Kinda warm: Emachines $598 computer at Walmart B&M

[amdskip]

First off, I shudder at any computer called an Emachine.

I saw these at work and they just came in so YMMV.

Specs:
1800XP
256 MB DDR (PC 2100)
60 GB Ultra Hard Drive
40x cd burner
S3 ProSavage8 (pretty sure there is an AGP slot though)
AC '97 Audio
56K* ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem
10/100Mbps built-in Ethernet
15" monitor (ehh, sucky I know)

It's actually not too shabby but I wonder about the power supplies and the motherboard which is VIA KM 266 based. It's not a bad system for the price and if you added a video card and swapped out the power supply (hopefully it's an ATX), it might be halfway alright for just a basic internet surfer. I would rather have this than a celeron HP machine that we sell. It has windows XP included and there aren't any stupid rebates to mail in.

Amdskip

 

[scarfase99]

e-machines = no bueno, especially if ur spendin $600

 

[RossMAN]

It's not that bad of a deal considering you're getting a loaded PC with 15" (crappy) monitor for $600 with no rebate hassles. Then again eMachines doesn't have the best reliability record and their PS's aren't the greatest either. Then again the average consumer doesn't buy or upgrade their PC once a month like the common AT'er does

However I'd rather spend an extra $200 and buy a Dell Dimension 4500 with 17" CRT for around $800 after coupons/rebates usually with free shipping.

 

[agent2099]

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=158484

• 
  EVERCASE E4252-ABV, Intel P4 / AMD, 10-Bay, 300W P4, $40.00 $40.00
  Great Value ECS K7S5A SiS® 735 SOCKET A MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL $55.99 $55.99
  ATI RADEON 32M SDR 4X AGP
  AMD Athlon XP 1800+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL. Athlon XP 1800+/ 1.53GHz, AX1800BOX. $88.00 $88.00
  SAMSUNG (Original, made by Samsung) 256MB DDR RAM PC2100 $64.00 $64.00
  WD WESTERN DIGITAL EIDE HARD DRIVE 60GB 7200RPM MODEL # WD600BB -Caviar OEM, DRIVE ONLY
  $89.00 $89.00
  CTX INTERNATIONAL 17" PL7C Monitor Screen Size 17" $112.00 $112.00
  ENCORE ENF656-PCI-NDPR 56K V.92 INTERNAL PCI FAX / MODEM/ MIC & SPEAKER (NetoDragon) - RETAIL
  $10.00 $10.00
  Artec CDRW 40x12x48x IDE RETAIL w/ Nero $53.00 $53.00

Total: $544.99

The emachines is not bad compared to the normal markup on pre-built PCs. But, the newegg machine completly owns it and the parts on the newegg machine are higher quality/more reliable than the crappy components in the emachine.

 

[bockchow]

nice rig for the price agent2099. but don't forget that the e-maching has windows xp and probably some other software. and shipping for the newegg rig is gona be a nice chunk too. say about $40 to ship and $90 for xp brings it to $674.99.

and you have to build it yourself install all the os and drivers, deal with any hardware that needs to be rma'd. i'd recommend this rig to the people bugging me to build them one just so i wouldn't have to. does e-machine have any kind of tech support or warrenty? i usually have people buy systems with good tech support so that they'll call that instead of me.

 

[dondono]

These new Emachines are a different animal than the one like the Cyrix 333 I bought for 450 3 years ago

 

[Analog]

oh no, not another e-machine!

 

[amdskip]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this a halfway alright deal.

