Walmart.com - Gateway 15.6" FHD (4K UHD w/VSR) Ryzen 3250U 4GB 128GB "tuned by" THX Audio Win10S $199.99

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VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
www.walmart.com

Gateway 15.6" Ultra Slim Notebook, FHD, AMD Ryzen™ 3 3250U, Dual Core, 128GB Storage, 4GB Memory, Tuned by THX™ Audio, 1.0MP Webcam, HDMI, Windows 10 S, Charcoal - Walmart.com

Buy Gateway 15.6" Ultra Slim Notebook, FHD, AMD Ryzen™ 3 3250U, Dual Core, 128GB Storage, 4GB Memory, Tuned by THX™ Audio, 1.0MP Webcam, HDMI, Windows 10 S, Charcoal at Walmart.com
www.walmart.com

Marked way down, maybe because it's using an older APU SKU, or more likely, it shipped with Win10, and Walmart is silently fire-saleing their remaining stock of Win10 laptops.

It is 1080P (FHD), and has HDMI out, so good choice for media-consumption.

Aww, shucks. The 128GB storage is NOT an SSD, it's eMMC. While at least it's got room for Windows and besides, I find that the real SSDs (even SATA M.2 ones) handle VM paging better than eMMC, which can occasionally blue-screen under heavy memory / paging pressure. Whereas even as SATA SSD won't generally hit 100% utilization, even during heavy paging.

I can comfortably hit a 13.5GB commit charge (allocated VM) on a system with 4GB phys RAM, and a real SSD, and still use the laptop mostly normally. On an eMMC laptop with 4GB RAM, and that kind of commit charge, the CPU would be pinned.

It appears that my unit does contain a SATA M.2 generic SSD.
Task Manager reports "W800SH 128GB SSD" and "Type: SSD".

Here's some more info:
www.notebookcheck.net

W800S W800SHMQ 512GB SSD SSD Benchmarks

W800S W800SHMQ 512GB SSD specs and benchmarks
www.notebookcheck.net www.notebookcheck.net

No ethernet port.
  • Windows 10 Home (S mode)
  • AMD Ryzen™ 3 3250U Processor with Radeon™ Graphics
  • 15.6” LCD IPS FHD Display, (1920 x 1080)
  • Precision Touchpad
  • Tuned by THX™ Audio
  • 128 GB eMMC Storage
  • 4 GB Memory (RAM)
  • 1.0 MP Front-Facing Camera
  • Up to 8.5 hours of battery life
  • Micro SD Slot (Up to 512 GB) x 1
  • HDMI Output x 1
  • USB Type-C x 1
  • USB 3.0 x 2
  • Built-in Stereo Speakers x 2
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Built-in Microphone
  • Product Dimensions: 14.1” x 9.4” x 0.78”
  • Weight: 4.0 lbs.
  • Free Upgrade to Windows 11 when available (see below)*
Edit: My apologies, I had "THX Audio" in title. As indicated by the bullet-point list, that's supposed to be "Tuned by THX(TM) Audio", which is subtly different, although I'm not really sure what difference that it makes in the end. (Mostly, you won't be cranking out 2000W of floor-rumbling audio like your local cineplex, out of a pair of laptop speakers.)
 
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Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,043
875
126
Thanks!

Ordered one. Great price! Ordered the blue one. I have a spare 1tb MSD card to pop in.
 
J

jiffer

Senior member
Sep 14, 2007
375
54
91
Gateway was bought by Acer about 15 years ago, and their made-in-Taiwan merchandise pops up in places like Walmart.com. They are meant to be inexpensive, so you see things like the CPU, RAM, SSD and battery soldered to the mainboard so they're not upgradeable or user-serviceable. Gateway's own website is difficult to find, and judging by the feedback on their own website, their customer service department is difficult to reach. A 15" laptop with a Ryzen CPU and 1080p screen for $200 IS a hot deal, but make sure this is what you want and you know what you're getting.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
jiffer said:
Gateway was bought by Acer about 15 years ago, and their made-in-Taiwan merchandise pops up in places like Walmart.com. They are meant to be inexpensive, so you see things like the CPU, RAM, SSD and battery soldered to the mainboard so they're not upgradeable or user-serviceable. Gateway's own website is difficult to find, and judging by the feedback on their own website, their customer service department is difficult to reach. A 15" laptop with a Ryzen CPU and 1080p screen for $200 IS a hot deal, but make sure this is what you want and you know what you're getting.
Click to expand...
Close. These are not "Acer's Gateway", these are "Walmart's Gateway" and made in China by "GPU Company" (but the name was licensed from Acer).

