The Gateway offers a lower price with respectable performance for general use, a 15.6" screen, and solid general use battery life, making it portable and practical for everyday tasks. However, if you prioritize top-tier performance for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, or engineering tasks, the MSI Stealth 17 with its powerful processor, 64 GB of RAM, cutting-edge graphics, and larger, sharper 17.3" display is superior, though it comes at a higher price and with reduced battery life, making it less portable. Both are capable, but the right choice depends on balancing your needs between costs, performance, and portability. 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 15.6"
Good portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 17
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Good overall build quality
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.0/10
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
5.3/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the Gateway 15.6" is good.
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
6.0/10
9.1/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Gateway 15.6" is only fair.
The Gateway 15.6" has a basic GPU with a standard screen refresh rate, making it only fair for gaming and 3D applications, whereas the MSI Stealth 17 includes a top-tier Nvidia GPU and a high refresh rate screen, providing an excellent experience for gaming and 3D purposes. Additionally, the MSI Stealth 17's superior CPU and screen quality contribute to its higher effectiveness in these areas compared to the Gateway model.
Engineering and Design
6.2/10
9.4/10
4.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Gateway 15.6" is only fair.
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design use due to its high-performance CPU, ample RAM, and superior GPU, which together with its high-quality screen, make it well-suited for demanding tasks. In contrast, the Gateway 15.6" offers fair performance with a more modest CPU, less RAM, and integrated graphics, limiting its capability for intensive engineering and design applications, despite its good portability and decent screen.
Content Creation
7.0/10
8.8/10
4.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the Gateway 15.6" is good.
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
6.7/10
8.5/10
4.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
5.3/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the Gateway 15.6" is only fair.
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
6.1/10
8.6/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen than the Gateway 15.6" for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Gateway 15.6" offers a display that is adequate in resolution and brightness for everyday tasks but has limited color range, affecting the precision needed in engineering and design tasks. The MSI Stealth 17 has a higher-quality display with excellent resolution and color accuracy that benefits detailed engineering and design work, although it's not tailored for gaming or 3D due to a lower refresh rate. While both laptops have screens suitable for general use and professional design, neither is optimized for the high refresh rates crucial for smooth gameplay and 3D rendering.
Battery
8.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Gateway 15.6" has 8 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 has 5.5 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
Good
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
4.8 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Gateway 15.6" has good portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
5.1/10
7.8/10
The MSI Stealth 17 has good build quality, while the Gateway 15.6" has poor build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$380
$3,899
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Gateway 15.6" has a price of $380 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
"Some concessions have to be made when shopping for a budget laptop. Walmart's Gateway Ultra Slim laptops succeeds on the affordability front and delivers serviceable specs and good battery life, though it's hard to claim it's the best (or even particularly good) at any particular aspect. Its build quality, especially the touchpad, is mediocre, and its performance is decent but doesn't lead the way. The Gateway does undercut the cost of some competitors and offers ample storage with good connectivity, so it's not to be ignored."
"The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."
Get a great deal on the Gateway 15.6" or the MSI Stealth 17
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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