A bovine-paced budget laptop that skimps a bit too much
One of this writer’s first computing memories was booting up the family Gateway PC to play 3D Pinball Space Cadet. It was an incredibly large and heavy PC tower with that instantly recognizable cow logo emblazoned on the front. That was then, this is now; Gateway computers (a sub-brand of Acer) are still around, but now relegated to mostly lower-end configurations sold at Walmart. The 15.6-inch Gateway Ultra Slim (model GWNC21524, $229) reviewed here still has that iconic spotted logo proudly printed on its top cover. With such a low price, this laptop might seem like a fair option for a child’s first computer, or as an alternative to a similarly priced Chromebook. It could suffice for that, but know that it feels as cheap as the price suggests, with the prime culprit being a poor, faded-looking screen.A Wobbly, Low-Resolution Display
This model of the Ultra Slim shares the same 15.6-inch screen size as its older brother, the GWTN156-1 we tested a couple of years back. The current 15.6-inch Ultra Slim comes in three colors: blue, green, and the red of our review unit. The red color is everywhere, broken up only by the logo and the footpads along the bottom.
When the laptop is open, the screen is bordered by an aggressively thick (by modern standards) black bezel, and a run-of-the-mill keyboard. The hinge doubles as a kickstand, which elevates the keyboard at a slight angle for a more comfortable typing experience. This arrangement does lead to a significant amount of screen shake when opening the panel, and a small amount when typing, however.
The Gateway Ultra Slim laptop is available in multiple screen sizes, from 11.6 inches to the 15.6-inch size reviewed here. The 15.6-inch version comes in one configuration, with an Intel Celeron N4020 mobile processor, 128GB of eMMC storage, and 4GB of RAM. In a world where you can buy a 128GB USB thumb drive for $15, I would’ve liked a larger storage capacity or a faster format than eMMC, but eMMC is common in most Chromebooks and the cheapest Windows portables.
The laptop has an LCD IPS HD screen (1,366 by 768 pixels), which is below the minimum full HD resolution (typically 1,920 by 1,080 pixels) that we recommend for budget laptops. There’s a 1-megapixel webcam sitting above the screen. The webcam does have a physical privacy slider, but it’s a little finicky. I found in using it that the slider got caught more often than not, and it also lacks any visual indication that it’s closed, aside from you looking for the plastic over the lens.
The keyboard is a nice 79-key layout with plastic Chiclet-style keycaps. The touchpad is made of a similar plastic, with a noticeably loud click along the bottom. To the left of the pad, the laptop proudly displays the statement “Tuned by THX” etched in white. The set of stereo speakers were, in fact, tuned by THX, according to Gateway, and they sound pretty good, at least until you max out the volume. The speakers are so strident at upper levels that they shake the entire bottom of the chassis, leading to unwanted distortion.
