: It offers a huge display to show off all your work, at a reasonable price. And it looks good to boot.
Who’s it for: Anyone who needs the largest common display but doesn’t want a gaming laptop.
What we thought of the HP Envy 17:
If gaming isn’t why you want a 17-inch laptop, then the HP Envy 17 is our pick for pretty much every other circumstance. The Envy has a number of useful configurations, starting as low as $850 with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display, an 8th-gen quad-core Intel Core i7-8550U, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB 7200rpm SATA hard disk drive (HDD). The Envy 17 comes standard with a decent entry-level discrete GPU, the Nvidia GeForce MX150 with 4GB of video ram. If that’s not enough, you can configure it with a 512GB PCIe solid-state drive (SSD), a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) display, and up to 16GB of RAM, all for under $1,500.
Those are some impressive specs, especially at those prices. So what’s the catch? Well, it’s not nearly as thin or light as the 13-inch models of the Envy, coming in at 6.7 pounds and almost an inch thick. It also comes with an optical drive, which will either be seen as an extra bonus or a completely strange thing to have a laptop in 2019, depending on your perspective.
Either way, if you’ve been looking for a high-powered work laptop with a big display, you’ve found it.
The best 17-inch gaming laptop
MSI GS75 Stealth
Why you should buy this: It’s big, bad, and beautiful, and can blow through your favorite games on an expansive and responsive display.
Who’s it for: Any gamer who wants a larger display but doesn’t want to give up performance.
What we thought of the MSI GS75 Stealth:
What gamer doesn’t want a bigger display? The answer would be: None, unless that display is a disappointment. The MSI GS75 Stealth obviates that concern, offering up a 17-inch Full HD display that’s excellent for gamers thanks to a 144Hz panel that can push framerates up to 144 frames per second (FPS) without any artifacts or tearing. And not only that, but it’s also a great display for the occasional productivity work, with excellent brightness, contrast, and colors — which isn’t always the case with gaming displays.
The GS75 Stealth is also powerfully equipped, with 8th-gen, six-core Intel CPUs and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU that can burn through any modern title at 1080p or 1440p at high detail settings. When playing on the internal display, you’ll definitely appreciate the fast panel that can keep up with frame rates that approached 100 FPS in almost every game we threw at it.
And as an added bonus, the GS75 Stealth is also a good-looking laptops that’s not terribly huge to lug around. It’s a great choice for anyone, but it still makes gamers feel like it was designed just for them.
Read our MSI GS75 Stealth review
Best budget 17-inch laptop
Dell Inspiron 17 3000
Why you should buy this: It offers serious power at a very affordable price.
Who’s it for: The budget conscious who still want a big-screen laptop experience.
What we thought of the Dell Inspiron 17 3000:
17-inch laptops are usually beefier, more powerful laptops — and thus, more expensive. However, Dell’s Inspiron 17 3000 is the exception. It can be configured with some legitimate components, like an 8th-gen Whiskey Lake quad-core Intel Core i5-8265U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB HDD, for $670. For just $50 more, you can add 16GB of Intel Optane to make that HDD perform so much better.
And there aren’t too many compromises, either. You get a Full HD display, fast wireless connectivity, and a decent build quality to go with that performance. What you don’t get are great looks, but for this price, that’s a sacrifice worth making.
Learn more about the Dell Inspiron 17 3000.
Best thin and light 17-inch laptop
LG Gram 17
Why you should buy this: It’s light and portable without sacrificing performance.
Who’s it for: Big screen-users who still want to lug their laptop around without breaking their back.
What we thought about the LG Gram 17:
Let’s face it, carrying a heavy laptop around isn’t a lot of fun and sometimes you just don’t want the heft that goes with a 17-inch display. If that’s you, then the LG Gram 17 is a great choice. It packs a large panel into a svelte chassis that at 2.95 pounds, is lighter than most 15-inch laptops you might consider instead.
You also get high-end components like 8th-gen Intel Core CPUs, solid connectivity including a Thunderbolt 3 port that enables external GPU enclosures, and compliance with MIL-STD-810g military standards for robustness that promise to give it solid durability. It’s not the least expensive 17-inch laptop on our list, but you’re paying for a high-resolution (2,560 x 1,600) IPS display with excellent contrast and colors and great battery life. What’s not to like?
Read our LG Gram 17 review
