Will you be reviewing the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED Laptop please? It’s a great deal @ $899 considering it comes with intel ultra 9 185H + 16gb ram and 1TB ssd which is also upgradable 😊
because they prioritize money over customer's feedback and same goes to razer. just buy asian brand laptops like msi, acer, asus and lenovo because they truly care both money and customer's feedback
I had one since 2015 and its thermal throttling made it borderline useless for gaming, its vents filled with dust in couple of months, it was heavier than a brick. On the plus side it still works fine for my parents. But i dont see when oo what their actual peak was. New Lenovo is a dream comparably
We need an 18 inch non-gaming look laptop that has good battery life, excellent keyboard, outstanding haptic trackpad, and an amazing display. Besides the razor and doesn’t break the bank.
I had my eye on the Acer Helios 4090 and after watching your video I decided to pull the trigger! It will be delivered on Tuesday the 11th! I can't wait!
hows your experience with it? i've had mine for a bit over 2 weeks and while i havent had enough time to really test it out im still trying to work out the kinks to really get the absolute best out of it. keeping the temps low while maintaining great performance, getting the best out of the mini LED panel, and trying to do work arounds with that 14900HX. also have you tried the HDR mode on it? mine has looked god awful when testing OLED demos, lots of graphical hiccups until i went and updated everything again.
Owning an Alienware M18r1, the screen is not that bad. Sure, it's not going to work well outside in daylight, but playing BG3 at the moment, I have no issues seeing things when I'm indoors. The performance is great, and I'm only running the RTX4080 variant. There's a TON about this laptop that make it great! Price wise, it's much less than most of the others mentioned here, has more ports, is more upgradeable with 4 NVME slots (on the 4080 and 4090 variants), and the build quality is great! Everyone picks on Alienware (Dell), but I am extremely happy with my machine.
I got one too. The other brands might offer better screens but they offer inferior build quality and their designs are a little too gamery. Alienware is more low key while still looking cool.
@@justswitched8841 It's a great looking laptop! I purchased a carbon fiber skin to goes over the lid as well as across the surface in front of the keyboard. It really looks sharp!
@@justswitched8841And, best of all, onsite support. On the screen point, if we didn’t have new options over 300 no one would say a word, as if they game on the beach. Even most people in average conditions run 300 nit panels at like 50-70%…. Very few need more in reality.
I am a proud owner of a ALIENWARE M18 R1 (all AMD). I got it for a very discounted price so not going to complain much about it... The screen indeed is not the brightness, but feels very responsive. Has amazing colors, depth and "HDR like" image which I am not even sure how they achieved. Probably has high native contrast. I have had many gaming laptops and this screen feels the best to use. (this includes 16 inch Macbook Pro M1) I have had a Legion 7 with much brighter display, but that wasn't as pleasant as the Alienware. Colors also felt too blue. Also with the 18 inch size I don't really feel a need for an external monitor any more. It also runs pretty quiet on balanced/performance mode and just runs every game smooth and beautiful. For me, the only downside is that the Alienware is very heavy and probably the biggest M18 laptop on the market today, although mine has a small 330W charger. But I am happy for the winner. I originally wanted to buy the Helios too anyways... :)
*_I was following along with you until you said the Alienware’s screen was better than an M1 MacBook Pro’s. Like, c’mon man…. LOL Apple screens are color accurate, which is why they are used so prevalently in professional environments. I’ve owned Alienware laptops before, and you’d have to be blind to think they even come close to a MacBook screen._*
The best reviewer out there. You spoke the truth, you found whats good and what not about these machines. Then you compared them with each other. And I can confirm your analysis. I have a Razer 17 and just bought the predator 18 4090. It's a mounstrocity but its all worth. It is bigger than the Blade 17 but its not huge to the point of being uncomfortable. The form factor is the same of the older 17 inch models, so it fits on an existing 17 inch sleeve. It aint that heavy an its a monster in performance - this is worth if you are an enthusiast / work-play VR games, Video editing, AI video, 3D rendering. I dont even play flat games on this, but VR, you will always need more and more The fans of the predator have a low pitch sound which does not disturb, in turbo mode its madness, but its worth it when you gonna play that unoptimized vr game or create a baking in Unity. I did had a scar 17 some years ago, and it is true it has a very annoying high pitch, so much that I returned it. The Razers have that issue as well. Could you weight the powerbricks? No video compared all of them. The Razer is so sexy and the Predator is the chunkiest. Having an 18 inch screen does feel enormous. This is especially relevant when working with video, 3d and unity. You will see tons more menus an feel more comfortable overall. With the 17 inch Razer blade you felt you needed a bit more space when the project is getting heavy.
I feel that they're trying to push creators or those who want a better screen towards the Dell XPS lineup... Which is a completely different class of laptop and also awful in general. Dell needs to go back to the drawing board and learn why Apple stopped doing all of the crap Dell is now doing.
@@cameronbosch1213 I hate it when brands do this. If a company is going to sabotage a product I want to push me towards another product they sell, why wouldn't I just buy from a different brand?
