The Mighty Emachine-opinions, what to do

Hi,
I have a friend whose parents are just getting into the internet. I gave them an old dinosaur Packard Bell (66MHZ, believe 32MB) and surprisingly this machine is still alive. From what I get they basically just use it for internet access; nothing heavy- stuff like email, online shopping.
They are looking for a faster machine but as most don't want to spend money. They continually see Emachines being advertised for $299.
I don't know anyone with an Emachine to get opinions about it but for #1 I believe in the old "you get what you pay for" and #2 I have seen negative responses about Emachines being posted here. Although on a side I don't know how much merit to give this since I also see Dells and Gateways being occasionally trashed here; which from personal experience I disagree with. Let's not get into the old My built machine is better and cheaper argument here, that's an entirely different post.
Here is the main question: If someone wanted to spend minimal money what would you advise. I always use the old "you get what you pay for" and don't buy a Yugo and expect to get a Ferrari speech but would you recommend an Emachine for relatively new user (they have had the Packard Bell for around 4 months)?

If yes or no what reasoning would you give? I just heard that they talked to someone who has had an emachine for 2 years that he has had no problems with (most likely because he is not a power user but I can't imagine these people with the Packard to be either).


Thank you for any insight.

Happy Holidays,
D

as long as you don't have to have any part in servicing it when the power supply blows or any other hardware, I see no problem with it.

I personally would not buy one, but as you said, that is an entirely different thread.

If all they need is internet access, then go ahead and get them a cheapie, but if they decide they want to do more with it, then the e-machine won't cut it.

E-Machines blow... up. Literally. When I worked at Computer Renaissance one came in an average of once a month, and it was always the same story. The power supply went and took the motherboard and 1-4 other pieces of hardware with it, and we could not order a new power supply or mobo that would fit into the proprietary emachine case, and the store they bought it from would not make good on the warranty. We generally ended up charging them between $300 and $600 to take their surviving hardware and put it into a new machine, and more often than not had to format their hard drive as part of the deal because their Windows installation was FUBARed as well (assuming the drive made it in the first place).

So in summary... I LOVE eMachines. I recommend them all the time--to people I hate, but who I like charging money to.

As for a cheap machine, they really arent that bad, as long as you keep cheap in mind. We see a lot come in for bad power supplies. If all they are going to use it for is internet and email, I say go for it. You definalty cant build one cheaper.

Agreed with CLAM on the PSU issue!!! These chumpy power supplies in these emachines are CHEAP!!!!
We carry in my store 3 PSUs for sale:
1)enlight 300w atx
2)enlight 400w atx
and...
3)sparkle power emachine power supply unit

Furthermore, when doing a PSU swap on an emachine in for service, 90% of the time the CPU fan is dead/dying as well.
$299.00 emachine + $70.00 PSU + $10.00 CPU Fan+$65.00 Labor = could have bought a real computer.

ALSO, look for drivers on their site, HAHAHAHAHAH! Just kidding!! There are none!! Without the restore CD you will have to scour the darkest corners of non-english websites to find drivers.

My Mom got a EMachine 366 two years back. It was cheap. The processor fan went out, I replaced it from a parts store. When a power outage hits, the computer wont turn on again when the power comes back on, unless it is physically unplugged from the surge supressor and plugged back in. Don't know why this happens, maybe a safty feature?? :confused: :confused: :confused:
Other than that, it has been a good machine. It took a memory upgrade and Windows XP Home install just fine and works great.

I guess from all these it'd be OK, just make sure you replace the PSU before using one, as almost all the issues I've heard have been PSU related. i see PSUs on Pricewatch all the time that say "eMachine compatible".

I would not advise them to buy the e-machine. If it were me, assuming that I would be taking care of service, I would advise them to let me build them a custom machine. I would buy a good quality micro atx board with everything integrated. Add a cheap case and a cheap chip (use old CD rom and floppy) and you could keep it near $300.

I'm not debating branded vs. white box here, really. It is truly the advice I would give the customer. It would be better for me because I could make a few bucks on the machine and they would get a good machine with a standard power supply.

I wouldn't sell an emachine to anybody if I could help it.......what I would do is work them up a price on a low end pc with a celeron chip, small HD etc.

They'll spend a little more up front,(not much if you do some bargain shopping) , but let me tell you, they'll save it in the long run....those PSU's in those EMachines are pretty salty.


On a side note, we have found it cheaper and more effective when people come in with EMachines with the typical dead power supply, to switch them to a standard ATX case and PSU rather than replace the crappy EMachine one.

[quote]Originally posted by Jungleman:
<strong>I guess from all these it'd be OK, just make sure you replace the PSU before using one, as almost all the issues I've heard have been PSU related. i see PSUs on Pricewatch all the time that say "eMachine compatible".</strong><hr></blockquote>

This does not accurately solve your problem. eMachines typically have a lot of other undesirable features, including proprietary case and motherboard, few expansion slots for cards and RAM, integrated and poor quality video and audio that often cannot be disabled, cheapass winmodems, and recovery software CDs. Additionally the support on them is nonexistent. Getting rid of their prime and most infamous problem will not cure all of their other problems. Do not recommend the eMachine to anybody you like.

Thank you all for your advice. As always I found it very insightful.


Thanks,
D

Heheh, go Clam, go Clam, Go!

Agreed again with above post. :rolleyes: