i have the choice of spending 600$ to upgrade my current machine, or spending about that for an e-machine and add a better video card.
here is the machine id add a video card to.
and yes.. its a HUGE upgrade from my 5yr old p3-866. Trent fucked around with this message on 08-24-2006 at 07:47 PM.
eMachines is owned by the company that was formerly Packard Bell. Packard Bell made some of the most shit computers of all time. This 'disease' has continued with the eMachines.
Usually you can get a good deal, but either the hardware is inferior (prone to breaking) or you're sold a line of crap that's un-upgradeable and not really geared to last more than a year.
Anybody who says "Soandso is more reliable and faster" is stuck on brand name loyalty and nothing else - they're all the same.
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Over the mountain, in between the ups and downs, I ran into Random Insanity Generator who doth quote:
eMachines is owned by the company that was formerly Packard Bell.
emachines is owned by gateway, chief.
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Maradon! had this to say about Punky Brewster:
Nowadays nearly every prefab computer manufacturer gets parts from the same hardware vendors.Anybody who says "Soandso is more reliable and faster" is stuck on brand name loyalty and nothing else - they're all the same.
Right.... I've seen eMachines walk in with a broken motherboard. Someone went to install a perhipheral card and broke the motherboard in the process. This same individual I personally know and have seen work on computers before. Not a total idiot, but enough of a 'noob' to be confused to why his machine quit even posting after installing a new NIC.
Not all OEM parts come from the same places. And not all PC Vendors use first rate parts. Some use factory seconds to shave a few bucks here and there. On an occasional part it's no big deal. When it's every part in the case it's a major problem.
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Maradon! enlisted the help of an infinite number of monkeys to write:
emachines is owned by gateway, chief.
Currently, yes. Original foundation was Packard Bell.
Everybody knows that <insert manufacturer here> uses second run factory reject parts to shave a few bucks.
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Peanut butter ass Shaq Random Insanity Generator booooze lime pole over bench lick:
Would you care to back up or validate your information in any way? I have personal experience with said hardware that I can point to. First Hand Information. I have yet to see you supply any information, First Hand, Second Hand or otherwise to back up your claims.
1) Appeal to experience.
2) You've provided absolutely no evidence whatsoever beyond your word, and as usual you expect us to believe you are infallable because you're an "industry insider".
3) I've worked two years in IT, eighteen months doing all the warranty returns for an entire company, and about a year total in retail computer service where inspecting warranty returns is also a job responsibility. Unless you run a garbage dump, I'm fairly confident in saying I've seen more manufacturer defects in electronics than you will see over the next ten years.
And if you're thinking about typing up a lengthy reply illustrating how your experience is superior to mine, don't bother, because points 1 and 2 make it a moot fucking point anyway.
Ask Zephyer, too.
They have a tendancy to skimp on as much as they can. I've got an old old eMachines I inherited when asked to fix. The PSU was dead, and I couldn't get one that would fit in the case, so the owner didn't want it back. I put a new one on it(hanging outside the case) and it still worked. But it didn't have an AGP slot, so no chance to make it even a half decent computer, for light old school gaming.
edit: Ahah, it does state that it has PCI Express slots.
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Total Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 PCI-E, 2 DIMMAvailable Expansion Slots 2 PCI, 1 PCI-E, 1 DIMM
So hopefully it's an x16, that's actually useful.
No one is a big fan of them because they tend to put out lowest rung products though. At least they have in the past, so most people have stopped bothering with them unless they're really strapped for cash. BetaTested fucked around with this message on 08-25-2006 at 12:51 AM.
Sometimes the difference between premium and cheap is just quality control, but that's pretty important I'd say Kegwen fucked around with this message on 08-25-2006 at 01:24 AM.
and.. i am in fact very strapped for cash.
I still recommend Dell to most people. Since they are almost completely build to order and use a wide variety of hardware in their systems, their boxes tend to do better with upgrades down the road. At least it's not any worse than the alternative. 
