Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook overview: Broad video display on a finances

The Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook is a standard finances PC. At $399 from Walmart, the associated price is exhausting to beat, especially pondering its solid performance, first fee storage rental, and roomy video display dimension. 

The alternate-offs attain from all the issues that don’t stamp up on a spec sheet. The demonstrate is harshly lit, with subpar viewing angles. The trackpad is abrasive. The plastic enclosure is creaky and wobbly, and battery life is woefully transient.

This overview is section of our ongoing roundup of the actual laptops. Shuffle there for recordsdata on competing products and how we examined them.

None of these compromises are modern to the finances model differ. Frequent productivity is the realistic expectation here, and this laptop personal computer does get some stable capabilities. If you’re undeterred by the downsides, and also you in point of fact can’t employ extra, Gateway’s 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook would possibly per chance match your bill. 

Tech specs

Our Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook overview unit comprises the next capabilities:

• Point out: 15.6-dash 1920×1080 IPS matte demonstrate
• CPU: Intel Core i3-1115G4 processor
• Reminiscence: 8GB DDR4 RAM
• Storage: 256GB SSD (W800SH)
• Webcam: 720p
• Biometrics: Fingerprint scanner
• Left facet: HDMI, USB-C, USB-A 3.0, barrel charger
• Lawful facet: USB-A 3.0, headphone jack, MicroSD slot (up to 512 GB)
• Dimensions: 14.75 x 9.5 x 0.77 inches
• Weight: 4.2 pounds (4.7 with vitality adapter)

Jared Newman / IDG

Walmart, Acer’s abnormal accomplice in resurrecting the Gateway designate, offers several assorted configurations. A model with AMD’s Ryzen 5 3450U CPU sells for the the same $399, whereas a model with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 512GB of storage, and 16GB of RAM sells for $579. There’s no 512GB storage choice with the Core i3 processor, however the MicroSD card slot—an increasingly extra uncommon feature on any laptop personal computer—offers an straightforward blueprint to add extra storage.

For those that have to tinker, this laptop personal computer is delightfully upgradeable. A puny hatch on the underside helps you to throw in extra memory. All you’ll need is a Phillips-head screwdriver to pull off all the rear panel, where it’s possible you’ll discover entry to the battery and the M.2 SSD.

Jared Newman / IDG

Sadly, the laptop personal computer’s sole USB-C port doesn’t enhance charging. That arrangement you frequently get to make exhaust of the incorporated barrel charger, which costs slowly and is derived with a rental-hogging vitality adapter.

Create and demonstrate

If now no longer for the appealing, ocean-blue shatter on this mumble overview unit, Gateway’s 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook would gaze unprecedented love every assorted low-cost, all-plastic laptop personal computer. It has thick bezels surrounding its matte demonstrate. The chassis will creak and crunch below your hands from the moment you get chose it up.

Jared Newman / IDG

Point out quality is in total the principle factor to head in finances laptops. The 15.6-dash video display on this mannequin is roomy, however a tiny bit shadowy. It furthermore emits an unnaturally blueish hue that places a strain on the eyes. Even supposing the demonstrate’s IPS know-how is presupposed to allow a gentle image from broad angles, you’ll mediate the video display darken and brighten as you tilt it. The video display’s matte shatter does get one advantage, although: It’s straightforward to study out of doorways, even on a sunny day. 

Keyboard and trackpad

Keyboard and trackpad quality are one more rental where the Gateway Extremely Slim laptop personal computer compromises to hit a more affordable model. While the keys themselves offer first fee trot back and forth, they feel smooth and wiggly. The plastic enclosure contributes to a hollow feeling below your fingers.

Jared Newman / IDG

The trackpad is worse: Its tough plastic shatter makes your fingers stick and hinders gleaming-grained cursor actions. Effect quality is a area here as properly, as pressing down firmly on the trackpad produced two audible clicks in a row. (Happily, handiest the principle one registered as an real mouse click on.) 

Webcam, audio, safety

The Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook’s webcam offers the the same 720p choice as the overwhelming majority of Dwelling windows laptops, most of which continue to tackle digicam quality as an afterthought. We wouldn’t predict a digicam on a $399 laptop personal computer to enhance Dwelling windows Hello face recognition, and this one doesn’t. Nonetheless, a privateness shutter or spoil swap for the digicam would get been good. 

The fingerprint reader is a pleasant safety contact on a sub-$500 laptop personal computer, despite its weird set in the close-factual nook of the trackpad. 

Jared Newman / IDG

Love hundreds of assorted PC makers, Gateway follows the pattern of partnering with a mighty audio designate to gleaming-tune its laptop personal computer speakers. In this case, the accomplice is THX, and as expected, this roughly aural window dressing can handiest cease so unprecedented within a laptop personal computer’s confined rental. The upward-firing speakers are certainly properly-balanced—it’s possible you’ll purchase price to music or YouTube movies with out feeling equivalent to you’re trapped in a tin can. But they’re on the nonetheless facet, so that it’s possible you’ll strain to hear your video or convention call in noisy environments.

