Back to Gateway Notebook 15.6" FHD Laptop, AMD Ryzen 5 3450U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Home, Blue, GWTN156-4BL

Customer reviews

3.44 out of 5stars
(18 reviews)

Most helpful positive review

5.00 out of 5 stars review
Verified Purchaser
05/06/2021
Great laptop!
I purchased the 8GB laptop for my kids to do schoolwork and testing plus my husband and I watch movies and edit photos. So far everything has been working completely fine and we haven't had any problems. The battery life is actually really good as well. I would recommend this laptop. Its got a great price for the amount of stuff you can do on it.
Samantha

Most helpful negative review

1.00 out of 5 stars review
Verified Purchaser
01/14/2022
THX is definitely not a good sound system
THX is supposed to be the new state of the art sound for these new computers. But even when I have the volume maxed out i can hear my husband's phone better even when he's in a completely different room. i was so excited about getting this laptop and now I'm just extremely disappointed. I'm still debating if I should return it.
Catherine
14 reviews
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  • 4.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    01/15/2022
    It's nice for the price
    It's a great cheap laptop easy to use and easy to upgrade you can do some light gaming on it
    Caleb
  • 1.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    01/14/2022
    THX is definitely not a good sound system
    THX is supposed to be the new state of the art sound for these new computers. But even when I have the volume maxed out i can hear my husband's phone better even when he's in a completely different room. i was so excited about getting this laptop and now I'm just extremely disappointed. I'm still debating if I should return it.
    Catherine
  • 4.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    12/26/2021
    Great laptop, with some tradeoffs
    You're not going to find many laptops with four cores, 8 GB RAM, 256GB hard drive, and a 1080P screen for $349. That being said, there are a few trade-offs. The keyboard is not as smooth as an HP keyboard, and the right-shift key is half the size that it should be. On the HP keyboards, the up and down arrows are half-sized keys that fit in the same space. On this keyboard, the up arrow is next to the right-shift key, so they reduced the size of the right shift key. It's a bit annoying, but I've gotten used to it. In general, the keyboard is not as smooth to type on as an HP keyboard, but it's still a decent keyboard. The touchpad is not quite as sensitive as an HP touchpad. It's another small annoyance, but I'm also getting used to it. The laptop boots up very quickly, as one would expect from an SSD. The screen is a good size, the text is crisp and clear (I use the recommended settings 1920x1080, with 125% scaling), and the colors are bright. The THX sound is good, but not very loud (but at least you won't have to worry about blowing out the speakers). A good headset is going to sound better. I've run a few games on it, and the graphics are very good, especially for a non-gaming laptop. It can get hot. If you're going to be running games, you might want to put a chill pad underneath. I'd recommend that for any laptop. I've also installed Visual Studio, VS Code, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Tools, and Docker. Everything starts up quickly and compiles quickly. Bottom line - you're not going to find another laptop with these specs in this price range. Laptops with these specs typically run $500-$800. If you're willing to live with a few minor annoyances, it's a great laptop.
    Keith
  • 3.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    11/18/2021
    i love my laptop but i have had it for two months now and it wont turn on now very upset about it
    Mommyof5
  • 1.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    09/27/2021
    Very disappointed
    The keyboard does not work. When you type in certain letters then two letters or symbols appear (ex. type a then .a appears). Discovered after initial set up after all account info was entered. Not returning it because hackers can still retrieve information. Been scammed too many times. Tried to contact Gateway, getting no response or help.
    David
  • 5.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    09/14/2021
    My Wife loves it thank you=)
    Loved every aspect of this laptop, its runs fast, performs nicely and looks great
    Mike
  • 4.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    09/05/2021
    Mostly great
    Specs on this computer are fantastic for the price. It's snappy, and from a performance perspective, I'm very pleased. Screen is better than I expected. Build quality of the laptop, keyboard, and track pad feel a little cheap, but I suppose there had to be a trade off to hit this price point. The webcam is not great. All things considered, I expected this from the reviews, and if this trade-off is acceptable for you, this is a great laptop with amazing value for what's under the hood.
    David
  • 2.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    08/29/2021
    Battery life is terrible
    I can't get the battery to stay charged. Or charge at all. I have to use it plugged in to use it at all.
    esther
  • 5.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    08/11/2021
    Great budget laptop
    I've always purchased budget laptop's and I have to say that in the short time using this one I believe it's the best one I've had. It's fast and light, this is my first laptop with an SSD so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. I don't like reviewing items like this until I've used it for a significant length of time but in the short time using this I'm very impressed.
    william
  • 2.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    08/04/2021
    Functional but cheap.
