E machine pc, buy or not buy?

I am thinking about either buying a 300 dollar or 500 dollar pc from a Best Buy or Circuit city. This pc will include monitor and printer. It may be after rebate or with no rebate.

Do you think these pc's are good.

examples below:



Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by SeanParnika

Do you think these pc's are good.

That question is soooo ambiguous. Seriously, alot of PC's are good cause they do stuff.

The question you need to ask is "Will this PC suit my needs/wants?" Now, for you to ask this question and for us to respond, we need you to tell us what specifically you'd like to use your PC for.

After this, discussion might possibly ensue.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Not buy. This is a company I've learned not to trust. The PC they sold my dad simply didn't have the specs that it was described as having. Naturally he got his money back, even though they had some complex reason why this was actually OK.

Another person I know bought a PC from them, and his was actually as described, but it was completely impossible to upgrade in any way. The case didn't have any extra space, and all the components were fixed in place with some kind of resin or glue.

Admittedly this experience was about four years ago, but I'm not about to trust them again, and my advice wouldn't be for you to trust them either. Not all the PCs on that advert are eMachines, mind you. If you don't mind that you won't be able to upgrade your PC, then maybe you'll be OK, but I don't recommend it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I only need it for basic office tasks and basic online surfing. I won't play any game on this computer.

But does emachine make a reliable product?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by SeanParnika

But does emachine make a reliable product?

I suppose you could call it that. They never actually fell apart, or anything like that. That's about the most positive thing that I could say about the eMachines PCs that I've known though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Whatever you do, do not purchase an eMachines computer.

They are unreliable, primarily defective, bottom-fo-the-barrel products.

My dad bought a couple eMachines computers a while back. We found out that they had no agp slot, most likely because of what looked like a poor initial job of soldering that area; the heatsink for the chipset chip, or northbridge, or whatever it is called, was glued on, when it should have been pinned down. After a while, the heatsink just dropped off.

Overall, if you buy an eMachines computer, you will get a substandard product.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Soluzar

Another person I know bought a PC from them, and his was actually as described, but it was completely impossible to upgrade in any way. The case didn't have any extra space, and all the components were fixed in place with some kind of resin or glue.

Originally Posted by packrat

We found out that they had no agp slot

Perhaps these are good reasons not to buy one, but, then again, he said all he wants to do is surf the web and write some letters. I know a lot of us are computing elitists, but you don't need extra slots or fancy computer insides to do those two things, especially not on a budget.

If we were to send him to the next level up, it would probably cost, what, 1.5 times more? So as long as an eMachine lasts 66% as long as computers at the next plateau, he's made out like a bandit. And it will do that.

FELIPE NO

Like I few people have said, don't buy an emanchine. My last two computers were one and both quickly fell apart. I didn't use it for anything other than surfing the web, never even opened the case. But within two years my last one eventually started getting worse and worse until it finally died. The only cause was shitty hardware.

Just save up a bit more money and buy a better computer from a better company. It'll be cheaper in the long run.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I have an eMachines computer. It came with Windows ME preinstalled (I have XP now), an 800 MHz intel celeron processor, 128 MB RAM, a 20 GB hard drive, etc. Other than the obvious low system specifications, I haven't had many problems with it. The biggest problem is that it seems to resist upgrades; there aren't any extra slots for anything. I bought an extra hard drive, and it's basically just lying in there, not secured in any way. Somehow or another, I managed to replace the CD drive with a DVD/CD-RW drive, but it doesn't fit quite right, even if it does work. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there's no way of upgrading my RAM without getting a new motherboard.. 128 seems to be the most it can support. ._.

It hasn't exploded yet, though, and I've had it for a few years. If you're just planning on using it for browsing and whatnot, you'll probably be fine.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

Perhaps these are good reasons not to buy one, but, then again, he said all he wants to do is surf the web and write some letters. I know a lot of us are computing elitists, but you don't need extra slots or fancy computer insides to do those two things, especially not on a budget.

