Dell vs. e-Machines vs. $150
 

Ok, here's the situation: I'm planning to get a Dimension 4700 from this Dell outlet in S.F. (for pretty cheap), but I've been hearing a lotta recommendations to get an e-Machines desktop instead... Now that e-Machines looks good to me, except the difference in price between the two is $160... I know a lotta people don't think highly of Dell PCs, but I haven't really had any bad experiences with them. So basically my dilemma is if it's fine to just stick with the Dimension 4700. I mean hopefully it's not going to blow up on me or whatever... Or is the e-Machines enough to justify paying an additional $160 for it (which if not, would be going to the vid card for the Dell)?

I'm looking to have upgrades in the audio/video/memory sections, mainly a Sound Blaster Live/Audigy card, GeForce 6600GT 128 MB, and 1GB of RAM. I just want to be able to play HL2, GTA:SA, UT2k4, and probly some other games in the future (graphics quality for future games isn't really that important to me)... It's also possible that I may upgrade the video card wayyyyy down the line, but I'm thinking by then I'll be finally be working on building my own desktop. Other than those initial upgrades, that's pretty much gonna be it. So will the Dimension 4700 fulfill my needs, or will I be spending another $160?

Alright....... E-machines...are like AOL.. they are for (mostly) beginners.. and people who just want to surf the web, and type a paper every now and then.. basically e-machines are great for people who just need a computer..

If your looking to play HL2 GTA SA UT24K then absolutly get a dell. Your going to get better video and better processing. In the long run Dells will be eaiser to upgade...

If you do decide to get an e-machine check to see if the RAM on the Motherboard is shared with the video card or seprate. that is a very important thing if you will be playing graphic intensive games.....

yea, sounds like you have your impressions backwards, Dell makes solid machines, eMachines are garbage, cheaply made, poorly supported, and impossible to upgrade. Without a doubt, get the Dell.

- Dave

Ahh ok, yeah I wasn't really doubting Dell, but I never really knew anything about e-Machines and I know that they're part of Gateway now, so I guess it was pretty easy to influence me. Awesome, I just wanted to get some reassurance about Dells, thanks a bunch.

If you look inside of any Dell, Gateway, HP, Sony, eMachines, what do you see? Parts made in China, Malaysia, Mexico and many are also assembled all over the world. If support is a big issue, go with the big boys. HP/Compaq are about as impossible to upgrade as you can get, everything is proprietary.

On my brother in law's eMachine, I added a second DVD (burner), AGP 8X video card, 2nd hard drive (160GB), a wireless network card (D-Link), that was about 8 months ago. Not a problem I've heard so far..

What is your point? Alot of computer components are made in Malaysia, China, and/or Taiwan.

The more I look the only thing I can find on my system that ISN'T made outside of the USA is my vid card. BFG is an American manufacturer, but even then I am sure all of the pieces for it came from overseas.

Giga-byte Mobo - Taiwan
Audigy2 - Malaysia or China
Samsung 930b monitor - Mexico
MS Keyboard - China
Logitech mx1000 - China
Lian-Li case - China
etc etc...

Emachines are complete shit. My wife has one and I just want to throw it into the trash and build her a new one. But she loves it sooooo much..... :rolleyes:

They're impossible to find parts for, support for it is non-existent, (good thing I'm a techie and can fix anything that broke on it or we'd be hosed) and you can't upgrade it either. The case design and the MOBO for the majority of them just doesn't allow it.

Now, about Dell....

I absolutely hate them with a passion as well. I can't stand their "tech support" dept. I just can't stand talking to them and trying to understand "Ted's" english. Their products are more flexible with it comes to upgrading them, but when you first buy a dell, watch out! You pretty much have to do a clean install of windows to get rid of all the "get free MP3's" "dell support" "dell service center" icons that automatically pop up on the desktop.

So my recommendation, build your own system man. Build your own.

I just bought this eMachines refurb desktop, which I should be expecting on the 21st: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=1279472

I dunno; it looks pretty good to me. It has everything I want except a video card, which I already have on this POS computer I am currently using (I'm just gonna take it outta this one and put it in my new one).

