Gateway 14 evaluation: it’s blue!

I’ve simply completed a day on the Gateway 14, some of the talked-about laptops within the funds Home windows area. And people… I’m very impressed.

We purchased this at Walmart for $279 (discounted from $360 because it’s a pair generations previous), and sure, it has the legendary cow spots on its lid. The Gateway model from the Nineties that everyone knows and love is now licensed by Acer and has change into a Walmart-exclusive model. The cow moos on. Mooooo.

The mannequin I’ve been utilizing contains an Intel Core i5-1135G7 (a chip that powered lots of 2020’s most premium ultraportable gadgets, together with the Samsung Galaxy Guide, the Acer Swift 5, the Dell XPS 13, and the Lenovo Yoga 9i). There may be 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. For $279, that’s a really stable deal and possibly near the perfect specs you may get for that value. The largest compromise is a mediocre touchpad, however that’s mitigated by a sturdy port choice that ought to mean you can plug in a mouse with no downside.

The chassis can be the sturdiest and best-built one I’ve ever seen from a Home windows laptop computer, with no flex within the keyboard or display screen and spectacular fingerprint rejection. There’s even an empty drive slot on the underside (fixed with two screws), so you’ll be able to stick in nevertheless a lot storage you want. Oh, and it’s blue. Blue! How enjoyable is that? Gateway additionally put the little Microsoft and Intel stickers on the underside of the gadget, so the palm rests are a totally untarnished blue. It’s a pleasant, daring look. I approve.

The GoodGreat value for the specsSpeedy efficiency with no noiseExcellent port selectionEasy to improve storageIt’s blue!The BadBad touchpadNot nice microphonesTinny audioKeyboard isn’t backlitHow we fee and evaluation merchandise

I opened the Gateway up simply earlier than 9AM to start out work. It shipped with actual Home windows, not S-mode. I observed instantly that there was plenty of stuff preinstalled. A few of it was useful — I didn’t must obtain Spotify! — however there have been additionally video games like Solitaire pinned to the taskbar, in addition to some backends to browser video games like Forge of Empires and Elvenar on the desktop. Within the title of Marie Kondo, I cleared all of that out.

It was a reasonably uneventful morning and afternoon; I principally spent it writing in Chrome, with round a dozen tabs open and Spotify sometimes streaming within the background. At first, it appeared a bit laggy, and this was apparently as a result of it actually, actually wanted to be up to date (the unit has been sitting round in our evaluation closet for a bit since its buy). I attempted to place this off as a result of I’m a procrastinator that approach, however the gadget ultimately took issues into its personal arms: it froze, crashed, and commenced updating itself. Truthful sufficient. I suppose I deserved that.

As soon as the replace was sorted, I resumed my workload. And reader, the Gateway is quick. It sailed by the day with out breaking a sweat. I didn’t as soon as hear a single decibel of fan noise; I might make out a teensy little bit of coil whine if I put my ear to the keyboard, however that was it. Efficiency was visibly smoother and quicker than that of our slightly-more-expensive HP 14 unit, which has a weaker processor and 1 / 4 of the Gateway’s RAM. I additionally barely choose the Gateway’s display screen, which is 1920 x 1080 and simply has a little bit of a extra fashionable look to it. I used to be working at 20 to 30 % brightness indoors with no glare.

This emblem gave me flashbacks.

Gateway 14 specs (as reviewed)

14-inch LCD IPS show, 1920 x 1080Intel Core i5-1135G7 (2.4 GHz, as much as 4.2 GHz, 8M cache)16GB RAM512GB SSD4 lbs (1.81 kg)13.1 x 8.75 x 0.75 inches (332.74 x 222.25 x 19.05 mm)One micro SD slot (as much as 512GB), one HDMI, one USB Sort-C, one USB 3.0, one USB 3.1Fingerprint readerBlue

Audio was tinny, with weak percussion and no bass, however had respectable quantity to it, and I might definitely hear higher than I might on the HP 14. The microphones, alternatively, are useful however not superb — we examined them on The Vergecast (in, admittedly, a really unfavorable atmosphere), so try that episode to listen to what they sound like firsthand.

That’s a fingerprint reader within the high left.

