Skip to main content

The best gaming laptops of CES 2019

Alienware and MSI lead the best gaming laptops of CES 2019

CES 2019 saw the announcement of Nvidia’s latest RTX mobile graphics, which was flanked by many gaming laptop reveals from MSI, Alienware, Acer, and more.

More CES 2019 coverage

Naturally, each company talks up its own set of new features and design elements, leaving consumers with a lot to choose from when heading to the stores this year. Not to worry, as we’ve sorted through the long list of new gaming laptops and have picked out the best from the rest. Here are our picks for the best gaming laptops of CES 2019.

Recommended Videos

Alienware Area-51m

Alienware Area-51m review
Joel Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Leading the pack is the Alienware Area-51m. With the ability to freely swap out both the processor and the graphics card, this gaming laptop is hard to beat. Through the graphics cards are proprietary, upgrading is as easy as taking off the bottom panel (which is mapped with cables and screw types) and heading inside the laptop.

The Alienware Area-51m is also sporting a desktop-grade processor, with options for up the Intel Core i9-9900K and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics making it truly powerful.

And just look at it. High-end gaming laptops like the Area-51m can be unappealing, but this new model looks like a prop from a sci-fi movie. It even has a ring of Tron-like customizable lighting on the back. The Alienware Area-51m will be available on January 21 for prices starting at $2,549. Lower priced configurations will be coming later.

Check out our Alienware Area-51m hands-on review.

MSI GS75 Stealth

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Next up is the MSI GS75 Stealth. Sporting a thin bezel 17.3-inch 144Hz display, and a thickness of less than 0.75 inches, it is smaller than most 17-inch gaming laptops. What is even more impressive, is that MSI managed to pack the powerful Intel Core i7 series CPUs and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics on board, as well as options for up to three M.2 SSD storage drives.

It looks sleek, too, with lush gold hinges made out of a light aluminum alloy. Cooling is also improved, coming with seven copper heat pipes and two dedicated fans on board. Pricing and availability were not shared at CES.

Acer Predator Triton 900

Acer Predator Triton 900
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Alongside the Asus ROG mothership, the Acer Predator Triton 900 is unique, as it is fully convertible 2-in-1 designed for gamers, something we first saw at CES 2019. Sporting an “Ezel Aero Hinge,” it can be switched into four modes— laptop, display mode, easel mode, and a mode with the screen flipped to the reverse.

That’s impressive on its own, but so is the power under the hood. Inside, it packs in Intel’s 8th generation Intel Core i7 CPU, an NVMe PCIe SSDs in RAID0 configuration, up to 32GB of DDR4 memory, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU. It even has a 17-inch 4K IPS display with Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. Availability is set for March with pricing that starts at $4,000.

Asus ROG G703

Asus ROG G703
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Next on the list is the Asus ROG G703. Sporting HyperDrive Extreme storage, this laptop lets you combine three SSDs in RAID 0 configuration for speedy read rates of up to 8,700MBs. That’s the fastest speeds yet in a gaming laptop. It also packs in 8th generation Intel Core processors and comes with an option for the overclocked Intel Core i9-8950HK processor for speeds of up to 4.86GHz. Elsewhere, you’ll feel right at home when gaming with its 17-inch screen with 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. Pricing and availability were not announced at the time of writing.

Razer Blade Advanced Model

Razer Blade 15 Advanced
Razer

We really loved the Razer Blade 15 in 2018, and the Razer Blade Advanced is a step up from last year’s model. Naturally, it now comes with options for the GeForce RTX 2060, GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q, or GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q GPUs. It is nearly identical to last year’s model on the outside, but now packs a Windows Hello camera and options for an FHD 144Hz display or a 60Hz 4K touch panel.

There are some sacrifices, however, as it downgrades the storage a bit, coming with Single Storage SSD, vs Dual Storage on the base model. Other new elements include Per Key Chrome lighting and a slightly thinner profile of just 0.70 inches vs 0.78 inches from last year’s model. Availability is set for January 29 with prices starting at $2,300.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
This ingenious ROG gaming laptop is user-upgradeable — no screws required
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16

Asus has announced a number of new gaming laptops at CES 2025, but one of the standouts this year has a unique feature: a completely tool-less upgrade system that you can easily access yourself.

The redesigned ROG Strix Scar 16 and 18 both use a simple, magnetic latching system that lets you open the bottom panel and access the internal components within seconds. In particular, you can reach the RAM and M.2 SSD and swap them out, without even requiring a screwdriver. You can pack up to 64GB of DDR5-5600 memory inside, as well as up to 4TB of PCIe 4 SSDs in RAID 0.

Read more
Alienware’s latest OLED gaming monitor is its most exciting yet
Alienware 27-inch 4K gaming monitor.

Ahead of CES 2025, I got to check out Alienware's most exciting OLED gaming monitor yet -- a 27-inch 4K model. I got to play a few rounds of Halo Infinite on the monitor at an Alienware event, and I was blown away by how sharp it looked.

Now, let's be clear: this is hardly the only 27-inch, 4K OLED. It's one of the big monitor trends at CES this year, with models from Asus and Samsung joining in on the fun.

Read more
Acer made an 11-inch handheld gaming PC, and it’s the craziest thing I’ve seen at CES
Someone holding the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 handheld.

I mean, just look at that picture. That's all you really need to see what I mean by calling an 11-inch handheld the craziest thing I've seen at CES 2025. There are always plenty of wacky concepts coming out of the Las Vegas Convention Center, but the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 takes the cake for not only being the largest handheld gaming PC I've seen but also being a real product that's set to hit store shelves this year.

Outside of the screen size, the Nitro Blaze 11 is a fairly conventional handheld. It comes packed with an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS chip, along with 16GB of LPDDR5X memory at 7,500MT/s and up to 2TB of storage. The Ryzen 7 8840HS is identical to the familiar Ryzen Z1 Extreme available in handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally, at least when it comes to core configuration, architecture, and clock speed. The main difference is that the Ryzen 7 8850HS is set to run at 28W in its default configuration while the Ryzen Z1 Extreme runs at 15W. Thankfully, the default power is something Acer can tweak.

Read more