To borrow the opening from The Outer Limits, there is nothing wrong with your display, do not attempt to adjust the picture. Yes, there are actually new Gateway PCs on the market, wrapped in cow-spotted packaging like the old days (as in, two decades ago). And they are only available at Walmart.
Some of you reading this might not remember Gateway, serving as a sobering reminder that I'm getting old. Gateway predates The Simpsons by several years, coming into existence in 1985 and maintaining a significant presence in the PC market through the 1990s, and early 2000s. Then the hard times hit, and in 2007 Acer snatched up Gateway for $710 million.
The Gateway brand never entirely disappeared, but its presence was certainly diminished, and I imagine largely forgotten by many. Be that as it may, Acer is looking to leverage the brand with a new lineup of laptops, 2-in-1 systems, and even a couple of tablets.
"The Gateway PC brand and its renowned cow-spotted boxes have been well-loved in the United States since 1985," said Jade Zhou, head of global strategic alliances for Acer. "Acer is thrilled that Walmart is becoming the exclusive provider of Gateway-branded notebooks and tablets. We are pleased that customers in the United States and Puerto Rico will have the opportunity to enjoy the beloved Gateway brand again through one of the world's top retailers."
According to the press release, the new Gateway PCs range in price from $200 to $1,200. However, Walmart seems to be selling some of the higher end models for a bit below MSRP. For example, the top SKU (and also the most compelling) is a $999 laptop config powered by an Intel Core i5 10300H Comet Lake processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It also has a 15.6-inch display with a 1920x1080 resolution and a respectable 120Hz refresh rate.
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Not bad for a grand, though the RAM and storage allotments are a bit anemic. It is one of two performance oriented Creator Series laptops. The other is another 15.6-inch config, but with an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor and GeForce GTX 1650 GPU (other specs are the same). It has an MSRP of $900 but is listed for $799.
For what it's worth, the small number of user reviews on both model are positive, though who knows if they are legit. I'm also curious about the upgrade potential of either of these machines—both models look good for the money, but as RAM and SSD prices continue to fall, I'd be interested in bumping both up on my own.
The other Gateway models consist of a bunch of 14.1-inch ultra slim models, a single 15.6-inch ultra slim laptop, an 11.6-inch 2-in-1 system, and a pair of Android tablets (8-inch and 10.1-inch for $70 and $80, respectively).