As long as you're claiming that it takes an elitist to want something that's not a total piece of junk, I'm not reading from precisely the same page as you. While admittedly some of these things are not what will matter to the user in question, they speak to the quality of the computers produced by the company.

Originally Posted by Packrat

the heatsink for the chipset chip, or northbridge, or whatever it is called, was glued on, when it should have been pinned down. After a while, the heatsink just dropped off.

It's not as though this is the sort of thing that only matters to an elitist, is it? O_o

There's nowhere I can't reach.

eMachines are basically a daughter brand of Gateway. You wouldn't buy a Gateway would you? Even for such tasks as simple and word processing and web browsing, you'd be better off getting a low end Dell for the same price {or cheaper if you catch them at the right time}. I'm fairly certain that two years from now, Dell will still exist, in the event that you need technical support for your PC, but I am not nearly as confident that Gateway will still be in business.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Soluzar

It's not as though this is the sort of thing that only matters to an elitist, is it? O_o

You'll note I didn't quote that part of his testimony. I also didn't respond to every single other person in the thread, but rather some faulty logic.

Originally Posted by Soluzar

While admittedly some of these things are not what will matter to the user in question, they speak to the quality of the computers produced by the company.

I fail to see how. You are faulting a company for producing products for people without useless features? I mean, I could have bought a car with rear power windows, a sunroof, a multi-disc CD changer, and a car alarm, but I don't need those things. And the fact that my car doesn't have those things doesn't automatically make it shit. The other things people speak to in here, perhaps. I'm not saying eMachines are fucking awesome or anything. But it's wrong to tell this guy that a machine is bad for him simply because it does shit he doesn't want or need.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I think the point he is trying to get through is that. If a mainboard hasn't got an agp/pcix slot it probably a very old one, and would probably not last long. Would you buy a steam(I made a geeky funny) engine run car?

I was speaking idiomatically.

I must throw this question out for the masses. Yes, he may need it to that NOW, but down the road, there may be more things he wants to do. i mena, it happened to all of us, right? We eventually want to do more with our computers? I vote he add in the possibility of upward expansion in the future...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

By that time he might want to consider getting a whole new computer.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

I fail to see how. You are faulting a company for producing products for people without useless features?

Not really. I tend to thing that those "useless" features are important even to a consumer with limited needs, which is why I'm choosing to highlight the lack of them in the products of this particular company, but I also believe that such extreme cost-cutting can only yield a final product with a build quality which is questionable at best. One of the main ways in which a company can can cut prices is to reduce the quality of the final product.

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Quote:

but I also believe that such extreme cost-cutting can only yield a final product with a build quality which is questionable at best. One of the main ways in which a company can can cut prices is to reduce the quality of the final product.

Good example of that: Dells. It's not that it's a shitty product, but you can definitely tell they cut a lot of corners. It's actually quite needlessly difficult to upgrade anything more advanced than RAM.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Vampiro

Good example of that: Dells. It's not that it's a shitty product, but you can definitely tell they cut a lot of corners. It's actually quite needlessly difficult to upgrade anything more advanced than RAM.

I'm not even talking about the ability to upgrade, though, I'm talking about two things. Physical build quality, which impacts reliability, and quality of components, which impacts longevity. BlueMikey rightly stated that there are users for whom the ability to upgrade is a non-issue.

I also have to say, although it undermines the credibility of my own argument to a degree, I don't find that Dell computers are of an especially low quality compared to most off-the-shelf machines. I know a few people who use Dell machines, and I'd find it hard to identify any real problem with most of them that wasn't the fault of the user. The upgrade issue does exist, but anyone who really cares about upgrading in a serious way should be building their own machine.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Vampiro

Good example of that: Dells. It's not that it's a shitty product, but you can definitely tell they cut a lot of corners. It's actually quite needlessly difficult to upgrade anything more advanced than RAM.