-H
but it seems at this point, to upgrade my current machine, would be about 900/1000 for the estimates, lowest was 675 i think and that is using off brands etc, i saw the machines on best buys site for about the same price if i added a new video card.
i really do want to play WoW and a few other games.. and this machine does that actually, just, not so pretty and a lot of lag.
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Tron:
2) You've provided absolutely no evidence whatsoever beyond your word, and as usual you expect us to believe you are infallable because you're an "industry insider".3) I've worked two years in IT, eighteen months doing all the warranty returns for an entire company, and about a year total in retail computer service where inspecting warranty returns is also a job responsibility. Unless you run a garbage dump, I'm fairly confident in saying I've seen more manufacturer defects in electronics than you will see over the next ten years.
And if you're thinking about typing up a lengthy reply illustrating how your experience is superior to mine, don't bother, because points 1 and 2 make it a moot fucking point anyway.
(2) No, I never said anything about being an 'industry insider'. However I did provide personal, direct experience with the subject at hand while you've provided nothing but opinion and snide remarks. I asked you to provide something a bit more substatial in this respect and got back more snide comments.
(3) So you have about 5 years (rounded) of experience with computers beyond just being a user? I started working on PC hardware in roughly '92, started working with my dad building servers in '93 while studying for a certification, certified as a network engineer in early '94, worked "part time" (translation: When the owner was over-run with broken systems he bribed a couple of us with pizza and $20 to help fix computers) for a PC Shop until mid '95, worked with my dad during the same duration on server integration as well as workstation (both Apple and Intel) upgrading/integration.
I'll skip the rest at this point as you're right, it's a moot point. You're not going to back up anything you've said with specifics and you're going to do nothing but claim I'm just a "brand name fanboy". Pointless circular argument.
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And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Noxhil2 was all like:
I think it boils down to the fact that it's probably better to spend more money to get higher quality parts, but since you don't want to spend very much money, buying the e-machine then adding the video card is a completely reasonable course of action. I mean, people can sit on their high horse about brand quality, but notice they don't have any better alternatives so...
The whole thing here is that you get what you pay for to some extent. I think we would all agree that Alienware, for example, is not worth the massive premium to most consumers. This eMachines system is exactly what Trent needs and I hope it works out for him, but personally I don't see anything wrong with pointing out that value systems are at that price for a reason.
Hell, maybe eMachines are just that cheap because they come with less software than Dells do. Perhaps all their support is done through the retailer instead of through a national support line. I don't know where the costs were cut, but they were cut somewhere. Kegwen fucked around with this message on 08-26-2006 at 01:38 PM.
Processor Brand AMD Athlon(TM) 64
Processor Speed 2.4GHz
System Bus 2000MHz
Cache Memory 512KB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM) 1GB
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To 4GB
Type of Memory (RAM) PC3200 DDR SDRAM
Hard Drive Type Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
Hard Drive Size 250GB
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE (i upgraded this to...Nvidia GeForce 7300 256)
Modem 56 Kbps*
*Capable of receiving 56 Kbps downloads. However, current regulations limit download speed to 53 Kbps.
Network Card Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Recordable DVD Drive Yes, double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Recordable DVD Drive Speeds 2.4x DVD+R DL; 16x4x16 DVD+RW; 8x4x16 DVD-RW; 40x24x40 CD-RW
LightScribe Compatibility Yes
Digital Media Reader or Slots Yes, digital media card reader
Total Expansion Bays External: 1 (3.5"), 2 (5.25"); Internal: 1 (3.5")
Available Expansion Bays External: 1 (3.5"), 1 (5.25")
Total Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 PCI-E, 4 DIMM
Available Expansion Slots 2 PCI, 1 PCI-E, 2 DIMM
USB 2.0 Ports 7 (3 front, 4 rear)
it replaced a p3-866 ancient motherboard i dont even know, 512 RAM total of 100gb hd divided up in two, video card is about the same spec wise i believe.
so.. i'm happy with it.
thank you all for the advice and comments.
oh, its not an e-machine, just a pre-built compac.
