Compaq, Hp, e-Machines And, Best Prebuilt Is?

[Pghpooh]

Hi
My dumb questions of the week are???
Part 1
Are Compaq, E-Machines, Hp all the same company?

I seem to remember that HP was on a buying spree a while ago and I lost track of what they did.

Part 2
My daughters Gateway pc died last night (fatal errors, noisy hard drive, etc) and she is in a panic to buy a new one to replace it. It's a 4 or 5 year old Pentium 2.
How do you guys rate Compaq, Gateway, E-machines, Dell and Hp?

I'd love to build a new one for her but it takes about 2 weeks to build as I have to order all the parts. I don't know of any places here in the Pittsburgh area where I can buy all the parts plus retail prices and taxes are killers!!! LOLOL
Thanks
Pghpooh

 

[dullard]

Compaq and HP merged. I don't think they ever did anything to merge with E-Machines.

Since you are in a hurry, I don't think you can just order a computer, they'll all likely take 2 weeks to deliver. So that leaves you with something you can get in a store.

Dell isn't in stores, so forget about them. Dell's main advantage is their very low prices if you time your purchase right. Since you don't have time, forget about Dell.

E-Machines can run very well, but you often are very limited. They use the cheapest stuff (which may mean a little slower) and often has very limited upgrading options.

HP and Compaq are similar. I think Compaq has a history of the most machines returned for repairs. (Apple and Dell have the lowest percent of machines returned for repair). So that leaves HP as the choice I'd make in your rushed situation.

Since you'll be replacing a 2 year old PC, I think you can get a great speed boost with even the most basic of computers. That'll mean ~$400-$600 in the stores depending on the options you get. At this price level, Compaq, HP, and E-machines typically have the exact same price for the exact same features. Even the price is almost the exact same to the dollar among various retail stores (slight differences exist if you get cash back specials or rebates).

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Gateway owns eMachines now, btw.

- M4H

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: dullard
Compaq and HP merged. I don't think they ever did anything to merge with E-Machines.

HP and Compaq are similar. I think Compaq has a history of the most machines returned for repairs. (Apple and Dell have the lowest percent of machines returned for repair). So that leaves HP as the choice I'd make in your rushed situation.



I think its because of the number of HP/Compaq PCs out there. There are more Compaqs PCs out there than any other brand. Most corporations use HP/Compaq so I would believe there would be more compaq returns just due to shear volume, not because of quality. I've been fixing PCs for over 20 years and on a ratio basis I have had more problems with Dell PCs than with compaq 2:1.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
I think its because of the number of HP/Compaq PCs out there. There are more Compaqs PCs out there than any other brand. Most corporations use HP/Compaq so I would believe there would be more compaq returns just due to shear volume, not because of quality. I've been fixing PCs for over 20 years and on a ratio basis I have had more problems with Dell PCs than with compaq 2:1.

Number came from several Consumer Reports magazines. Consumer Reports polls tens of thousands of people and ask what type of computer they have and if it needed serious hardware repair. It reported the percent of total machines that needed serious repair. Apple had the lowest percent. Then was Dell with second lowest percent of comptuers needing repair. Sony often is almost just as good as Dell. HP and Compaq are towards the bottom of the pack with highest percent of machines needing repair.

Note: for laptops, Dell is no where near as good as they are for desktops and Dell is in the middle of the pack for % of machines needing serious hardware repair.

Note2: this % needing repair could have to do with the customer support. A poor customer support may encourage Compaq users to send in a machine that really doesn't need to be sent in for repair.

Dell current market share: 18.2% of machines sold. HP current market share: 16.2% of machines sold. Your numbers are backwards now.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Today, HP & Compaq are the same machines, from end to end.
eMachines is your best value, but you can get good deals on HP/Compaq too. Go into your local BBY, they've got a Compaq system with an AXP, 512, 120GB?, CDRW, DVD for like $500 or less.

 

[Pghpooh]

HI
The information posted here is just what I was looking for.
The Pittsburgh area doesn't have much in the way of stores where you can buy everything you need to build a pc. Thus, there's Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, Office Max and Staples. There is a Dell store about 20 miles away. Not sure if they carry pre configured units or not.
I have to get my daughter to set a price range and then I can shop. Best Buy seems to be about the best as they have on site service and the store I go to a few of the sales people actually know what they are talking about!!!!
Thanks
Pghpooh

 

[xgsound]

idea 1 Noisey drive ? Consider fixing the machine if you can determine what's bad. (new drive = $100 new install=always good)

idea 2 E-machines has a line of AMD powered machines from $500 to $800 (no monitor) that include an unused AGP slot , 512 meg memory, cd or dvd writer, card reader, and a fairly clean install of XP to start with. They are availiable at BB(sorry) and Circuit City, among others. Aldi (There is one near Sears at Robinson Center Mall) had a limited sale recently for a well equiped Media One for a very low (? $450 ) price.

Jim

 

[Pghpooh]

xgsound
Thanks for the info.
I replaced the hard drive in the machine about 3 years ago. It's a WD 32 gig unit. (one I had used for a few years and gave to my daughter for her machine) The os is currently Win98 se. The machine is a Pentium running at 900 mhz. To replace the hard drive and new os to Win xp wouldn't really be cost effective. The cpu would have a hard time with Win xp.
I'm still waiting for her to give me a dollar figure I can work with and while waiting I'll try to take a ride out to Aldi's and look around.
Thanks again
Pghpooh

 

[vegetation]

HP and Compaq are the SAME, there is no difference, aside from comestic differences.

E-machines is now owned by Gateway and I'm not sure how they regard in the industry now, but shortly before this, the Emachine laptops were solid machines made by Medion.

Dell tends to make shoddy quality laptops but the 700m is a solid machine.

Be careful when you read about people's past purchase experiences. Experiences from 10 years ago do not have any meaning whatsoever in today's purchases.

 

[xgsound]

Aldi is probably long out of that computer as that was 2 or 3 weeks ago.(I realize that now) They're a food store that runs crazy specials every week , so they won't have other computers .
I'm writing this now on an athlon 700 with win98SE. Just new enough to add USB2 to run current scanners , printers , and card readers. Since I've seen little difference in speed for most things since 300 mhz , I'm holding off upgrading machine or OS.
I've seen XP on machines down to 500 Mhz with 256 meg work well and it should work well at 900 Mhz with 256 Meg and the classic interface. Of course it's hard to beat new and shiney.

Jim