I think Razer is the best Macbook replacement and it has the most similar look and also keyboard to a MacBook. So for someone who is considering switching from a Macbook Pro to a powerful Windows laptop, I think Razer 18 is the best option.
Especially because only Razer Blade 18 currently has the coveted Thunderbolt 5 port! Run 3 4K displays at once, or two 8K displays at once! All from a single gaming laptop!
Interesting that we had exactly the same issue with our 2020 Razer 17 Pro concerning the 'direct GPU' mode, where after sleep the screen would be blank. This has been an issue for many years, unfortunately.
the acer has one issue with overheating nvme therefore massive performance drop, but it should be fixable with aftermarket cooling pad. still it could affect the warranty...
I have been testing the Raider 18 from Costco which is $3000 for a 14900HX, QHD 240hz IPS display, 4080 mobile, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD along with a membrane keyboard and normal clickpad. The heatsink with heatpipes instead of a vapor chamber still does a good job and while the chassis is not as nice as the Titan, I like it more than the other options and the price is much more reasonable than the Titan.
Really cool Josh! Great that you have done here what I have not seen any other tech youtuber do yet. I have searched endlessly for a good comparison featuring all the 18 inchers to know which is the best one so that I know what to go with to be my on the go portable workstation! Thanks and cheers
This was exactly the video I was looking for. I want to replace my old gaming laptop with a new one and want to upgrade to a larger, 18 inch, screen. I was already looking at some of the models discussed in this video. I was unsure about the predator; being cheaper than the rest aroused some suspicions in me that it might be compromised in build quality. Your video, however, makes clear it has the best price/quality ratio. Which is very useful to know. Thanks
I could not have clicked to watch this video faster! I've been trying to compare them online. I'm not sure if I'll get one. I really wish one had an OLED display. And all laptops of this size should have amazing speakers. Anyways, thank you for gathering this info, I really appreciate your reviews.
M18R2 here. Could the screen be brighter? Sure, but saying you need to be in a dungeon to make it usable is a little extreme, it's not THAT bad. That being said, they do need to upgrade the screens...they are falling behind in that area quite badly.
Yes that is fair. But I definitely feel the screen is a major part of the laptop, and we haven't seen screens that dim since we did our Best Laptop for $200 video. I'm not joking. It's the dimmest of 70 laptops we have (other than the
I got the G18 from asus 4080 with an i9-14900hx. I am seriously impressed! the performance is ridiculous. I can run Ultra everything, Ray Tracing everything, but the biggest surprise to me was the thermals.. so any game i've run i haven't hit 80c on either GPU or CPU. i just have the back propped up on a couple old DVD's while keeping the performance mode on and the thermals are more than okay. Also my old display just doesn't even come close to this one.
so basically ASUS scar 18 is better in thermals,best performance on battery,brightest display,best battery, 2nd best performance on Timespy & cinebench slightly behind 1st. sounds like a WINNER to me 😉
Just an FYI, I have a Scar 18 with a 4080 and running it with a good Coolermaster laptop cooler. GPU temp maxes out at 80 degrees C and fan noise is 45dB. GPU is overlocked by 200Mhz on Core 1000Mhz on memory. Runs like a dream and quite silent. I personally think the slightly lower spec laptop 4080 cards run very well in an 18 inch configuration. My TimeSpy GPU score is 19899 with these settings.
I need a big laptop screen for productivity and gaming. However I don’t necessarily need the best specs to play the latest AAA games just good enough for most games. Any suggestions on budget 18 inch laptops?
Great video Josh. I appreciate the high-density information in such a short form factor. I can tell that you spent a lot of time in editing your script and b-roll tightly in order to focus on your analysis over simple raw information. This is impressive and intelligent presentation technique - and very much appreciated!
You are spot on. My aim is to make the most of your 12 minutes of time. No fluff, telling you what you need to know as fast and as interesting as possible. Scripts like this one btw tend to take about 8 hours (thats on top of testing time)
@@JustJoshTech It absolutely shows, Josh. It's obvious that these are carefully crafted videos. I just wanted to let you know that it makes your content stand out, especially to those of us who can spot the hard work and next-level talent.
Imagine spending that much on a laptop which has these issues...disappointing, such issues are acceptable for budget devices that cost below $800..great video btw, personally I'll never buy a laptop for gaming which knowing that i could get better performance and customization with a desktop, yet i enjoy watching your videos ❤
While I agree with the issues, if you compare it to a desktop then you weren't the target demographic for these laptops anyways. They're targetted at people that need to be mobile. If you're just sitting here going home every day and never traveling then yeah a laptop objectively doesn't make sense to purchase.