What's so wrong with it? Will I be disappointed when it arrives?

e-Machines are powerhouses... when it comes to cutting corners. They use low quality components that don't deliver the true speed they advertise, and they break down quickly. Same is true of Gateway, actually, so it's only natural that they'd be the same thing now.

Note: This is from personal experience with lots of different people's commercially bought computers. Compaq, HP, Gateway, and e-Machines all suck hardcore. If you must have a PC, and you can't build it yourself/want the support, get a Dell. There are others that are good, too, but not for that price.

Its not necessarily a BAD computer, especially if you are just planning to surf the net on it. However, if you are going to be gaming then you will always wonder why your rig doesn't keep up with similar rigs.

In the specs on Tiger Direct:
Audio Description Integrated Audio
Graphics Description Integrated Graphics
Power 300 Watt
Mouse Type Ball-Bearing

Integrated Audio: While it may not be a bad thing on SOME of the newer mobo's, you are going to get shitty sound from an EMachine. Thats the cost of cutting corners....

Integrated Graphics: SHIT!! I know you said you have your own vid card but EMachines is notorious for having problems letting go of the integrated vid. Good luck.

Power Supply: meh.. 300W is nothing. Plan on upgrading that immediately if you are putting any kind of serious vid card in there (if the vid card works like stated above. :lol: )

Mouse: A ball mouse will get the job done but there is nothing like an optical or laser mouse.

So say I buy that rig from TD. I would need (assuming I didn't already have these things) a new vid card, a new sound card, a power supply, and a mouse.

So as I figure:
EMachine: $429.97
Vid Card: 6600GT $169.00
Sound Card: SB Audigy2 ZS $99.00
Power Supply: Thermaltake 420W $39.99
Mouse: mx518 $39.99

And hell i'm feeling saucy. Throw in some decent ram too, we will assume ddr333: OCZ Premier Value 1GB $81.95

So in the end, to get it running as a somewhat respectable gaming rig you would spend: $859.90 and thats not including a monitor.

Yup, I decided I'll just build my own desktop now. It's going to be a little more expensive, but I realized this is probly the best time for me to do it, given that I'll be moving into my apartment next month and I'll have spare time to work on it before the semester starts. I'm going for a Small Form Factor Desktop, so I'll be using a MicroATX motherboard, but I could use some suggestions for a CPU. I'm used to Intel and P4, but I don't know anything about AMD. This is the CPU I'll most likely be getting, but I've heard a lot of good stuff about AMD Athlon 64 as well. Should I get that instead?

My point was: no matter what brand the PC is, they are all "cheaply made". Regardless whether it's a Dell, Gateway, HP or whatever.

Building one isn't all that hard. If you can find components on sale locally then you can definitely save a bundle. I built my first PC in 1988, it sat on an anti-static wrapper for a good month before I got a case for it.

With most components available externally (USB2 / Firewire) today, you should be able to do your upgrades quite easily. I don't game much so even onboard sound or video work just fine for me. If you do game, you will be spend quite a lot more for sure. Anyway, have fun building it and good luck.

Exactly. All pre-built computers use cheap parts. Doesn't mean they are terrible. I've had a Compaq that I've put through hell with upgrades, never had an issue. I don't see where people are complaining about using propriatery parts. PCI is PCI. AGP is AGP. I could see memory potentially being an issue, but who upgrades prebuilt computer memory anyways? When the computer becomes obsolete, they go out and buy another cheap computer for the same cost as upgrading.

I agree with this. My rule has always been to buy name-brand laptops, and any old brand of desktop, as long as it's easy to upgrade. Compaq with their old daughterboard arrangements were something else. Same with a lot of name brands like Dell and HP--if you want to upgrade the DVD, they've made sure you can't buy one that fits well from anyone except them.

I have two emachines at work that do okay, especially since I dumped more memory into them.

I'd have to agree that the graphics would not be suitable for a gamer, though.

Like I said, they're for crunching numbers at work.

My mom has a Dell 4700 and I guess it works alright, but it just seems slow and what she got for her money didn't seem worth it to me.

