Select Walmart Stores: Gateway 14.1" Ultra Slim Notebook: i5-1135G7, 16GB RAM Expired

Make sure you use a good high bandwidth usb-c cable that are rated for at least 20Gb transfer rate. If you are also using the power delivery, i would get a cable that can do 100W.

If you tried on multiple 4k monitors and still get a lot of blue screen, then the laptop port is probably defective .



$330 or $375 is not that dirt cheap. That is significantly more than the motile m142 which has one proper sodimm and two nvme slots!

Price seems to have jumped to $450. I ordered a refurb, arrived yesterday. Got BSOD error while running through setup and now it's bootlooping. Bad luck I guess

Use the Brickseek links in the OP to see the clearance price and availability for your zip:

https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=155490538&postcount=1

Thanks! You said you've got 5 good ones - were any of them bad from the get go? Computer itself shows zero signs of wear, was bummed to get a bsod straight out of the box

Having difficulty opening the laptop to see what version motherboard I have. Perhaps is there another way to find out, i.e. Device Manager?

Are you able to get display port out of the usb C? I get a blue screen most of the time

If it has the WiFi 6 AX201 adapter then you have the latest motherboard version.

Here is my impression so far with this computer - which I picked up yesterday. First off - I am not a tech expert, so please keep this in mind. I don't claim to be an expert or professional IT person. Just a standard user that I consider to know a little more than a typical novice user.

Bloatware - There is virtually none from my view. There was the usual Norton Internet Security Trial pre-installed, but most computers come with some form of protection pre-loaed. Aside from a few game icons that was about it. In fact - the Kidomi Kids game, Simple Solitaire, and another game that was loaded really was just a short cut to an internet link to play online. So there's very very little bloatware installed on this thing - if this even qualifies as such.

I will be honest- I was floored that this computer, containing 16GB of RAM did not have a back lit keyboard. For the $375 price point, I guess I cannot expect much but I was so spoiled with my work computer that had it - so I cannot complain.

As far as the build quality, some of the computer gives off this "cheap" plastic feel. I do not know that this computer would last a long time, but keeping the price point in mind with expectations, I guess it should be okay. I did get the 3 year protection plan for $59 at checkout just in case.

The fingerprint reader for me is a joke. It rarely recognizes my finger. I know other have had success, but hey, this feature is a "nice to have" but not a gotta have for me. I'll stick to the Windows Hello PIN login for now.

Startup time? I have to admit. It's pretty zippy. I immediately upgraded to Windows 11 after initial setup and downloaded all the latest updates via Windows Update. Trying to find a laptop with 512 GB of SSD and 16GB of RAM AND an i5 processor 11th gen at this point in time and in a brand new computer I think is virtually near impossible. I am sure this could change in the future. From a performance perspective, coming from a 8 GB RAM computer, performance wise, I think this laptop will provide ample performance for most users. I actually an returning to school this fall for my MBA and I think this computer will do just fine for school use. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, research papers, online testing, etc. I mean - 16GB is overkill for most people, so this is a bonus.

Webcam - ahhhh... I tried to use this computer for Zoom and the webcam is inferior for today's specs. I will admit, for a computer that has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, I expected a better webcam tahn the 1MP webcam that was included on this thing. Poor lighting, unless you have a light aimed at your face. Poor resolution for business calls - but hey, who would entrust running a business on a $375 laptop, right? If webcam is used for a school call or virtual church bible study, it'll be alright. So, while I am disappointed, I have to remember to keep my expectations in line with the price paid.

Battery life is poor. I was able to get around just under 3 hours with a moderate use. Browsing and printing some documents, I mean it's sufficient for the average user so maybe my use of "poor" is wrong here but again, I have a company issued, Dell computer for work use and it's a different class of computer, so this is not a truly fair comparison.

There is no touch screen on this computer. I thought it did at first because the whole screen is a flat laminated piece. Most people don't need a touch screen anyway so this is a mute point for me, but again, ALL computers I have seen with 16 GB of ram and a 512 GB SSD has a touch screen, so this was a shocker for me.

Speakers - Tuned by THX? Ok if you say so. Don't expect to play immersive sound watching a movie, YouTube video or listening to music. It will get the job done if you are listening to a lecture but it's not loud. I don't expect Video calls to be easily heard. I don't think the mic on this thing is noise cancelling, it picked up lots of background noise in the room from my fan but hey - for the price, why complain right?

Charging speed is a joke. From 25% to full, took about 3 hours with the supplied pin style wall charger. However, when used with my Dell docking station from work, it charged via USB C - more to that in a second. It was speedier but I did not time it.

USB C Port - ok. it's got one USB C port. I know it's not "intended" for use with a Dell Dock, but I tried it with my Work From Home USB C Dock Dell station from work and surprisingly, it worked - sort of. I have a dual monitor setup for work and only 1 monitor worked. I played with video card settings but it would not recognize the second screen. I figure it's likely the video card or maybe another limitation - but most users would be happy to have a Dock and 1 screen to work with so I cannot complain here. Don't expect to run more than 1 monitor at a time. I was able to use my ports, my keyboard and mouse and my USB Soundbar - which was plugged into the dock worked without a hitch.

I did not test the HDMI port and I did not test the bluetooth function yet with my wireless headphones but I suspect it would work just fine.

The computer's overall build quality is okay. For me, the keyboard had a small flex and the keys definitely felt cheap. I mean it gets the job done, but I have had better keyboards. It'll get the job done. This thing is heavy though. I didn't weigh it but I saw someone use a postal scale and they said it was just under 4 pounds. So yeah - it's heavy. I think the outside lid and under lid is metal while the interior visual bezels are all plastic. I don't know why it's so heavy but it's still "slim" and fit in my 14 inch laptop sleeve with ease.

Support? I tried calling the support hotline on the phone number in the box just to see what kind of support was offered. I was on hold for about 15 minutes for an agent and then I was forwarded to a greeting that sounded along the lines of "There are no support agents available at this time. Please try calling us again later" and was disconnected. So what's my impression of available support? Pretty poor if you ask me. Their website has drivers for the machine. I suspect I will need to download their available drivers and archive it if I ever have to reformat this laptop in the future. I honestly don't know how long the manufacturer (I think GPU computer? I remember somebody saying these are basically rebadged EVOO computers) I know Acer licensed this Gateway brand to others so I don't know how long the support will be for these things but again - I wanted something with decent performance at a good price and this fit the bill.

All in all, I think this is a good value for the specs. I don't expect it for long term longevity but that's not what I got it for. Hope this review helps some of you on the fence.