Originally Posted by d4in

2 years ago I wouldnt touch an eMachine with a 10 ft pole, but I would recommend Dell systems to customers for low end machines like you described. But today, working for a small tech shop, I would say eMachines or Gateway all the way. eMachines and Gateway merged (not sure who bought who) and from a repair standpoint Dells are crap tp work on. They use mostly proprietary parts and are the crappiest tech support known to man. The eMachines/Gateway boxes are all off the shelf parts, so a local shop can order/sell parts for them. Plus, usually they arent pre-loaded with all the "30 day Trial software" and "sign up for our internet service" crap that Dell and HP/Compaq have been sending out lately. Pretty clean out of the box, with no extra processes running in background. Usually only the updater software, which updates all the Gateway/eMachines support software bulletins is running.

I know it seems like I'm "Dell bashing" , but after having to deal with them on a support level for over 5 years, the quality I've seen from them in the last 18 months is terrifying. Like I said, I used to recommend them on a daily basis.

Jusy my 2 cents.