The Gateway 14.1" is a budget-friendly option that is lighter and has a longer battery life, making it more suitable for general use and portability. However, the MSI GE66 Raider, while more expensive and heavier, offers superior performance for intensive engineering tasks, 3D modeling, machine learning, and gaming, along with a higher-quality display and keyboard. If cost and portability are your primary concerns, choose the Gateway. If you require a high-performance machine for specialized applications and are less concerned about weight and expense, the MSI is the better choice. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Gateway 14.1"
Very good portability
Advantages of the MSI GE66 Raider
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
5.6/10
8.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
208.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
347.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
5.3/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
8.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.8/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for general use, while the Gateway 14.1" is poor.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
5.4/10
8.6/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.2/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for gaming and AI, while the Gateway 14.1" is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
5.5/10
9.1/10
3.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
4.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI GE66 Raider is excellent for engineering and design, while the Gateway 14.1" is poor.
The Gateway 14.1" is poorly suited for engineering and design tasks as it has a basic Intel Celeron processor, modest RAM, and integrated graphics, coupled with a standard resolution screen, which together lack the power and detail necessary for such demanding applications. On the other hand, the MSI GE66 Raider excels with a high-end Intel i9 processor, substantial RAM, a powerful Nvidia RTX GPU, and a high-resolution display, offering superior performance and visual clarity essential for complex engineering and design work.
Content Creation
5.8/10
8.4/10
3.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
4.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for content creation, while the Gateway 14.1" is poor.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
5.8/10
8.4/10
3.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
4.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
5.3/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI GE66 Raider is very good for software development, while the Gateway 14.1" is poor.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.0/10
8.2/10
14.1in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
208.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
347.0 nits
The MSI GE66 Raider has a better screen than the Gateway 14.1" for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Gateway 14.1" with its fair screen quality has adequate resolution and brightness suitable for everyday tasks and basic engineering applications but lacks wide color gamut representation essential for precision in design work. The MSI GE66 Raider, with its very good screen quality, features higher resolution and brightness, enhancing the clarity and detail for both general and engineering use, while also providing better color accuracy with broader color gamuts, which is crucial for professional design work. However, both fall short for gaming and 3D rendering as they do not offer high refresh rates, compromising the smoothness and responsiveness needed for these applications.
Battery
8.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Gateway 14.1" has 8 hours of battery life. The MSI GE66 Raider has 6 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Fair
14.1in
SIZE
15.6in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Gateway 14.1" has very good portability, while the MSI GE66 Raider has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
5.1/10
8.5/10
The MSI GE66 Raider has very good build quality, while the Gateway 14.1" has poor build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$99
$3,199
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Gateway 14.1" has a price of $99 and the MSI GE66 Raider costs $3,199.
"The Gateway Ultra Slim 14" is surprisingly quiet with long battery life. The inexpensive Gateway excels at maximizing performance per dollar with lots of RAM and storage, super-quiet fan, and a long battery life. It can even house up to two M.2 SSDs which we weren't expecting from such a cheap system. However, the iffy reliability of the keyboard and USB-C port on our test unit means users should double-check for these potential issues immediately after purchasing."
"The MSI Raider GE66 12UHS notebook passes with flying colors. The GE66 is a high-end notebook with strong performance. The keyboard and trackpad are still very good and score well with precise inputs as well as high build quality. Thanks to a new liquid metal cooling solution, the Intel Core i9 12900HK brings a performance increase of around 50 percent over the predecessor's Intel Core i9 10980HK. The installed graphics card in our device delivers up to 30 percent higher frame rates than the RTX 2070 Super in the MSI GE66 10SFS."
Get a great deal on the Gateway 14.1" or the MSI GE66 Raider
About Gateway
Gateway is a laptop and tablet brand owned by Acer which sells budget-friendly laptops exclusively through Walmart. It was previously an American computer company until its acquisition by Acer in 2007, who then revived the brand in 2020. Gateway laptops are manufactured by Chinese company Shenzhen Bmorn Technology, which also makes EVOO-branded models.
About MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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