Emachines and the like: are they really so bad...

[bigred]

I know, I know, sneer, snort, cheapy machines, get what you pay for etc...but are these really that bad and why? Is it inferior power supplies? Cuz they don't have 24K g-whiz gold contacts? Something else? What? The guts of em that I can see (Intel or AMD chips just like "good" PCs) are not so inferior. So I'm wondering. In fact, despite my own rolling of the eyes as I do so, I'm considering buying. Other than general PC snobbery, does anyone have an objective reason why it's a bad idea? PS re. anecdotal info, I have known several people who have had them and had no problems, tho I realize obviously that such "evidecne" is hardly a justification either way....eg has there been some study done that shows they break down a lot more?

[Smike]

According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emachines) they used to suck, but don't any more.

[jmercer]

Word is in the industry... that for home users, E-Machines have better hardware and support than Dell does these days.

There's always someone bubbling up to the top in this stuff.

[jimlintott]

I recommend them regularly. For most people it's all they need. Unless gaming (or other raw processing power needs) comes up on their list of uses for it. Then it has to looked at more closely.

For the vast majority of computer users they work great.

[Orangutan]

Yup, I got one for my wife, she just needs web email and office. E machine is great if you want a 'Utility' PC. If you want a high end, (And I mean High end) PC, check out falcon.
http://www.falcon-nw.com/

:)

[sesmo_k]

I just gave away an E-machine PC that I bought in 1999. I never had a problem with it, and so far the person I gave it to hasn't either. Having said that though, it was used primarily by me for word processing so it didn't get the hammering that my laptop does now. I agree with the previous posters that for home use they seem fine unless you want something for gaming.

[bigred]

? Sorry but this doesn't make sense to me, ie "they're good for low-end users" etc etc. How good (fast) they are depends on the CPU, the RAM, FSB speeds, whatever. 1GB RAM is 1GB RAM (er assuming the same brand at least) whether it's in an emachine or Dell or whatever. Was really more interested in from a reliability perspective, which sounds respectable nowdays...anyway appreciate the replies...

[jmercer]

Good for low-end users means (to me) people who are going to use IE and Office, Quicken/MS Money, email, watch some DVD's, etc.

When you start talking about doing gaming - or unless the individual is doing very large and complex spreadsheets, or cad/cam design, etc - you're no longer talking "low-end" users. These kinds of things require fast cpu's, fsb's, disks, memory, etc.

[NoZed Avenger]

Good for low-end users means (to me) people who are going to use IE and Office, Quicken/MS Money, email, watch some DVD's, etc.

When you start talking about doing gaming - or unless the individual is doing very large and complex spreadsheets, or cad/cam design, etc - you're no longer talking "low-end" users. These kinds of things require fast cpu's, fsb's, disks, memory, etc.

And many of the em-achines (or similar, lower end machines), at least in the past when I was in the market, had built-in (limited) graphics cards and few expansion slots. Especially when the AGP cards ruled, it was difficult to actually get an e-machine to handle high end gaming, and the built-in cards sometimes made the boards buggy when you tried to expand.

Secondarily, the boards and memory were slower, as well.

[Mongrel]

Add in the fact that many PC manufacturers will broker deals with component manufacturers as well. You'll often see reasonable brands advertised inside the box that look nothing like their off the shelf components; a few resistors here. a fan header there, a few less sockets on the back and a butchered BIOS that makes it tricky to update if you ever need to. When they don't put named brands in there you can bet it's probably the cheapest, most generic item they can get their hands on.

[Soapy Sam]

Horses for courses. You want a Ferrari, buy a Ferrari. For going to the shops, a hatchback is probably a better bet.

I know several folk with e-machines from PC World in the UK. None of them is a high end gamer, none does video editing, none has complained in my hearing.

One word of caution is that PC World tend to be pushy with extended warranties which can push the real cost up to the range of a better spec PC with a manufacturer's warranty. Your experience across the pond may vary.


If what you need is a decent home machine that does not have cutting edge graphics , you could probably do a lot worse. If you intend to add components though- do check for expansion space and if you want maximum RAM, specify it when you buy.

[bigred]

:rolleyes: never mind

[Oroborus]

I've had my e-machine going on bout four or so years (I think). Other than upping ram and getting a new vid card I haven't done anything to it and it works fine for all my activities (gaming, ect). They're affordable decent machines imo.

[SphereGuy]

I actually equipped 3 labs at a small school with 30 e-machines each (including the teacher's machines about 95 all together) a few years ago. The only calls I got on them were abuse issues from students doing things to them. When the three-year cycle was up they sold or gave them all to students. I had left thier employ by then so I'm not sure what they used after that but I think they were okay for just running Office suites (both Corel and Microsoft) and surfing and stuff.

[azazal]

Just to chime in, I'm on my 3rd Emachine desktop, never had a problem with any of them. The first 2 are still used for storage, email and print service. My new system is my gaming PC, added in a new video card and it's handled everything fine.

[infornography]

emachines HAD a bad reputation because they were unstable cheaply made piles of poop. I've ignored them for the past 5 or 6 years as a result.

I know anecdotally that way back when I had a friend who worked at best buy and he would avoid selling them because at least half of the ones he sold came back within a week due to stability issues.

If they really have become a stable solution that is good news indeed.

[webfusion]

:rolleyes: never mind

Ahem -- you asked a specific question:
"eg has there been some study done that shows they break down a lot more?"

Smike provided a reply within 20 minutes of your OP, directed to that very issue
(the wiki article)
Over the past few years, eMachines desktops and laptops are generally considered to have come a long way in value and reliability, offering several high-end models and plenty of value for the money in today's market.

and then some other posters made reference to PC World surveys/studies (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2006502,00.asp?rsDis=Desktop_Survey-Page001-186619) which indicated a generally good customer satisfaction index.

So why are you rolling your smiley eyes and telling us to "never mind" ?
You have gotten quite a few people offering decent advice.

There is no 'objective reason' which exists that would cause you to decide not to go ahead and buy one. Which is what you are asking to begin with, so what's your problem now, bigred?


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ETA -- nevermind....
http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=2059715&postcount=83

[Apathia]

I've had an Emachines T2798 for over two years. It's run very well.
I only needed to get a vid card for some games, and a different monitor.

[Zbu]

I'm still biased against them from my old ISP days. Whenever someone mentioned they had an eMachines computer and that it couldn't connect to the internet, the management told us to end the call as soon as possible and run like hell. Even the number we gave out for them to pursue the matter with their tech support was buggy as hell.