A few manufacturers bundle in software that makes the machine more difficult to use, under the guise of making the machine easier to use. Several manufacturers have stopped providing installation discs for the installed OS & software, so that users are stuck with the factory configuration (and heaven help them if they get a virus). Instead, they either provide a "restore to factory defaults" disc (which will not necessarily restore anything besides the registry), or simply provide no discs at all, and load the installers and/or system restore utilities onto a harddrive partition.
Not all manufacturers are the same, but they are following similar trends. Be careful what you buy.
quote:Just so long as it isn't one of the crap compaq models my employer bought shortly before I started working here. They have a laptop motherboard and a 70 watt power supply inside a shell designed to stand up like a desktop PC. They have a VGA port, power plug, network port, and 5 USB ports. The hard drive is held in a bracket inside one of the wings, and it has a laptop bay in the other wing for a CD or floppy drive. That's it. No PS2 plugs, no expansion slots, not even a processor fan or case fan.
Roll the dice to see if Trent is getting drunk!
oh, its not an e-machine, just a pre-built compac.
and i have it now, and the new card is in it.
its a nice little machine for the price.
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How.... Mortious.... uughhhhhh:
I've dealt with these horrors too, unfortunately. They really are that horrible.Ask Zephyer, too.
eMachines blow. 
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This insanity brought to you by Random Insanity Generator:
(2) No, I never said anything about being an 'industry insider'. However I did provide personal, direct experience with the subject at hand while you've provided nothing but opinion and snide remarks. I asked you to provide something a bit more substatial in this respect and got back more snide comments.(3) So you have about 5 years (rounded) of experience with computers beyond just being a user? I started working on PC hardware in roughly '92, started working with my dad building servers in '93 while studying for a certification, certified as a network engineer in early '94, worked "part time" (translation: When the owner was over-run with broken systems he bribed a couple of us with pizza and $20 to help fix computers) for a PC Shop until mid '95, worked with my dad during the same duration on server integration as well as workstation (both Apple and Intel) upgrading/integration.
I'll skip the rest at this point as you're right, it's a moot point. You're not going to back up anything you've said with specifics and you're going to do nothing but claim I'm just a "brand name fanboy". Pointless circular argument.
So, Mid '95 was the last time you had relevant experience in this discussion?
I'm sorry, but even you should know better, Maradon's experience, while less in total years, is signifigantly more accurate because its what he does now.
I've taken emachines apart to find Nforce motherboards, and shitty noname generic ones, some have AMD X2's in them, some have Celerons. Your stance would be the same as saying that every Ford produced is a piece of shit because Ford makes the Focus.
(Disclaimer: every car Ford makes probably is a piece of shit, it was used merely as a hypothetical example)
HA HA PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I WIN THE ARGUMENT
i also had a focus and it was pretty cool so that means cbtao is stupid and wrong m i rite Sakkra fucked around with this message on 08-28-2006 at 06:46 PM.
So for 432.93$ (due to taxes cause new egg's distributor site is located in-state) I got the following:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Orleans 2.2GHz 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
MSI K9NGM2-FID Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
So this is currently day 2 of running it. Mind you my video card from my last machine is rendered useless as it was agp and the board doesnt support that. Anyways I think it had issues too along with the broken motherboard and/or processor. So I am running with on-board graphics. With SL it works about the same as it did with my last machine so which means it probably runs other games at about the same. This means I can wait until I get my second installment of payment from customer.. to get a new vid card. The on-board sound is pretty nice and definately better than the sound card I had in last machine. That one had some quirks for output.
All in all.. building the machine from seperate parts turned out to be really good. Plus the motherboard has AM2 socket so it will be ideal for upgrades when the next gen AMDs come out.. which I think they are abandoning old socket types from here on out anyways and moving onto DDR2 memory so again, the board is gonna save me alot of hassle in the long run. =D Mind you I didnt 'put it together' myself. A close friend of mine, in an effort for me not to go completely mental after the computer broke, helped me put this lil gem together. Im really quite happy with how things worked out. =) My next test for this sucker is going to be playing a game while working in photoshop at the same time. Usually photoshop itself started having major probs with last computer, and whenever I combined that with multitasking, it would cause even greater issues.
*hugs Trent*
