Emachines. Are they good computers?

[kirinke]

I'm looking to buy a $649 Emachine. What I'm looking for is something to game on and word-processing. This one I'm looking at has 512 mb ram, around 60-80gb of hardrive memory and is around a 2.1-2.5 giga-hertz processor and it has a built in gforce video card. i'm personally thinking it's a fairly good compy for the price.... but. still looking.

opins?

(and i've looked at dell. they're too expensive.... and i have to wait a week or more. i've also had a bad experience with online companies like dell and gateway.)

 

[BeerSkunk]

http://www.ibuypower.com

I know you said you've had trouble with online retailers, but I know several people who have ordered PCs from ibuypower and have been extremely pleased with the quality and the price.

The power vs price can't be beat. On top of that, you get exactly the machine you want without all the garbage that gets put in there by mass producers like Gateway and Dell.

Take a look at their site and spec out a machine. You'll be amazed at what you can get for your money.

 

[Rackhir]

I used to work at a CompUSA and Emachines were never exactly highly regarded.

My personal recomendation would be to build your own system from parts, but it does require at least a passing familiarity with the individual components. It's not rocket science, basically you need to know enough to just keep trying things and not panic if you run into any problems.

I bought the hardware to build two systems for my work recently from NewEgg.com and had no problems with them.

VGA GIGABYTE|GV-R96S128D 9600SE R (Qty=1,Price=70.99)
MB i875P|5P1A6D GA-8KNXP REV2.0 RTL (Qty=1,Price=195.99)
DDRAM 1GB PC-3500 GL1GB3500DC-G R (Qty=1,Price=195.00)
HD 80GB|SEAGATE ST380013AS SATA (Qty=1,Price=86.00)
CPU P4/2.8EGHz 800M 478P/1MB HT RT (Qty=1,Price=201.00)
DVR|PIONEER DVR-107D DVD+/-RW% (Qty=1,Price=139.00)
CASE DNPWR|CS-I3ALB.701(L/B) 300 RT (Qty=1,Price=22.00)
Price minus shipping comes to about $910

You could cut that by getting less memory 512mb should be under a hundred. Also a simple CD-R drive could cut another $100 bucks off the price and then you're down to $710.

 

[KenM]

My first computer was an Emachine. it worked good. If you want to do any type of gaming, On board video, in a word SUCKS. The video RAM is shared with the regular system RAM, so it won't play most of the games with the good graphics, at the very least, make sure that computer has an AGP slot so you can put a video card in it.

 

[DMFTodd]

If I'm not mistaken, EMachines is in the process of being bought out by Gateway. Don't know how that would influence your decision.

 

[AutoSponge]

Depends on the games you play. If you want Civ3, emachines will be fine. If you want Quake3 or a next gen MMORPG forget it. You get what you pay for, and in a serious gaming rig the video card costs as much as an emachine.

 

[cybertalus]

For that price you're probably buying a "disposable" PC. Meaning it won't be very upgradeable (if at all), and while it might play the current games now, in two or three years it probably won't.

E-Machines have a rather mixed reputation. I haven't seen the inside of one in a very long time, so I can't comment on them specifically from recent experience. In general I'm in agreement with the others here who recommend building your own, although I realize that's not for everyone.

If you're going to buy a name brand computer, Dell or Systemax (sold through tigerdirect.com and possibly other places) are the only two brands I would recommend with confidence. You mention problems with online retailers, but Dell and Tiger are both well established companies. Neither is a fly-by-night operation, and both have the option of ordering over the phone.

I'd advise staying away from HP computers at all cost. HP makes great printers, but of the half dozen or so of their computers I've seen over the years not a one of them was a good machine.

 

[Chingerspy]

I have a friend with an E-Machine. Suited him well as it cost less than what I could build him one. It had all the gizmos he needed as well as 512MB RAM and 128MB GPU. That said it is not very upgradable. But then he won't want to upgrade it much anyway and RAM/Graphics can be done. Any more than that and it means a board/chip change anyway so the case can be reused if he wants to go that route in a year or two. The PC is a good build from what I have witnessed. Its just the users housekeeping that is hurting it at the moment

 

[kingpaul]

My parents had an eMachine, and they hated it. They bought the extended warranty for it, and they're thankful...it had to go into the shop for repairs a half-dozen time because of faulty hardware.

 

[Silvanos]

I have heard horror stories. OF course I have also heard horror stories about Dell, Compaq, etc. etc...

Your best bet is to go do a google search, and see what people are saying. Emachines has new ownership (9 months ago or so I THINK).

Some Reviews

The built in Video you are talking about is on an NForce board I believe. That makes it a GeForce 2 chipset if I am not mistaken. Which is several generations behind the current cards.

I am not a computer snob, and I did run a support department for 5 years... The BEST way to go is to build it yourself. But most people are not comfortable doing that. Which is ok. Just read up before you drop your chunk of change.

Also, like I said, most professionals have heard/witnessed horror stories for about every brand out there. Before my current home built system, I had a Dell. One night while working on my Thesis the monitor went out. Of course a draft was due the next afternoon! I called Dell, went through the level 1 tech, and the level 2 tech (Who actually had me hit the back with a rubber mallet, lol). I went to class the next day, and when I came home for lunch there was a new monitor waiting on me. If you have a problem with your Dell computer, you will have to go through the support levels, but once they determine something is wrong... They fix it. That was my experance with them anyways.

What was I saying? Sorry, sometimes I ramble.

Drew