gatewayusa-online

gatewayusa-online
gatewayusa.com gatewayusa.com

Agree with bolded.

These are more-or-less, in the "disposable" category.
 
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J

jiffer

Senior member
Sep 14, 2007
375
54
91
I don't mean to split hairs with you. Different sources offer contradictory reports. From what I gather, Acer acquired Gateway in 2007 just to put them out of business. Sometime around 2019-2020, the Gateway brand name became active again, but the merchandise was not produced either by Acer or the old Gateway we used to know. Here's what an article at Ars Technica reported:

"When we went sleuthing, we discovered shipping records indicating that [a differnt laptop we're looking at is] an EVOO system... More accurately, EVOO imports devices made by Shenzhen Bmorn Technology, a Chinese national brand... An Acer representative confirmed later that, although Acer does own the Gateway brand, it is not directly involved in the production or manufacture of these devices."

Since Walmart is exlusively selling merchandise under the Gateway brand, I wouldn't be surprised if they've made contracts with other off-brand manufacturers, all of them outside the US and all of them cheap. I assume Acer collects a licensing fee but otherwise they're not involved.

I don't have a dog in this fight and I don't claim to be 100% correct. I'm just saying the whole business is kinda shadowy. Yay for globalization and inexpensive Asian laptops. :)
 
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VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
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126
Performance on this unit is fairly excellent, for browsing and even Windows updates don't pin the CPU (APU).

Being able to boost the screen to 4K UHD, like a laptop costing many a multiple of this one's price, is nice.

Install the 22.5.2 Adrenaline for 300U iGPU drivers, go to Virtual Super Resolution, and Enable it, maybe GPU scaling as well.

Then right-click on desktop, select Display Settings, and click on the resolution drop-box, it should go up to 4K UHD res.
 
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VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
And just like that, Walmart is now the exclusive home of VAIO laptops now, too.

Prices range from $699 to... $5000+! Definitely trying to capture the upscale buyers market, now, too. Not sure how well that strategy will mesh with your typical Walmart clientele, but they do have some 12th-gen with Xe graphics laptops, along with some 11th-gen too.
 
Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,043
875
126
Damn. Walmart says mine was delivered but it's nowhere to be seen.
 
I

igor_kavinski

Lifer
Jul 27, 2020
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Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,043
875
126
OK, so I got a # for WM and called and had the most pleasurable experience. I don't want to sound racist or xenophobic but the call center was american and there was no script reading or accent issues or sounding way over apologetic. She issued me a replacement and verified my address. Great CS.
 
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Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,043
875
126
OK, my son has verified the replacement was delivered this morning. Will tinker with tonight. Probably swap out the SSD.
 
Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,043
875
126
Oyeve said:
OK, my son has verified the replacement was delivered this morning. Will tinker with tonight. Probably swap out the SSD.
Click to expand...
I forgot to tell y'all. This laptop rocks for 200 bucks. I first removed the 128gb ssd and popped in a 512 I had laying around. The memory cannot be swapped as its soldered on. But, for RDP and media consumption this thing is really nice. Its thin and fast and I guess disposable..ie I wont feel too bad if it drops and breaks. I also added 1tb MSD storage and threw on a few lower specced steam games and all is working very nicely. Installed O365 and now have a quick boot work from home laptop that doesn't suck so much electricity. Overall very satisfied with this purchase. The only very misleading thing is the THX audio crap. It has only one crappy speaker and a regular 3.5m headphone jack. Useless THX certification as always.
 
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