@crshoveride I've never owned a desktop pc, and always used laptops, and i do prefer them over desktops for portability, but gaming laptops are a joke, they aren't really portable, because once you unplug the power it'll last for barely an hour or two which isn't good for gaming or any other task, so here we just have heavy, super expensive devices which aren't really portable due to the large size and will die quickly if used unplugged, but i really didn't appreciate the fact that these cost way too much but still had major flaws. That being said, when he was talking about each of them, i thought they were absolutely amazing and beautiful devices..finally, I'm too broke to even touch them inside stores lol
I'm late...lol I really appreciate the clear, to-the-point, communication! I may never understand the 'gaming' thing, but I am a business guy shopping for high end, big, mobile work stations. Typically only buy Dell Precision. Gaming rigs always bring the performance, but usually more flash than we need. I am sort of torn but do appreciate your very clear, less windy, reviews.
These seems like Pro gamer laptops for those that travel to tournaments. The costs are insanely high, and you can get better value with a self-made gaming desktop.
I'm sure you tried this, but when you open the lid and the screen doesn't come on, try closing the lid and opening it back up. It works 100% of the time for my 2011 Asus G73.
Can someone confirm the following? Acer Predator Helios 18 version 2024: Is the mini-led screen prone to invisible but potentially harmful PWM (Pulse width modulation) which is technology that controls the brightness level of the screen, and I read somewhere on internet that it has value of around 4800, and some users on OLED screens find having PWM presence in their laptops to create eyes fatigue? What thermal paste is used on the cooling solution, liquid metal or standard? Thank you!
Hi Josh, I bought a Legion 7i Gen 9 last month, after 20 days of use, it started to give me black screen every time I booted up any game, whether on steam, battlenet, unreal, it black screened when the laptop was on charge but it didn't when it was off charge, this happened before and after I updated EVERYTHING, deleted and redownloaded EVERYTHING. Now that you mentioned you have issues with yours, I am glad I'm not the only one, I ended up returning the Legion and now I am in a void of not knowing what to do, that was a top choice of mine but if its faulty like this when I buy it again it will be super frustrating, what would you recommend?
@@JustJoshTech I think I ran on Optimus, I didn’t change the option of “Optimus” or “GPU only” and just used it how it was directly out of the box and how Nvidia was downloaded, I contacted technical team, they didn’t help, and since I was coming to my last few days of the 30 day return I didn’t want to take risks of keeping a faulty laptop, I hope we get an update on this or something
It’s no way to please everyone. Razer laptops are known for thin and portable, while still getting the full TDP. Does that means there isn’t sacrifices to be made? Absolutely, even at that price. Is it the best laptop at cooling or do you get the best Keyboard ? No, this is why you make your selections depending on your preference. Asus, Acer, MSI & Dell have other options, but again, there is no perfect laptop that checks all the boxes.
@@Grimmjow19872 but my model is 4060, temps cpu/gpu in demanding games about 80/70, not very intense games 70/60. What about temperatures on 4080 I don’t know, but guess it will also fine
I'm not sorry and i will never not mention this; a small right shift key on an 18 inch laptop is unacceptable. A small right shift key is the one thing on a keyboard i could never get used to. I suppose if it's your only device you can, but most of us are using other devices, especially at work.
Hey Josh , I know that's not related but can I have your opinion on the 14 inches Yoga 7i with Intel 1355U inside ? Would you recommend it for the average user who doesn't game ?
Josh Sir what are your views of HP's line of Gaming Laptops - Omen and Victus? The new ones, are they competitive or any good? The 16.1-inch ones, not the 14 inches Transcend. Do they impress you and would you recommend them? They have traditionally been more affordable compared to others.
We did not choose the 2023 model over the 2024. It was simply not released when we made the video. I believe it came out the week we launched it. Thoroughly using and testing 5 laptops takes a very long time. When we did find out about it though, In the edit we made sure to call out the main differences to the 2024 model like the Thunderbolt 5 port and screen options. But after speaking with Jarrod's Tech who had the 2024 model, we decided to proceed to launch the video. The reason being... nothing about our conclusions would have changed. If they would have, we would have of course pulled the video.
I don't need one right now but I love your videos guys, so I keep watching them. I really liked the format, so much data in such a short time, and including bits from other reviewers.
Sounds like you guys lost the panel lottery, bummer. My m18 R2 had an exquisite screen, I see colors on that thing I don't see on my desktop monitors or my Samsung Frame tvs
I remember those 17.3 inch laptops that were 21 to 23 inches in size with the bezel. I am just hoping that someone releases an zero bezel 21 or 23 laptop with a large battery.
Got myself a scar18, fan issue is quite negligible since i always use a headphone while gaming and with my teammates’ shouts and gibberish, I don’t really hear the fan 😅
Out of the driver issues mentioned at the end, one stuck out to me: the display not waking up from sleep. I am convinced this is a Windows issue, as I have this exact same issue with my Dell XPS 15 9530 base model (Intel Arc, not Nvidia graphics)
Greay review, really put me of these. I was hoping to find an 18" creator quiet laptop. I noticed MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is not on the list, hile it is very competitevly proced (so much so,makes you wonder if there is an issue with it!), uses Ultra 9 185H (may be quieter?), very portable considering, UHD 120hz MiniLED, on paper ticks many boxes. I wonder why not many meaningful reviews.
