Acer – Predator Helios 18-18″ 250Hz Gaming Laptop HDR– Intel i9-13900HX with 32GB Memory–GeForce RTX 4080–1TB SSD – Abyssal Black

I will start off by saying that I got this for $2199.99 before tax so that you have a reference when I talk about price to performance. Things I love about this laptop: The specs of this laptop are insane considering the price. It’s a full blown i9 13900HX and an RTX 4080 mobile, with 32GB of 5600Mhz RAM and a 2560×1600 Mini LED HDR 250Hz screen. Competitors have laptops with far inferior specs for more money. (looking at you Asus, Razer, and Dell/Alienware) You would think that they would have to cut serious corners to cram that much awesome in at this price point (and they did cut corners, just not ones I would consider serious), but one of those corners that wasn’t cut was the build quality! This thing is rigid with a full aluminum top and lid. The hinges on the screen are just right as well. It opens with one hand and stays at whatever angle you leave it at. Another thing I’m a HUGE fan of, and the main reason I bought this laptop in particular (other than that crazy price point) over its competitors, is the dual Thunderbolt 4 ports. I’m running two 18″ 2560×1600 portable monitors on this thing. I have all the comfort of my triple monitor setup from home, on the go! On to things I don’t care for about the laptop: The keyboard is the number one offender and the reason I bought a portable keyboard to add to my on the go kit. I didn’t need one with my old laptop (a Cyberpower) because it’s keyboard was surprisingly excellent. This keyboard is kind of squishy and just unpleasant to use, though I do appreciate the numpad for when I’m using Excel or the calculator. Next, the power brick is an absolute unit, which is only to be expected out of a non GaN 330w charger. Only a few competitors even offer GaN power bricks though so I can’t exactly complain about that. I ordered a SlimQ 330w GaN charger to take on the go with this and I will leave the stock one at home, cable managed into my docking area for the laptop. And finally, the protective sleeve for this thing fits like a worn out sock. It’s nice that it was included, but it just feels like an ill fit when you put the laptop in it. Overall I absolutely love this laptop and none of the corners that were cut merit losing a star in my opinion. If this thing had a character sheet, all the attributes I care about would be maxed and the one’s I don’t are the dump stats. Side note, this just barely fits into the laptop compartment of the LTT backpack, but not into the part that is meant to hold the laptop protectively. You have to put in in and pull the corners of the bag over the corners of the laptop. It doesn’t feel good to do that at all, I suggest buying a laptop bag that is sized for an 18″ laptop.

Ever game on a 14-15″ laptop and think “wow I’m having a hard time seeing opponents”? I did on the Blade 14, and that’s not an issue here. Size isn’t the only thing that matters in a laptop though, so here’s how this big boi pans out in the market, read whatever interest you. Final Thoughts: Excellent value laptop, offering incredible performance with above-average build quality, and huge, bright display, great trackpad, and acceptable keyboard. If you buy it for gaming, you’ll love it. Size and Weight; Although 18″ is a monster, the package is kept pretty tight being not much wider or taller than the display, except for the ‘trunk’ which isn’t massive. At 7 lbs, I find this laptop light for it’s class (omen X laptop was 10 lbs a few years ago). Power adapter is huge, wish R&D went into developing a small GaN version. 1″ tall laptops are not a burden, don’t mind the ‘thin’ laptop garbage. Display: key selling point for 4080 model, mini LED. It’s excellent, and kinda quirky. Most-dark content dims the backlights low, even if white text is present, so you end up with darker text wondering if Intel Adaptive Contrast is screwing with you and it’s not. Open a brighter image and the laptop comes to life. This can make text and pages look like they have a gradient applied, and they don’t. I’d rather have the option to single-plane backlight the screen here. In game, i haven’t really noticed it, thank goodness. Otherwise, its sharp, fast, and bright. Keyboard: It’s fine. Stiffer membrane switches. I don’t like heavy keys, and these are kinda heavy. Typing not as nice as gaming, since gaming I’m rougher on the keys. The backlighting is amazing though, around Razer quality lighting. Vivid and even colored keys. Cant find an option to switch from FN to Media keys without holding FN though. Trackpad: Excellent, its big and its glass. The glass texture is perfect, not too smooth or rough. Clicks are good. I daily use Macbooks so I’m not going to say its perfect because windows doesn’t offer that, but it’s a good windows trackpad! Speakers: Not good. Down-firing, no depth, just use headphones. There are worse speakers, but there sure as heck a lot better out there. Build quality: Mix of aluminum lid, keyboard deck, and plastic bottom and trunk. Kinda creaky opening lid. No flex on keyboard deck. If gaming is your mission, it’s totally acceptable. Razer does better, but chargers 1k more lol Thermals: excellent. The fans blast out heat all 4 vents. In Zero Builds, performance mode, i9 hovers around 80 in game, 90 on occasional loading. 4080 around 80 flat. The FPS is awesome in zero builds on QHD. Still testing all this though. KB and palm rest stayed very cool. Right mouse hand was being warmed. Battery life: Not enough experience yet, but low. Used for around an hour, and lost around 30%. Still setting up the PC though, need time to see.