Personally, I got an MSI 651 barebone back in August of last year and it is a superb machine. I love it.

pentium 4 2.8 512 533fsb
lite on dvd+/-R/RW 8x
maxtor 120gb u133/7200
kingston 512mg pc2700 c2.5 non ecc ddr
SiS M650 (which I have heard is supposed to suck for video but it seems to work just fine for me)

2 MSI speakers
wireless k/b and optical mouse
windows XP
a viewsonic pf775b
lexmark 5150

all together ran me 1052.22 (when I priced the pieces around to see how much it would have cost if I had done it .... it ran around 950 so I spent 200 more and have a killer system for me (I'm sure many can find fault with what I have)

The only problem is the casing is very tight so if I chose to upgrade it would have to be professionally done (which I would do anyway). I have had 1 crash but that was due to 200+ viruses and the likes. Got it reformatted bought Norton Systemworks, run MSN beta spyware/ search and destroy/ and no problems whatsoever since.

My point is, if you can't build find the system you like and just invest it'll be well worth it.

Almost certainly.

Every pice of that system is shady:
Notice they don't tell you how fast the ram is?
How fast the hard drive is... what it's cache is?
What the motherboard is and is capable of?
It's a sempron AMD, not an athlon.
300W PSU with unknown voltage.
DVD burner of unknown speed.

What video card are you planning on putting into it? I guarantee if it's halfway decent you'll ABSOLUTELY NEED a new power supply like toast said. Either that or it'll get fried.

Even if your video card gets thrown in there, your "mystery ram" will definatly be a bottleneck. So you'll have to upgrade that... only, the motherboard is also a "mystery motherboard". So you'll have to probably upgrade that.. But, it's probably cheaper to get a mobo/cpu combo overall than to buy the emachine outright and replace half the parts.

You can easilly get MUCH more power for that price

Decent mobo/Athlon 3000 64 combo ~ $250
1Gig DDR 400 ram ~80-120 if you hunted for a deal (deals happen frequently)
$45 NEC Silver IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A SV - OEM from newegg.
$100 Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA II Hard Drive - OEM from newegg
$40 PSU that toast listed
$50 Case

Total: $585. ~$150 more for a system that will perform at least 3x as well.

Granted, none of these parts are comparable at all to the emachines... but if we were to price out comperable parts:

Sempron 3000 + ECS-KT600-A for $150 from newegg
512 Generic (WINTEC) PC 3200 DDR 400 for $40 from newegg
120GB 7200 rpm SATA Maxtor 8mb Cache for $85 from newegg (this is probably too high than the emachine version. I can't find anything comperable.)
$45 NEC Silver IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A SV - OEM from newegg. (again, this is probalby too high. nobody sells the cheaper ones stand alone)
Case + 300W Mystery power supply $40

Add up shipping and misc peripherals and junk, and it'd probably take things to $400-430. It adds up to what the emachine is, but it has better parts overall than the emachine. And none of the parts are proprietary so they're easier to upgrade.

emachines are for interent browsing and microsoft word.

Flyboy:
AMD 64's beat the crap out of an intel of the same speed, and for less money. Almost certainly go AMD.

Alright here's my soon-to-be-built-once-I-order-everything-from-Newegg computer:

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103535

Motherboard:
MSI RS480M2-IL Socket 939 ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813130485

Video Card:
Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814122201

Case & PSU:
ASPIRE X-QPACK-AL/420 Black/Silver Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 420W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811144109

Memory:
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145440

I already have a Western Digital 80GB HD (8MB Cache, 7200 RPM) and an NEC DVD burner (ND-3250A) that I'll be installing as well. Total price comes out to around $750.

I want to build a relatively small desktop, which is why I'm getting a lot of microATX stuff. Won't be doing any overclocking at all. Maybe I'll look into a Sound Blaster audio card later, but for now I'll stick with the onboard sound (it has coaxial out too, a big plus for that).

Not a bad setup. I'm looking to upgrade to a Athlon 64 myself. Still doing some more shopping though.

Happy building!

Lucky....I wish I could get a decent notebook with that configuration for that price...