e-Machine at WalMart for $288...

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
My grandmother's Dell e310 has bad motherboard. There is supposedly a $288 eMachine at walmart, but I can't find the specs.

Anyone know anything about it?

Is there a better deal? She has a LCD already and a decent keyboard/mouse.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
For about $250 you could get an Aspire Revo atom nettop and an external DVD burner.

That's a low-powered CPU though if she plays Flash games, edits photos or watches streaming Matlock from Hulu.

There was a $198 eMachines in Hot Deals last week, but that deal's probably gone now.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,640
13,821
126
www.anyf.ca
I noticed this a while back too, I'm guessing it's one of those very small tower cases?

The only issue with that is if anything breaks, you can't replace, especially if it's the power supply. They are not standard size components in there. About the only thing standard might be the hard drive, cpu and maybe ram.

Makes a great little low cost box if you don't need much power though.
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
I went digging at walmart's website, but can't find an emachines for $288. Saw one for $398 and it seemed to be fairly well documented regarding the specs.
 

CptCrunch

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2005
1,877
1
0
I bought a refurb dell the other day:

$286 shipped with tax

dell inspiron 537s
Pentium Dual Core E5300
2GB ram
320GB 7200rpm
DVDRW
10/100 lan
No Modem
Windows 7 Home Premium

It comes with a 1 year in home warranty. I'd recommend you check out the refurb store with dell before you buy the emachines. They ship quickly as well, typically same day or next day.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
You would probably have to stop by Walmart every single day to check if they have a cheap computer. Rednecks and illegals live at walmart and they generally know about kickass deals before you do. Often there will be good sales that go unadvertised and all the units get sold by the mid afternoon.
Good luck.

If you dont wish to rely on luck, get an outlet PC from Dell or HP.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
I bought a refurb dell the other day:

$286 shipped with tax

dell inspiron 537s
Pentium Dual Core E5300
2GB ram
320GB 7200rpm
DVDRW
10/100 lan
No Modem
Windows 7 Home Premium

It comes with a 1 year in home warranty. I'd recommend you check out the refurb store with dell before you buy the emachines. They ship quickly as well, typically same day or next day.

Haven't been seeing deals like that one on the outlet site recently.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
126
Check FatWallet or Slickdeals. I'm sure there is a thread on the system with specs, etc...
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,066
4,712
126
I was going to say a similiar thing (the Inspiron 537 or 546 can both be had for $269 or ~$310 if you get a decent processor upgrade). I can't seem to find the Walmart $288 computer anywhere online. So it might not even exist. Like others have said there is a $398 Walmart one but that is more expensive than Dell. Plus, with Walmart, you are her tech support. With Dell, she can call their tech support.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
CPU1 :
AMD Athlon™ processor 2850e
(1.8GHz, 512KB L2 cache)
Operating System2 :
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Chipset : NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 SE
Memory3 :
2048MB DDR2 dual-channel (2 × 1024MB)
Expandable to 4GB
2 DDR2 slots total, 0 DDR2 slots available
Hard Drive4 :
320GB 7200rpm SATA
Optical Drive : 16x DVD±R/RW Supermulti drive
Write max: 16x DVD±R, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW, 8x DVD±R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-R, 32x CD-RW
Read max: 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-ROM
Media Reader5 :
Multi-in-one digital media card reader
CompactFlash® I & II, CF+ Microdrive, Secure Digital™ (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard™ (MMC), Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard™ (RS-MMC), xD-Picture Card™, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™
Video : Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 SE graphics
Up to 128MB of shared video memory
Audio : 6-channel (5.1) high-definition audio
USB Speakers
Communications : 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
Peripherals : eMachines® PS/2 keyboard and optical mouse
Ports/Other : 9 - USB 2.0 (5 front, 4 rear)
2 - PS/2 (keyboard and mouse)
1 - VGA
5 - Audio jacks
1 - Headphone jack (front)
1 - Microphone jack (front)
1 - RJ-45 Ethernet
Dimensions : 10.4" H x 3.9" W x 14.6" D
Weight : 12 lbs. (system unit only)
Warranty6 :
1-year parts and labor limited warranty with toll-free tech support
Software : • Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Adobe® Flash® Player
• Adobe® Reader®
• eMachines® Recovery Management
• Google Toolbar™
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (60-day complimentary trial period)7
• Microsoft Works® 9.0
• Nero® 9 Essentials
• Norton Internet Security™ 20097
• WildTangent® demo games
Price : $298.00

We did see the dell 546 got $269 also.
 

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
I despise integrated graphics, especially on an e-machine and they usually don't even solder a socket on the board.
 
Mar 15, 2003
12,668
103
106
Wait, is it $288 with a monitor? I can't find it myself but, if that's your budget, looks to be unbeatable..

But if your budget is >$300 without monitor, get the dell I linked to, even the base config should be fine for a home user, but you should upgrade to dual core AMD if you expect her to do anything media related...
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
I despise integrated graphics, especially on an e-machine and they usually don't even solder a socket on the board.

integrated graphics are fine for really about 90% of those going out and buying cards. She does email, web and partypoker.

SHe is over 80 years old. She doesn't want to do folding or fragging.
 

CptCrunch

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2005
1,877
1
0
The machine I received was flawless and the e5300 can do VT.

Now grandma can run a VT based version of windows 95 and she'll be right a home.
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
Except for games, the E5300 usually wins. Although the difference is probably negligible for a grandmother.

except when it comes to reliability and stability, in which intel ALWAYS wins. i would never get non intel for a non hobbyist who just needs something to work