eMachines laptops are pretty nice. I have the M5312 (got it free from Best Buy as a replacement under the no lemon policy...too bad they wouldn't give me store credit so I could get this Athlon 64 laptop). They're pretty well made (by Arima), have beautiful screens, and are fairly fast. My first upgrade would actually be the hard drive, not the ram. 512 is adequate, but the 60GB 4200 RPM HDD I have in mine is just too slow. It's definately the bottleneck of the system. I'm thinking of putting in either a 5400 or 7200 RPM drive, and then upgrading the ram to 768 or something like that.
First of all, The PCWORLD article lists an M6807 with DVD+-RW for $100 more.
eMachines M6807
Secondly, Circuit City has $100 rebates on both
M6807
M6805
Now for my questions
1-what memory upgrades this to 1 gig?
2-Anyone have experience with extended warranties? The Best Buy one is legendary with PDAs - many folks get the full purchase price towards a new PDA. Wonder if the laptop program is as generous. The Circuit City on was a PITA - you had to mail it off and wait and wait...
3- The Best Buy Extended warranty is $299 for 3 years. The Circuit City one is $369 for 4years.
The previous post is a bit frightening - 60GB 4200RPM hard drive. Anyone know the specs on the one in these laptops? Thanks
4200RPM is the standard spec for stock hard drives in all but the high end ($2000+) laptops. Laptop makers know consumers are fixated on other specs instead, like the CPU speed. So they get away with putting in low-end 4200RPM drives (2mb cache, and typically not the latest generation) that don't match up well with the rest of the system.
A low-end 4200RPM drive can oftentimes make a 2Ghz+ laptop feel slower in general responsiveness than a 1Ghz desktop with a cheap 7200rpm hard drive. Upgrading to a latest generation 5400rpm/7200rpm hard drive (like the Hitachi 5K80 or 7K60) will speed up file system functions significantly and improve general responsiveness quite nicely.
Thanks for the heads up, guys. Doesn't it void my warranty to open up this laptop and change HD?
Also could I just put XP Pro on this thing? At times in the past the laptop components were SO proprietary that you could get screwed trying that as drivers would not be compatib.e
Also could I just put XP Pro on this thing? At times in the past the laptop components were SO proprietary that you could get screwed trying that as drivers would not be compatib.e
Depends on the company. Toshiba doesn't allow HD change under their laptop warranty. You'll have to check the fine print on the Emachines warranty.
But anyways, HD change is usually easy (very easy on the other eMachines laptops...take out one screw and slide it out), and as long as you keep the hard drive you swap out, you can always stick it back in for warranty purposes. This would actually be better, as you get to retain all your data on your new drive even if you have to send in your laptop for warranty service.
ok so take price of $1549 add $300 for 3 year warranty, add $300 for 7200 RPM, add $100 for 512MB SODIMM, and w'ere at $2249. A VoodooPC M855 at the same spot gives you $1000 more money with XP Pro on it. And I would guess better customer service and definately better upgradeability. And nicer looking. But $1000 is a decent chunk of change. No doubt about it.
The M855 has a 5400 RPM hard drive. A Hatachi 60 GB 5400 RPM is around $160 shipped at PriceWatch (maybe a bit more for a highly-rated vender). If you upgrade the drive yourself you'll also have the left over 40 GB hard drive (toss it in a USB 2.0 enclosure for $15 shipped over at Acortech.com--see fatwallet for the free shipping code).
To make it clearer on the notebook versus desktop drive speed:
Desktop slower: 5400 RPM
Notebook slower: 4200 RPM
Desktop faster: 7200 RPM
Notebook faster: 5400 RPM
I could be wrong though--have any 2.5" 7200 RPM drives came out yet (if so, what are the power usage specs like)?
The BestBuy laptop warrenty is less attractive than the PDA/phone warrenty. You will be required to wait while BestBuy ships the laptop to a third party repair center. (currently in Tx) 1 - 2 weeks turn around time would be the best you could realisticly hope for. If the laptop is sent out and repaired 3 times the fourth time it breaks Best Buy will send it away to service one final time and upon verification of a hardware issue they will give you a new laptop with comparable technology from the store. IF you have all the paperwork to document the repairs and your origional purchase. (this is what Eric1285 is talking about when he said they exchanged it for him)
In my opinion the extended warrenty options from the manufacturers generaly offer faster service for less money.
