The Best 17-Inch Laptops of 2024

Just Buy This (All Around Best)

LG Gram 17

$1,199 at Amazon

TL;DR: The LG Gram line takes to heart the "thin and light" characterization, and the Gram 17 is genuinely one of the most portable laptops around in this screen size.

Why We Recommend This

At the center of the LG Gram 17’s spec sheet is its massive, beautifully colored 17-inch display. This WQXGA screen offers 2560-by-1600 pixels of resolution with an impressive 99% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut spectrum.

The IPS manual is sharp, vivid, and accurate enough to handle creative tasks. Driving the show is an Intel Arc graphics processor designed for the thinner "Gram" form factor, and thanks to the Intel Evo Ultra 7 processor that can deliver up to 5 gigahertz of boosted speeds, there’s plenty of performance on deck.

There’s no getting around that the laptop does occupy a sizeable horizontal footprint, though, so be sure your backpack can handle it. While it does come packed with Windows 11, it isn’t as new as the Copilot PCs coming out now, so the future-proofing might leave something to be desired.

I’m also not sold on the $1,000 price point. It’s much better than the higher list price, but with the Evo processor and only 16 gigabytes of RAM, I’d be more comfortable giving this laptop top marks if it sank below the $800 mark. But if you’re looking for a true flagship thin-and-light laptop with a 17-inch display, there aren’t many brands doing it as well as LG.

• Who else recommends it? CNET, PCMag, and more top publications find Gram 17 and the Gram Pro 17 capable machines with some modern tradeoffs. 
• What do buyers say? Amazon buyers are pretty satisfied with most of the Gram 17 configurations, awarding the latest model and the Gram Pro with around 4.5 stars in nearly all listings. 

Best for Gaming

Acer Nitro 17

$1,319 at Amazon View on Acer.com

TL;DR: A great all-around machine with plenty of power on tap to run a beautifully fast display

Why We Recommend This

While 17-inch laptops are less ubiquitous than their smaller counterparts, the gaming space still has a strong case for this display size. After all, a larger display means more real estate for immersive or competitive gaming.

GSYNC and other solid compatibility and software appointments help ensure a smooth, modern feel. The Nitro also features an AMD Ryzen 7000 series chip for perfect performance and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card to run the visuals.

You can also spec the Nitro pretty high on storage and RAM, but for my money, the 1-terabyte PCIe Gen 4SSD and 16 gigabytes of RAM lock it in at a perfectly reasonable price of around $1,000. Increasing those specs will, as expected, increase the cost and make the Nitro too expensive to compete.

Of course, there are some obvious drawbacks. This display makes the computer footprint pretty large, but it’s also fairly thick. Part of that is to allow room in the chassis to provide quad exhaust ports and dual fans for cooling—an important factor.

But portability is not the marquee feature here. While the keyboard and trackpad are serviceable, some reviewers prefer the more modern look that ASUS and other competitors adopt. There’s also a large gap underneath the laptop's hinge, which makes it look even clunkier and less streamlined to my eye.

However, if you can live with a few of those trade-offs, the performance-to-dollar ratio here is impressive, and the quality of the machine is undeniable. 

• Who else recommends it? CNET, Mashable, and Wired all find the Acer Nitro line to be capable, well-priced machines with plenty of power available.
• What do buyers say? With an aggregate rating of 4.3 stars from more than 250 customers, the Nitro 17 gets a reasonable stamp of approval from the average Amazon buyer.

Easiest on the Budget

Asus Chromebook CX1700

$275 at Walmart

TL;DR: A big screen gets a small price with the well-loved and more-than-capable CX1700 Chromebook from Asus

Why We Recommend This

Just because you’re looking for a large display doesn’t mean you want a large price tag to accompany it. While the lower price makes for some tradeoffs on the spec sheet, the Asus CX1700 gets our budget recommendation for its build quality and reliability.

The best way to stretch your dollar in a laptop is to go for the lighter Chrome OS—meaning the machine can get away with lower-tier processors and less RAM. To that end, the CX1700 features A Celeron Dual-Core processor and 4 gigabytes of RAM that support the light, more straightforward tasks expected of a Chromebook.

Though Chrome OS does reward cloud usage, and many customers will likely be okay with the maximum of 64 gigabytes of storage available, I’d have preferred to see at least 128 gigabytes here for versatility and future-proofing. 

This means you’ll be able to drop it with a force of up to 120 grams per 3 milliseconds without issue. All components have also been tested to a high degree of certainty for durability. The design is a little simplistic and dated—providing no real sense of modern sleekness.

You also can’t avoid Chrome OS's limitations, as you’ll need to make sure everything you want to do on the device either has a web version or a Chrome OS-compatible app. But that slimmed-down OS is also the reason this laptop is so affordable. 

• Who else recommends it? Laptop Mag and PCMag frequently applaud the cost-to-feature benefit of Asus’s CX Chromebooks—giving them high marks for affordability and quality. 
• What do buyers say? Amazon and Best Buy customers are pleased with their CX1700 purchases, especially if it’s available on sale or at a lower price.