    The machine is about what I expected for the money. A lower end usable laptop for basic home use. The TouchPad is pretty much useless because the edges stick horribly when pressed right out of the box. I use an external mouse so it doesn't affect me that much and I don't feel like going through the hassle of warranty work or returns. Speed and graphics are ok. Sound is ok. It's Windows 10 Home, It'll work.
    Bob
  • 5.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    08/01/2021
    fast laptop light weight and great picture
    great laptop fast and has good picture quality. camera is not so good but everything else is worth the price and then some.
    doug
  • 1.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    06/09/2021
    New, but damaged. Out of $350.
    The screen has constant pixel abnormalities. I unfortunately did not test it before the allowed time expired because I bought it for the upcoming semester. I did not think I would need to do so since it was new. Now I have a malfunctioning brand new $350 laptop.
    Patricia
  • 5.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    05/06/2021
    Great laptop!
    I purchased the 8GB laptop for my kids to do schoolwork and testing plus my husband and I watch movies and edit photos. So far everything has been working completely fine and we haven't had any problems. The battery life is actually really good as well. I would recommend this laptop. Its got a great price for the amount of stuff you can do on it.
    Samantha
  • 5.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    04/23/2021
    Nice laptop.
    Nice laptop for travel. Light but big enough for what you need. Battery not bad. Gets about 3 hours on continues use. About 6 on normal use.
    Kerry
  • 4.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    04/23/2021
    Nice Machine with (possibly) Bitter Pill.
    I liked the Ryzen Processor, 8gb RAM, 256 SSD, and 15-inch screen. The USB 3.0 and USB-C ports are an added plus. For my use, I would rather have had a port for big SD cards (the kind my DSLR uses) than the micro SD port, which I might get used to as time goes. The think I really disliked about this purchase was the hobbled Windows 10 "S" operating system. It is ransomware to me because you have to fork out another $99 to Microsoft for an operating system able to run non-Microsoft software. Kiss Adobe, Zoom, everything not in the Microsoft Store good bye. The price isnt $349--it is $448 to get a usable operating system on this fairly well appointed, non-gamer machine. If you are happy with Bing, happy with the Edge Browser, have at it.
    Mark
  • 2.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    04/01/2021
    Not great for working at home
    I had to return this laptop because I couldn't find anyway to disable the hotkeys and use the regular function keys (F1-F12). The laptop is set up so it defaults to the shortcuts to adjust screen brightness, volume, etc. This was a deal breaker for me because my job software requires extensive use of shortcuts mapped to the function keys. The laptop is otherwise better than average. The keyboard is a little sticky and the plastic build feels cheap. Performance is there with the R5 processor and you can do some light gaming. IPS screen is a little less color accurate than it could be but the viewing angles are great. The speakers and camera are pretty horrible and you're better off using a different camera.
    rbarredo
  • 5.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    02/26/2021
    Great Performance in a Flimsy Package
    Firstly, I give this 4 stars mainly because I picked this up at an unbeatable value. While the price today is a bit higher, its still a good value IMO. The performance of this laptop is fantastic. Exactly what I expected from a Ryzen 5, and matches almost perfectly my Motile M142 laptop with the ryzen 3500. The laptop comes with 8GB soldered ram, and I easily added another 8GB via sodimm slot. Going by memory crystal mark SSD speeds were around the 450 mb/s mark, which is good but not great, but I dont think youll notice any difference under real world use. Only 1x1 wifi, soldered, but seems stable enough. The LCD is crisp and clear, though I do see a bit of backlight gradient towards the edges. Viewing angles are pretty good. My only complaint is that the entire thing feels VERY cheap and flimsy. The keyboard feels cheap. The screen/cover feels cheap. The back feels cheap. The trackpad feels cheap. The entire thing feels cheap in your hand. However, since I am using this mainly as a display for my smart trainer bike, I rarely have to use the keyboard of trackpad. I much prefer my Motile M142 or Onn i3 for casual browsing and general tasks. Negatives aside, this is a whole lot of performance for not a lot of money. This is running about 100 bucks cheaper than any similarly specced competitor. If you need a laptop on the cheap for very casual use and wont be typing all day on it, this is the best bang for the buck out there right now.
    Anthony
  • 4.00 out of 5 stars review
    Verified Purchaser
    01/31/2021
    Bought for $335. It's been decent so far. Display is nice for the price I paid. Not the most color accurate but good enough. Its gets plenty bright for indoor use and has a matter finish. Keyboard feels cheap and requires a bit of force to use but something expected at this pricepoint. It is usable. Trackpad also feel cheap and its sometimes difficult to get clicks to register. Scrolling on it can be a hassle sometimes too. Best if a wireless mouse was bought to use instead of this. Whole build is plastic and feels cheap. Speakers are fine. Comes with 8GB of ram in single channel. Seems like it can be upgraded to dual channel so I will be doing that soon. Can't seem to get RAM speed greater than 2133 mhz in the bios so it may be a bit slower than typical ryzen 3000's processors. Overall it's a decent machine for the price and you're paying for the specs.
    Anthony