Josh, I love your videos, but I didn't like the loud, harsh intro sequence. Yes, these laptops are targeted at a certain segment of the market. It shouldn't matter. Please keep your reviews honest, genuine, and graceful, which has always been what you're about.
Are you here for the laptop reviews, or are you here for audio engineering and filmmaking? Because you’ve lost the plot if you are here whining about the "¡LoUd!" intro.
I own the MSI Titan 18 HX and I can't replicate any of the strange issues you report. Neither is the touchpad flickering (and BOY is it comfortable to use, because your hands just learn where it is and there's no dirt on the frame or any visual indication where it is), nor did I notice any vibration, nor is it going hot while doing nothing. The keyboard is perfect for a fast typist (300+ cpm). The 4k+ screen is really good, in comparison to all the QHD laptops you praise.
🎉 Acer Predator Helios 18: howl.me/cmguKi1NCva
💻 Asus Strix Scar 18: howl.me/cmgxNLNQboB
👉 MSI Titan HX: amzn.to/4coHxGR
😎 Razer Blade 18: howl.me/cmhPCilgicg
🤨 Alienware m18 R2: geni.us/2jXqM
🎉 Best Gaming Laptops: www.justjosh.tech/best-tech/Best-Laptops-for-Gaming
UGreen Nexode Pro 100 Watt: bit.ly/3JGAZGs
UGreen Nexode Pro 160 Watt: bit.ly/3Wg8ZB1
Will you be reviewing the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED Laptop please?
It’s a great deal @ $899 considering it comes with intel ultra 9 185H + 16gb ram and 1TB ssd which is also upgradable 😊
I think the #1 acer predator you are sending the link is not the mini LED Display. the mini LED one cost $800 more.
The acer helios was just on sale for 2600 at bestbuy that's practically half the price of the titan!
@@JustJoshTech I m from italy :( and i buy used
Are any of these OLED?
Me watching this knowing I'll never even consider buying a computer this big
*expensive
@@hamzaaitabderrahmane3436 brokie
*big and expensive 😭
You can get a 17” Walmart asus for $1399
same
always been looking for a top-end laptop comparison video. Thank you for that!!
I honestly wish we could have a Lenovo Legion 18....I think they'd hit it out of the park
lenovo is crazy, do a giant legion go and doesnt make a legion 18, it would be a jackpot for them, and for us
Nah.
@@V-yy9bq also acer
Man why they both don't go 18 with max spec
Alienware's downfall needs to be studied
because they prioritize money over customer's feedback and same goes to razer. just buy asian brand laptops like msi, acer, asus and lenovo because they truly care both money and customer's feedback
I had one since 2015 and its thermal throttling made it borderline useless for gaming, its vents filled with dust in couple of months, it was heavier than a brick. On the plus side it still works fine for my parents. But i dont see when oo what their actual peak was. New Lenovo is a dream comparably
@@dontblinkoryouwillmissme Razer still makes often best laptops.
All they have to do is update the screens
Still rocking a M18x R2. Works great today. Upgraded the GPU and added NVME
Man. That's not the fan noise in scar 18. It's the coil whine. Pretty famous for that 😬
Thats too bad for others, after a few months I have had zero coil whine.
I never regret owning the Scar, it’s my 4th ASUS laptop
I never wanted such a beast but for people with less space or no desk having to move often... They sure provide value.
We need an 18 inch non-gaming look laptop that has good battery life, excellent keyboard, outstanding haptic trackpad, and an amazing display. Besides the razor and doesn’t break the bank.
Check out the MSI Stealth 18 2024 model with 4k screen.
+ an OLED panel
I had my eye on the Acer Helios 4090 and after watching your video I decided to pull the trigger! It will be delivered on Tuesday the 11th! I can't wait!
hows your experience with it? i've had mine for a bit over 2 weeks and while i havent had enough time to really test it out im still trying to work out the kinks to really get the absolute best out of it. keeping the temps low while maintaining great performance, getting the best out of the mini LED panel, and trying to do work arounds with that 14900HX.
also have you tried the HDR mode on it? mine has looked god awful when testing OLED demos, lots of graphical hiccups until i went and updated everything again.
Any update?
Any update,, i will buy it in two days if you respond fast
My Alienware m18 r1 , 13900hx , rtx 4090 , qhd 165hz , 1 tb ss, 32gb ddr5 --- best laptop for my 😊
Owning an Alienware M18r1, the screen is not that bad. Sure, it's not going to work well outside in daylight, but playing BG3 at the moment, I have no issues seeing things when I'm indoors. The performance is great, and I'm only running the RTX4080 variant. There's a TON about this laptop that make it great! Price wise, it's much less than most of the others mentioned here, has more ports, is more upgradeable with 4 NVME slots (on the 4080 and 4090 variants), and the build quality is great! Everyone picks on Alienware (Dell), but I am extremely happy with my machine.