Thanks for all the GREAT information. Don't forget to toss in the Rewardzone at Best Buy for $5/$125 = $60 extra rebate. They sent me 1 year free.
However, in Virginia, I would have to drive to Roanoke which is about the same as driving to New York under no traffic conditions at 3am and prettier.
Almost all Circuit Cities have BOTH models in stock NOW.
Who's on the ball with this one methinks? Best Buy does not currently list the M6807 that I can find....making it even less likely that I would drive to Roanoke.
However, in Virginia, I would have to drive to Roanoke which is about the same as driving to New York under no traffic conditions at 3am and prettier.
Almost all Circuit Cities have BOTH models in stock NOW.
Who's on the ball with this one methinks? Best Buy does not currently list the M6807 that I can find....making it even less likely that I would drive to Roanoke.
PS I may well have a M6807 in the next few days in hand. I realize I have 14 days if HP announces an A64 w/9600 128MB. Are there any laptop benchmark pages I can easily access to see what this thing does in real life?
I went to take a look at the Emachine at Best Buy today, and I was impressed. Almost took it home, but then I saw the 15% restocking fee for notebooks on their return policy board.
Without any reviews, I don't want risk losing 15% of ~$1500 if I'm not satisfied. I may bite when the local CC has them in stock (no restocking fee AFAIK).
I look forward to hearing from any of you that have bought the item. Maybe you could discuss some of the Pros/Cons.
Thanks.
TJ
Without any reviews, I don't want risk losing 15% of ~$1500 if I'm not satisfied. I may bite when the local CC has them in stock (no restocking fee AFAIK).
I look forward to hearing from any of you that have bought the item. Maybe you could discuss some of the Pros/Cons.
Thanks.
TJ
Now, see, there again, I assumed (making an ASS of myself) that the Best Buy policy was the same as Circuit City. But then again I buy only small things here and there at Best Buy. But you're right, 15 percent fee on notebooks. Screw that. Not worth $60 of rewardzone. I'll continue buying knicknacks at Best Buy and CompUSA (in that order) and buy real stuff at Circuit City or Newegg. Plain as day even on the Web site 15% restocking fee on notebooks.
Kiss 85% of my ass, Best Buy.
Kiss 85% of my ass, Best Buy.
Hi,
I was thinking about buying this laptop and I have a few concerns about the HD. If I wasnt able to afford the upgrades mention for a bit would i get better proformance with a XP2500+ with the faster HD or the 64 3000+ with the lower end HD?
Also does anyone know if BB is gonna offer the model with the DVDR/W like CC?
I was thinking about buying this laptop and I have a few concerns about the HD. If I wasnt able to afford the upgrades mention for a bit would i get better proformance with a XP2500+ with the faster HD or the 64 3000+ with the lower end HD?
Also does anyone know if BB is gonna offer the model with the DVDR/W like CC?
The rotational speed of the hard disk is independent of the motherboard. To use an example from the desktop world, you don't have to check to see if your motherboard supports 7200 or 10000 RPM hard drives. The controller must simply have support for the interface and storage capacity of the hard drive. So, as long as the laptop supported whatever storage size the 7200 RPM notebook drive had, it should work.
*Update: Disregard this post! Emachines has updated their M6807 page, confirming the machine has a discrete 64MB Radeon 9600.
WARNING on the M6807, in case you didn't notice it. From the Emachines M6807 product page:
For some of you that may not be an issue, but for me that's a big glaring minus for the M6807 vs. the M6805 with its Radeon 9600.
EDIT: Well, this may be a typo on the Emachines site. Circuit City's specs show a 9600 on the M6807. Can anyone confirm this?
WARNING on the M6807, in case you didn't notice it. From the Emachines M6807 product page:
For some of you that may not be an issue, but for me that's a big glaring minus for the M6807 vs. the M6805 with its Radeon 9600.
EDIT: Well, this may be a typo on the Emachines site. Circuit City's specs show a 9600 on the M6807. Can anyone confirm this?
Bah! Whoa, good catch on the integrated graphics on the 6807. Do any of you guys think this might be a typo? The CC site shows that the 6807 also has a mobile 9600. Ugh...
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