I began the day with the Gateway absolutely charged, and the unit nearly made it by the total day unplugged, dying within the late afternoon across the seven-and-a-half-hour mark. That solidly beats the HP 14, in addition to… fairly a couple of dearer Home windows laptops I’ve examined not too long ago. I’ll take it.

My post-work exercise was the Gateway’s final check. I spent the night engaged on a manuscript and researching potential brokers to submit that manuscript to. This was an concerned affair, and I had in all probability 40-50 Chrome tabs open — lists of assorted companies, their necessities, their blogs, and different such issues — and I used to be resizing, swapping, and clicking out and in of all of them very quick. No hassle for the Gateway, which zipped by all of it.

I additionally had an entire bunch of my very own Google Docs open, together with the manuscript itself, which was properly over 300 pages. I’ve to watch out which computer systems I open this doc on as a result of Docs recordsdata of this dimension get very unwieldy and gradual very quick. This was additionally no hassle for the Gateway 14, which loaded the entire thing about as shortly as any Home windows laptop I’ve ever used and by no means as soon as froze or lagged whereas modifying it.

The Gateway’s keyboard isn’t backlit, however I truly had no downside engaged on it late into the night time with my lights dimmed. The brilliant white textual content in opposition to the darkish black keys supplied sufficient distinction that I might make out what I wanted to at midnight. I truly a lot choose this expertise to that of utilizing laptops which can be backlit however not very properly (which is usually what you get in case you purchase a backlit gadget on this value vary).

I actually just like the USB-A on both sides.

If you happen to’re searching for a Home windows laptop computer beneath $300, that is my present (and bluest) advice.

Now, there’s one vital draw back that did maintain me up. This is likely one of the worst touchpads I’ve ever used. The dimensions shouldn’t be a problem; it feels roomier than the tiny one on the HP 14. Nevertheless, the press may be very tough. You actually must shove the factor down. It’s fairly loud and appears like a chore. I’m additionally not fairly positive what was happening with the actuation factors, however there have been occasions after I would click on in a sure space at a sure angle and really feel like I used to be clicking a number of occasions.

However most annoyingly, clicking and dragging doesn’t fairly work. There gave the impression to be a tough cap on how a lot textual content I might spotlight earlier than the touchpad simply determined it was performed; it additionally took many makes an attempt to spotlight as click-and-drag makes an attempt, which actually screwed up my manuscript modifying course of.

Now, on a laptop computer that’s even barely dearer, this challenge can be sufficient to tank the Gateway’s rating. I’m barely extra forgiving of it on this sub-$300 laptop computer as a result of the in depth port choice (additionally higher than the HP 14’s) will make it very simple to plug a mouse into it. Particularly, the truth that there are USB-A ports on each side will make it fairly handy to stay peripherals in, no matter which hand you utilize your mouse with. I don’t use peripherals when reviewing laptops, however you must plan to maintain a mouse helpful in case you purchase this. (There’s additionally a lock slot, an HDMI (surprisingly upside-down, however however), a USB-C, a microSD (!), and a headphone jack.)

Conform to Proceed: Gateway 14

The obligatory insurance policies for which settlement is required to make use of the laptop computer are:

Microsoft Software program License phrases (Home windows Working System) and Producer’s Restricted {Hardware} Guarantee and Settlement

As well as, there are a bunch of non-obligatory issues to conform to:

Privateness settings together with location, Discover My Machine, diagnostic knowledge, inking and typing, tailor-made experiences, promoting ID

That’s two obligatory agreements and 6 non-obligatory ones.

Given the truth that my two greatest points, the touchpad and the microphones, can each be solved by exterior peripherals, I actually didn’t have an excessive amount of to complain about right here. If you happen to don’t already personal a mouse or microphone and might want to purchase them, this gadget could lose a few of its worth — but when you have already got them readily available (or simply received’t be needing to make use of the Gateway for video calls too typically), I actually suppose this is likely one of the greatest offers you can find on a Home windows laptop computer. Even with its issues, this looks as if it might simply be (not less than) a number of hundred bucks dearer. Plus, it’s blue! Did I point out it’s blue?

I’m so critical after I say I’m truly considering of shopping for one in all these for myself. Come on — it’s blue!