I got one too. The other brands might offer better screens but they offer inferior build quality and their designs are a little too gamery. Alienware is more low key while still looking cool.
@@justswitched8841 I'm on my 2nd m18 and it's by far the best sub-20" laptop I've ever touched. I'd take a 4k option too though ngl
@@justswitched8841 It's a great looking laptop! I purchased a carbon fiber skin to goes over the lid as well as across the surface in front of the keyboard. It really looks sharp!
@@justswitched8841And, best of all, onsite support. On the screen point, if we didn’t have new options over 300 no one would say a word, as if they game on the beach. Even most people in average conditions run 300 nit panels at like 50-70%…. Very few need more in reality.
Thank you for this comment! You probably made my choice! ) The screen was my main concern!
I am a proud owner of a ALIENWARE M18 R1 (all AMD). I got it for a very discounted price so not going to complain much about it...
The screen indeed is not the brightness, but feels very responsive. Has amazing colors, depth and "HDR like" image which I am not even sure how they achieved. Probably has high native contrast. I have had many gaming laptops and this screen feels the best to use. (this includes 16 inch Macbook Pro M1) I have had a Legion 7 with much brighter display, but that wasn't as pleasant as the Alienware. Colors also felt too blue. Also with the 18 inch size I don't really feel a need for an external monitor any more. It also runs pretty quiet on balanced/performance mode and just runs every game smooth and beautiful. For me, the only downside is that the Alienware is very heavy and probably the biggest M18 laptop on the market today, although mine has a small 330W charger. But I am happy for the winner. I originally wanted to buy the Helios too anyways... :)
*_I was following along with you until you said the Alienware’s screen was better than an M1 MacBook Pro’s. Like, c’mon man…. LOL Apple screens are color accurate, which is why they are used so prevalently in professional environments. I’ve owned Alienware laptops before, and you’d have to be blind to think they even come close to a MacBook screen._*
The best reviewer out there. You spoke the truth, you found whats good and what not about these machines. Then you compared them with each other. And I can confirm your analysis. I have a Razer 17 and just bought the predator 18 4090. It's a mounstrocity but its all worth. It is bigger than the Blade 17 but its not huge to the point of being uncomfortable. The form factor is the same of the older 17 inch models, so it fits on an existing 17 inch sleeve. It aint that heavy an its a monster in performance - this is worth if you are an enthusiast / work-play VR games, Video editing, AI video, 3D rendering. I dont even play flat games on this, but VR, you will always need more and more
The fans of the predator have a low pitch sound which does not disturb, in turbo mode its madness, but its worth it when you gonna play that unoptimized vr game or create a baking in Unity. I did had a scar 17 some years ago, and it is true it has a very annoying high pitch, so much that I returned it. The Razers have that issue as well.
Could you weight the powerbricks? No video compared all of them. The Razer is so sexy and the Predator is the chunkiest.
Having an 18 inch screen does feel enormous. This is especially relevant when working with video, 3d and unity. You will see tons more menus an feel more comfortable overall. With the 17 inch Razer blade you felt you needed a bit more space when the project is getting heavy.
its so strange that the display options on the dell are so poor, esp. when we know there are many many options available
I feel that they're trying to push creators or those who want a better screen towards the Dell XPS lineup... Which is a completely different class of laptop and also awful in general.
Dell needs to go back to the drawing board and learn why Apple stopped doing all of the crap Dell is now doing.
@@cameronbosch1213 I hate it when brands do this. If a company is going to sabotage a product I want to push me towards another product they sell, why wouldn't I just buy from a different brand?
it's honestly not bad though...I never had an issue seeing the screen in a bright room during the day
For seniors, I love this big 18-inch screen. 😄
You get it man.. you get what a good laptop needs to be. Thanks for your videos!
I have had nothing but problems with Asus. Went with the AW M18R2 and haven't looked back. No Regrets.
Thanks for sharing. I'm glad it worked out!
I think Razer is the best Macbook replacement and it has the most similar look and also keyboard to a MacBook. So for someone who is considering switching from a Macbook Pro to a powerful Windows laptop, I think Razer 18 is the best option.
Especially because only Razer Blade 18 currently has the coveted Thunderbolt 5 port! Run 3 4K displays at once, or two 8K displays at once! All from a single gaming laptop!
I looked at them but I'm not interested in a 17-18" laptop with no numpad. It seems like a big stretch to sell accessories.
Love this video format!
Interesting that we had exactly the same issue with our 2020 Razer 17 Pro concerning the 'direct GPU' mode, where after sleep the screen would be blank. This has been an issue for many years, unfortunately.
How are the internal temps on the Helios 18? Does it reach 90°c+ when gaming or during stress tests?
the acer has one issue with overheating nvme therefore massive performance drop, but it should be fixable with aftermarket cooling pad. still it could affect the warranty...
Great review! I like how you guys address the nuances.
I was just about to get rid of my dungeon but now......