Microphone quality is sketchy. After I captured an audio sample, it made my teach sound considerably nasally when compared with what I’ve captured from assorted laptops. I could per chance furthermore hear its overly aggressive attempts at noise cancellation.

Performance

We seldom discover a low-close Intel Core i3 processor to check here at PCWorld. Most distributors are looking to insist their have praises the quickest variations their computers, which arrangement we in total close up with Core i7 or Core i5 configurations as an different.

The utilization of the Core i3-1115G4 processor in Gateway’s laptop personal computer was clarifying. For frequent doc editing and web taking a watch, the Core i3 chip was perfectly zippy, proving that you doubtlessly don’t need the relaxation sooner except you’re coming into media introduction or gaming.

Sadly, that fact doesn’t stamp up in benchmark tests, so again that in tips as you model the charts below.

Starting with PCMark 10, which simulates a gamut of productivity tasks, the 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook’s 11th-know-how Core i3 CPU did prepare to outpace the 10th-gen Core i5 in Microsoft’s Surface Shuffle laptop personal computer. Now not surprisingly, it fell properly in the assist of larger-close 11th-gen chips.

Jared Newman / IDG

The Core i3-1115G4 is a dual-core processor, in express it’s possible you’ll per chance predict, multi-threaded performance in Cinebench is lackluster. Serene, single-threaded performance was impressive: Gateway’s laptop personal computer beat out several 10th-gen Core i5 chips and held its have in opposition to the 11th-gen Core i5 in HP’s Envy 14.

Jared Newman / IDG

HandBrake is where that lack of multi-core vitality in point of fact reveals. This test involves encoding a expansive video file, as it’s possible you’ll per chance cease ought to you were editing or converting private movies. The process in point of fact advantages from a total bunch computing cores. Gateway’s laptop personal computer completed the job at a glacial fade of 1 hour and 32 minutes.

Jared Newman / IDG

The loads of mighty design back to Core i3 processors is the dearth of Iris Xe graphics for gaming. No person ought to predict a $399 laptop personal computer to be a gaming machine. Whenever you were wondering, although, listed below are our findings, throughout the 3DMark Wild Lifestyles benchmark (below) and a few anecdotal gameplay: You’re going to be ready to be ready to eke out some gentle-weight indie video games, however don’t predict unprecedented extra than that. Even the moderately gentle-weight first-individual shooter AMID EVIL was unplayable for me because of the fixed stuttering.

Jared Newman / IDG

Battery life

Now for the possible deal-breaker: battery life. In our offline video rundown test, the laptop personal computer lasted appropriate disturbed of 6 hours (5 hours and 58 minutes). That’s extra linked to what we glance in vitality-hungry workhorse PCs than conventional skinny-and-gentle laptops. It squanders any hope of being ready to discover in a full workday off the charger.

Jared Newman / IDG

May per chance likely well serene you design shut the Gateway Extremely Slim Notebook?

If $399 is all it’s possible you’ll employ, the Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook is a cheap purchase. It offers frequent productivity performance and a mighty demonstrate (although of middling quality).

If you’re ready to elongate your finances, it’s possible you’ll per chance get a affordable Dwelling windows PC with out the Gateway’s glaring downsides, especially by dipping assist to old mannequin years. Lenovo’s engaging C740 Yoga, as an illustration, serene sells on Amazon for $640 (with a smaller-dimension SSD than what we examined). For those that’ll again in tips a Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook Hump 713 frequently sells for lower than its $629 asking model at Ideal Bewitch. HP’s Envy x360 15 is a standard convertible that sells for as tiny as $720 on HP.com. And whereas we wouldn’t negate it from the rooftops, there’s a solid case for using an entry-stage iPad as a laptop personal computer different.

The Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook’s greatest saving grace would possibly be its possible to work as an inexpensive desktop replacement. Dependable-world performance in all fairness snappily, it’s possible you’ll enhance the memory if wanted, and the HDMI port facilitates straightforward connections to external monitors. The utilization of this laptop personal computer with an external demonstrate, keyboard, and mouse would sidestep many of its greatest shortcomings. You would possibly well per chance be exhausting-pressed to search out a linked desktop for $400. 

Handiest if you’ll likely be capable to purchase it at streetlevel will you undergo in tips why it was so cheap in the principle set.

• Gateway 15.6-dash Extremely Slim Notebook

  Working below the Gateway designate, Acer makes a total bunch sacrifices to hit its $399 model point.

  Pros

  • Accumulate performance, storage, and video display dimension for the associated price
  • Straightforward discover entry to to within memory, storage, and battery
  • Fingerprint reader
  • MicroSD slot for collectively with storage

  Cons

  • Point out has a harsh, blueish hue
  • Creaky plastic enclosure would no longer instill confidence
  • Sorrowful battery life