I wouldn't say so. Never tried an eMachines computer, but from what I've heard, they're less than stellar. I'd go with a Dell for a reliable, cheap machine.

First of all, most PCs that have a label on them (Dell, HP, Compaq, eMachines, whatever) have custom motherboards and cases that prevent huge overhauls on the computer. Installing graphics chips, RAM, CD Drives, Hard Drives, etc., are very easy on these computers regardless. The hard part comes when you want to upgrade the Processor or the PSU. That might be difficult.

They don't exactly cut corners, they just assume that you're not a PC elitist who takes apart the computer and roots around the computer regularly. That being said, if this is a temporary computer (2-3 years) go ahead and take the eMachines computer because it is EXTREMELY cheap, even cheaper than Dells. But if you want a cheap computer that will last longer, go Dell. If you want to be able to upgrade EVERYTHING, you gotta find a custom built PC or build one yourself.

I own a Dell Dimension 4600 right now. It's decent. It came like 3 years ago as a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 Computer with 256MB RAM and integrated graphics chip. That will suit you fine for just surfing and stuff. But I also game on my computers. So within the 3 years, I've increased it once to 512 MB RAM and then again to 896MB RAM just recently. No Problems there. I popped in a GeForce 6600GT last year, no problems either. Soon after, I added a Sound Card (Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit). No problems either. Probably the 3 most common upgrades on a computer. All work fine, VERY reliable. Still running great.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah, I'm not actually saying Dells are bad computers, I'm typing on one right now. I'm just simply saying that they're cheaper for a reason. Reasons most people won't ever notice, nor take issue with. Which is fine by me.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by mortis

I must throw this question out for the masses. Yes, he may need it to that NOW, but down the road, there may be more things he wants to do. i mena, it happened to all of us, right? We eventually want to do more with our computers? I vote he add in the possibility of upward expansion in the future...

The company I work for use exclusively HP's and I might want to bring home some work to finish up before its due. And this emachine can do office work right? I will budget some extra money to buy a more powerfull machine during the Christmas holiday sales. I don't want the company knowing what I do on my personal computer. The emachine , the company can watch, and that's fine. If I do video editing and stuff like that, I don't want the company to know.

Expansion? Yes on a more powerful computer, but not a emachine. I do video editing, but my current computer handels this fine, abit slow.

I was speaking idiomatically.

A couple questions:

-So what does your office work consist of?
-Is the eMachine that you are looking at going to be paid for (and thus owned by) your company?

I'm sorry, but your english is very fragmented, and you have a lot of incomplete thoughts. I'm just trying to get a bearing on your situation. :-\

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by packrat

A couple questions:

-So what does your office work consist of?
-Is the eMachine that you are looking at going to be paid for (and thus owned by) your company?

I'm sorry, but your english is very fragmented, and you have a lot of incomplete thoughts. I'm just trying to get a bearing on your situation. :-\

This computer will be paid by me, but I might be able to bring the receipt back to office to get reimbursed for "necessary" office expenses.

Just excel, powerpoint presentations, and reports that have to be handed to my manager. No financial documents will be done on the emachine, only office computer. If you work for a investment company, then you will know what I do.

FELIPE NO

Well, if that is the case, and you seriously won't be doing a whole lot of stuff on that computer beyond what you stated, then I guess it will effectively suit your needs.

Although, I think spending money now for a low-end cheapo comp, and saving up for another, better computer not too far down-the-road, is an exercise in frivolity. That is just my personal feeling on the matter. You hold the checkbook.

How ya doing, buddy?

I haven't owned one personally, but I've dealt with a number of them and they've generally proven to be reliable. Only one had some issues (an older one, the motherboard blew out but I'm not sure the reasoning behind it). But others have been rock solid.

While some people think Dells are better, I actually think they're worse. And don't get me started on their tech support... ^^;;

Jam it back in, in the dark.