I have been testing the Raider 18 from Costco which is $3000 for a 14900HX, QHD 240hz IPS display, 4080 mobile, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD along with a membrane keyboard and normal clickpad. The heatsink with heatpipes instead of a vapor chamber still does a good job and while the chassis is not as nice as the Titan, I like it more than the other options and the price is much more reasonable than the Titan.
Really cool Josh! Great that you have done here what I have not seen any other tech youtuber do yet. I have searched endlessly for a good comparison featuring all the 18 inchers to know which is the best one so that I know what to go with to be my on the go portable workstation! Thanks and cheers
ok but which one will run runescape no lag
This was exactly the video I was looking for. I want to replace my old gaming laptop with a new one and want to upgrade to a larger, 18 inch, screen. I was already looking at some of the models discussed in this video. I was unsure about the predator; being cheaper than the rest aroused some suspicions in me that it might be compromised in build quality. Your video, however, makes clear it has the best price/quality ratio. Which is very useful to know. Thanks
I could not have clicked to watch this video faster! I've been trying to compare them online. I'm not sure if I'll get one. I really wish one had an OLED display. And all laptops of this size should have amazing speakers. Anyways, thank you for gathering this info, I really appreciate your reviews.
I hope the video delivered
M18R2 here. Could the screen be brighter? Sure, but saying you need to be in a dungeon to make it usable is a little extreme, it's not THAT bad. That being said, they do need to upgrade the screens...they are falling behind in that area quite badly.
Yes that is fair. But I definitely feel the screen is a major part of the laptop, and we haven't seen screens that dim since we did our Best Laptop for $200 video. I'm not joking. It's the dimmest of 70 laptops we have (other than the
was the predator cool to the touch when gaming like the asus was?
Damn quality of the videos is really good better then linus tech tips l, love u Josh and the team❤
The problem with the display and mux switch is windows HDR mode. Turn it off with windows key+alt+b and the screen turns back on, no need to restart.
How can a laptop be powerful without fantastic heat removal?
i dont understand why pp make a big deal out of fan noise i mean just put on some noise canceling headphones
because they dont care for their cpu. playing in silent will kill the hardware.
i returned my alien ware m19 r2 cause it reached 99°C every time i opened a game, so it was a overcloaking issue? it wasn't needed to return it? D:
i have a alienware R18 and non of the mention about the alienware is tru . its a great machine no problem at all and the screen is great.
I got the G18 from asus 4080 with an i9-14900hx. I am seriously impressed! the performance is ridiculous. I can run Ultra everything, Ray Tracing everything, but the biggest surprise to me was the thermals.. so any game i've run i haven't hit 80c on either GPU or CPU. i just have the back propped up on a couple old DVD's while keeping the performance mode on and the thermals are more than okay. Also my old display just doesn't even come close to this one.
It was great Josh thanks , esp. the last part of the video 👍
so basically ASUS scar 18 is better in thermals,best performance on battery,brightest display,best battery, 2nd best performance on Timespy & cinebench slightly behind 1st. sounds like a WINNER to me 😉
Yeah, honestly the Scar and Predator were insanely close. We could have gone either way
Just an FYI, I have a Scar 18 with a 4080 and running it with a good Coolermaster laptop cooler. GPU temp maxes out at 80 degrees C and fan noise is 45dB. GPU is overlocked by 200Mhz on Core 1000Mhz on memory. Runs like a dream and quite silent. I personally think the slightly lower spec laptop 4080 cards run very well in an 18 inch configuration. My TimeSpy GPU score is 19899 with these settings.
Only spec that matters: Noise.
I need a big laptop screen for productivity and gaming. However I don’t necessarily need the best specs to play the latest AAA games just good enough for most games. Any suggestions on budget 18 inch laptops?
Is the Asus' MIniLED better than the Acer's?
Yes, Asus Scar 18 has a best 18-inch MiniLed display with 2000 dimming zones.
That intro shocked me from this channel. Not in any negative way; it's just not something you guys typically do. I gotta say it was pretty awesome.
I'm very glad you like it. We want to make videos that are not only educational but are entertaining
I’m gonna buy this laptop for my design work and a bit of gaming
Do you think it’ll be a good fit?
Or do you have any other suggestions?
Which one has the best speakers?
Razer Blade 18 has a best speaker. Then is Scar 18.
What about the temp / thermals ?
I am considering an 18inch gaming laptop because of lack of space for a full size monitor. You hit the nail right out at alienware review.
Great video Josh. I appreciate the high-density information in such a short form factor. I can tell that you spent a lot of time in editing your script and b-roll tightly in order to focus on your analysis over simple raw information. This is impressive and intelligent presentation technique - and very much appreciated!
You are spot on. My aim is to make the most of your 12 minutes of time. No fluff, telling you what you need to know as fast and as interesting as possible. Scripts like this one btw tend to take about 8 hours (thats on top of testing time)
@@JustJoshTech It absolutely shows, Josh. It's obvious that these are carefully crafted videos. I just wanted to let you know that it makes your content stand out, especially to those of us who can spot the hard work and next-level talent.