 

[knightc2]

This is really not a bad deal. Maybe not hot for those that can and are willing to build their own computers, but for the lay person or college student, this is decent. e-Machines does have a bad rep, but a lot of that was from the older models. And this is more than just a basic internet surfer. Add a new video card and your in business.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: agent2099
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=158484

• 
  EVERCASE E4252-ABV, Intel P4 / AMD, 10-Bay, 300W P4, $40.00 $40.00
  Great Value ECS K7S5A SiS® 735 SOCKET A MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL $55.99 $55.99
  ATI RADEON 32M SDR 4X AGP
  AMD Athlon XP 1800+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL. Athlon XP 1800+/ 1.53GHz, AX1800BOX. $88.00 $88.00
  SAMSUNG (Original, made by Samsung) 256MB DDR RAM PC2100 $64.00 $64.00
  WD WESTERN DIGITAL EIDE HARD DRIVE 60GB 7200RPM MODEL # WD600BB -Caviar OEM, DRIVE ONLY
  $89.00 $89.00
  CTX INTERNATIONAL 17" PL7C Monitor Screen Size 17" $112.00 $112.00
  ENCORE ENF656-PCI-NDPR 56K V.92 INTERNAL PCI FAX / MODEM/ MIC & SPEAKER (NetoDragon) - RETAIL
  $10.00 $10.00
  Artec CDRW 40x12x48x IDE RETAIL w/ Nero $53.00 $53.00

Total: $544.99

The emachines is not bad compared to the normal markup on pre-built PCs. But, the newegg machine completly owns it and the parts on the newegg machine are higher quality/more reliable than the crappy components in the emachine.

You're right in general, but you're missing WinXP Home, which is a biggie.

 

[agent2099]

True, I forgot to include the OS.


Of course, I really didn't put in much effort building that system. It' not really the cheapest I could get it. Take off -$30 for getting a motherboard which has built-in video, and a cheap 15" monitor costs what, $50 at any b&m? Thats another -$70 right there, which brings the cost of that system down to $445. Add the cost of the OS and the price still beats the emachine, for a higher quality computer. Newegg is actually pretty decent on the shipping when you order a lot of stuff. To ship a whole computer in individual pieces expect to pay around $30.

Still, compared to the normal markup from pre-builts, the emachines is not bad at all.


edit:

Got it down to $407 + $19 S/H. Add the cost of monitor/OS.


<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=158618
">http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=158618</a>

 

[radioactiveman]

Piss on E-Machines all you want, but I've got a E-Monster 600 sitting in my living room serving 240gigs o' schtuff and before that it was my primary machine - been running strong for almost 3 years
I replaced the Power Supply cause I've heard they go bad - it didn't happen, but it never hurts to be proactive. That's all the maintenance, all other has been HD upgrades, but that Pentium 600 runs like a champ...
What's my point? Not everything you see on anand is true
Some E-Machines sucked, but there are some that own and run really cheap - Plus, most times having a company package something like this saves you from having to spend countless hours ironing out all the little quirks that come with a system built from scratch.

Thanks for the deal amdskip - I think it's better than lukewarm

 

[OulOat]

Emachines suck. Terrible customer support and RMA. My dad was one of the unfortunate beings to fall for one of their earlier promotions. He bought one of those things that looked kinda like a Mac. Big mistake. Bring it back home, hook it up, only to find out that our old P166 w/ MMX was faster and more stable than Emachines PII 450?? (forgot exactly how fast it was). Reformatted to get all the junk off and reinstalled Win 98. Work decently for about half a year. Then the CD-ROM went out. Would spin but not read anything. So we call tech support. They tell us that we need to send the comp back to them at cost to us and don't even guarentee a return date. And they were even rude to my dad, who still have a little accent. So screw them, I told my dad, and we took the comp apart. When we get to the CD-ROM, it was a laptopish kind, except none of the other types of laptop CD-ROM's would work or even fit in the space. So we got a external CD-ROM and the comp worked for another month, although shakey as hell. This time, the HD showed up bad clusters. I replaced the HD, and the stupid comp wouldn't even boot. I thought it was the bios or maybe the little battery on the mobo might have died, so I took apart the comp. Except this time my finger got cut on one of the edges and blood squirted all over the comp. I gave up then, cut my losses, live another day.

 

[Miramonti]

look at the bright side, atleast they aren't selling them with those obnoxious $400 compuserve rebates anymore.

 

[Devistater]

Originally posted by: dexvx
You're right in general, but you're missing WinXP Home, which is a biggie.

Eh, just take advantage of one of those cheap winXP deals.