Do they all have matte (antiglare) screens?
Imagine spending that much on a laptop which has these issues...disappointing, such issues are acceptable for budget devices that cost below $800..great video btw, personally I'll never buy a laptop for gaming which knowing that i could get better performance and customization with a desktop, yet i enjoy watching your videos ❤
While I agree with the issues, if you compare it to a desktop then you weren't the target demographic for these laptops anyways. They're targetted at people that need to be mobile. If you're just sitting here going home every day and never traveling then yeah a laptop objectively doesn't make sense to purchase.
@crshoveride I've never owned a desktop pc, and always used laptops, and i do prefer them over desktops for portability, but gaming laptops are a joke, they aren't really portable, because once you unplug the power it'll last for barely an hour or two which isn't good for gaming or any other task, so here we just have heavy, super expensive devices which aren't really portable due to the large size and will die quickly if used unplugged, but i really didn't appreciate the fact that these cost way too much but still had major flaws. That being said, when he was talking about each of them, i thought they were absolutely amazing and beautiful devices..finally, I'm too broke to even touch them inside stores lol
I'm late...lol I really appreciate the clear, to-the-point, communication! I may never understand the 'gaming' thing, but I am a business guy shopping for high end, big, mobile work stations. Typically only buy Dell Precision. Gaming rigs always bring the performance, but usually more flash than we need. I am sort of torn but do appreciate your very clear, less windy, reviews.
These seems like Pro gamer laptops for those that travel to tournaments. The costs are insanely high, and you can get better value with a self-made gaming desktop.
I'm sure you tried this, but when you open the lid and the screen doesn't come on, try closing the lid and opening it back up. It works 100% of the time for my 2011 Asus G73.
Jarrod's sudden appearance here was epic. Cool crossover!
Can someone confirm the following? Acer Predator Helios 18 version 2024: Is the mini-led screen prone to invisible but potentially harmful PWM (Pulse width modulation) which is technology that controls the brightness level of the screen, and I read somewhere on internet that it has value of around 4800, and some users on OLED screens find having PWM presence in their laptops to create eyes fatigue? What thermal paste is used on the cooling solution, liquid metal or standard? Thank you!
Even though I'm not in the market for a gaming laptop I enjoy your reviews and comparisons, they're always honest and objective.
MSI titan has gsync or AvOp? not great for a review video.
Hi Josh, I bought a Legion 7i Gen 9 last month, after 20 days of use, it started to give me black screen every time I booted up any game, whether on steam, battlenet, unreal, it black screened when the laptop was on charge but it didn't when it was off charge, this happened before and after I updated EVERYTHING, deleted and redownloaded EVERYTHING. Now that you mentioned you have issues with yours, I am glad I'm not the only one, I ended up returning the Legion and now I am in a void of not knowing what to do, that was a top choice of mine but if its faulty like this when I buy it again it will be super frustrating, what would you recommend?
There is a big issue going around right now like this. Did you run in Optimus or direct to GPU. For us it only happens direct to gpu
@@JustJoshTech I think I ran on Optimus, I didn’t change the option of “Optimus” or “GPU only” and just used it how it was directly out of the box and how Nvidia was downloaded, I contacted technical team, they didn’t help, and since I was coming to my last few days of the 30 day return I didn’t want to take risks of keeping a faulty laptop, I hope we get an update on this or something
I wish they made a 18 inch version of Lenovo Legion 9i
this was a really nice video, makes you become aware of factors when making buying decisions
It’s no way to please everyone. Razer laptops are known for thin and portable, while still getting the full TDP. Does that means there isn’t sacrifices to be made? Absolutely, even at that price. Is it the best laptop at cooling or do you get the best Keyboard ? No, this is why you make your selections depending on your preference. Asus, Acer, MSI & Dell have other options, but again, there is no perfect laptop that checks all the boxes.
Thin and portable is not a term I would use for any 18 inch laptop
Got Strix G18 and it was best buy in my life 😊
How’s the cooling on it ?
@ perfect cooling, can definitely recommend
@@Grimmjow19872 but my model is 4060, temps cpu/gpu in demanding games about 80/70, not very intense games 70/60. What about temperatures on 4080 I don’t know, but guess it will also fine
Which ones work with a major modern Linux distro? Would love a video on this. Thanks!
I noticed the 2nd predator unit isnt the mini led version screen. That might be related to the issue of not waking the screen from sleep?
Perhaps. I wish I had 5 of each to compare!
@@JustJoshTech haha anyways, thanks for this review, made me decide which I would get next week!
I've watched multiple reviews on the Asus Scar, yours is the only one that said fan noise or pitch is a problem.
Please Double check your blade 18 Keyboard temps Thanks.
I'm not sorry and i will never not mention this; a small right shift key on an 18 inch laptop is unacceptable. A small right shift key is the one thing on a keyboard i could never get used to. I suppose if it's your only device you can, but most of us are using other devices, especially at work.
Hey Josh , I know that's not related but can I have your opinion on the 14 inches Yoga 7i with Intel 1355U inside ? Would you recommend it for the average user who doesn't game ?
Glad I came across this channel...great video bro! You gonna do a dedicated video for the acer helios 18?
Josh Sir what are your views of HP's line of Gaming Laptops - Omen and Victus? The new ones, are they competitive or any good? The 16.1-inch ones, not the 14 inches Transcend. Do they impress you and would you recommend them? They have traditionally been more affordable compared to others.
When is the lenovo slim 7 review coming out?
Started using it yesterday, need a week or so
Hi there! Why did you choose 2023 razer blade instead of 2024 model? You could have mentioned this in video!
We did not choose the 2023 model over the 2024. It was simply not released when we made the video. I believe it came out the week we launched it. Thoroughly using and testing 5 laptops takes a very long time.
When we did find out about it though, In the edit we made sure to call out the main differences to the 2024 model like the Thunderbolt 5 port and screen options. But after speaking with Jarrod's Tech who had the 2024 model, we decided to proceed to launch the video. The reason being... nothing about our conclusions would have changed. If they would have, we would have of course pulled the video.
I don't need one right now but I love your videos guys, so I keep watching them. I really liked the format, so much data in such a short time, and including bits from other reviewers.
Thanks. We are certainly trying hard to be entertaining, educational, and fast
All????
Where is Acer 18” modell example?
The AW 18r2 can be customized so I'm not sure the specs of your test laptop, 2 different screens are available not to mention the GPU, CPU, RAM, etc.
Sounds like you guys lost the panel lottery, bummer. My m18 R2 had an exquisite screen, I see colors on that thing I don't see on my desktop monitors or my Samsung Frame tvs
I remember those 17.3 inch laptops that were 21 to 23 inches in size with the bezel. I am just hoping that someone releases an zero bezel 21 or 23 laptop with a large battery.
I got the predator Helios 18 love it
Mine is on it's way.
Wait this is las years Razer blade 18?
No this is the new one
this was brilliant. not my market at all but still useful and informative and slickly done
Now THIS is a great video
I have the budget for the Blade but I also like the Scar.
I'd personally get the Scar unless you are really okay with the Blades keyboard
Got myself a scar18, fan issue is quite negligible since i always use a headphone while gaming and with my teammates’ shouts and gibberish, I don’t really hear the fan 😅
is the legion 9i a 17 inch gaming laptop? cuz idk see it here
It's 16inch. So not here
Love 18 inch laptops ❤ thanks for the video
Out of the driver issues mentioned at the end, one stuck out to me: the display not waking up from sleep. I am convinced this is a Windows issue, as I have this exact same issue with my Dell XPS 15 9530 base model (Intel Arc, not Nvidia graphics)
Amazing video! Very useful comparisons and quick. Thanks!
Greay review, really put me of these. I was hoping to find an 18" creator quiet laptop. I noticed MSI Stealth 18 AI Studio is not on the list, hile it is very competitevly proced (so much so,makes you wonder if there is an issue with it!), uses Ultra 9 185H (may be quieter?), very portable considering, UHD 120hz MiniLED, on paper ticks many boxes. I wonder why not many meaningful reviews.
From a fellow Josh, dope review mate! Loving your style.
I'm about to pull the trigger on that Predator. I'm typing this on a Predator I purchased in 2016!
Where is the Lenovo Legion? Tho
Its not an 18inch laptop. It's a 16!
@@JustJoshTech yes i forgot 🙏silly me 😇. But lenovo are great gaming laptop sadly they still doesn’t have 18inch. Hopefully tho they will make 18+.
Enjoyed this very much.
Josh, I love your videos, but I didn't like the loud, harsh intro sequence. Yes, these laptops are targeted at a certain segment of the market. It shouldn't matter. Please keep your reviews honest, genuine, and graceful, which has always been what you're about.
Are you here for the laptop reviews, or are you here for audio engineering and filmmaking? Because you’ve lost the plot if you are here whining about the "¡LoUd!" intro.
Great content! Love it!
Thanks mate!
Razer is trying to keep the heft/thickness down and so has little key travel and is hotter.
When are you gonna do a vid on the zenbook duo 2024
It's not on the list for May so far, but I'm hiring another reviewer for light use laptops. That should help speed us up
@JustJoshTech good to hear, man. im really looking forward to it since your reviews are the most reliable.
I cannot like your video if you are not going to discuss the miniled side effects (blooming effect). It's of crucial importance.
We are still looking into this. Could you post reports of this issue so we can take a look?
I own the MSI Titan 18 HX and I can't replicate any of the strange issues you report. Neither is the touchpad flickering (and BOY is it comfortable to use, because your hands just learn where it is and there's no dirt on the frame or any visual indication where it is), nor did I notice any vibration, nor is it going hot while doing nothing. The keyboard is perfect for a fast typist (300+ cpm). The 4k+ screen is really good, in comparison to all the QHD laptops you praise.