I'm in the market to start looking for computers (not super fancy right now...just not a bitch to work with like this one).

I was talking to a girl I know, she was telling me about her X bought an emachine and with the rebates it ran about $350 or something. Hasn't had any trouble so far out of it and thats good news.

Should I look at them or keep saving for a better one or look at another brand.

I WILL NOT go back with Compuke...

I bought 3 eMachines last month, same basic price, as Christmas presents for my family. Prior to that, my oldest son had one for about the past 4 years and my father is on his second one - upgrade, not due to problems.

I also know several people at work that have them. Overall, they seem to be fine machines. Not cutting edge, but good and solid.

Needless to say, I'd have no problem buying them again.

LAst eMachine I bought was from BestBuy - I walked in and asked for the cheapest "out of box, on the shelf" PC they had - walked out the door with a 433mhz PII for like $235... Lasted a year till lightning hit the house and friend it, but no complaints till that point.

i am using 1 right now i love it.

it a 2600+

Oh yeah - watch www.slickdeals.net for Dell deals, regularly under $400 every other week or so.

I just want something that doesn't have more issues than a mental hospital. Compaq + Win 98 upgrade = fawked up comptuer...

I mean all I really use the computer for is to get online, type papers (hardly ever), save pics from here and other 4wd places, and talk to people. I would like to eventually get a CD burner...but that can wait.

Right now I'm on a 97 compaw presario if that tells you how far behind I am.

Good burners can be had for under $50 now.

The one I bought was a T2542. It's a 2.5GHz, 256MB RAM, CD/RW, fax/modem, ethernet port and the rest of the usual stuff.

Also came with a really clear 17" flat screen (not flat panel) monitor and a Lexmark inkjet printer.

After rebates the price was $359 although I saw that Circuit City has them now for $339. The only thing you need that isn't included is a USB cable for the printer.

Not a bad price at all....

I don't know how good those #'s are for a computer, I do want something faster than what I have (I'm sure a new computer even with the same system stuff, will be faster period).

I do have a webcam, digital camera and video camera stuff for the computer. So it needs to be able to hold some of this (video doesn't need to be on it).

Thanks guys!!

hey man,
Whenever my friends ask me for advice on buying new computers I always say Dell. I deal with about 500-600 of them everyday and they run like a charm. But, when they do fail Dell is very eager and quick to remedy the problem. I havent had much experience with eMachines. A GREAT place to watch for low prices on new systems is Tech Bargains (http://www.techbargains.com/) . Look on the left of the page for TOP SYSTEM DEALS. My .2c

bink

Emachines are cheap. In all aspects.

Seen a lot of them need power supplies.

You get what you pay for. Dell is better, although still not perfect. Discovered last week that one of the models of "Dell-Built" systems we sell refuse to play more than a minute or so of streaming video in RealPlayer. So one of our customers who uses it all the time is getting a custom machine, we're eating the extra labor. Mail order would not cover that type of problem, we do.

Best quality will be to build your own, starting with a good solid mainboard. Check with your local computer store and see what they have to offer.

Originally posted by VT_Toy
Emachines are cheap. In all aspects.

Seen a lot of them need power supplies.

You get what you pay for. Dell is better, although still not perfect. Discovered last week that one of the models of "Dell-Built" systems we sell refuse to play more than a minute or so of streaming video in RealPlayer. So one of our customers who uses it all the time is getting a custom machine, we're eating the extra labor. Mail order would not cover that type of problem, we do.

Best quality will be to build your own, starting with a good solid mainboard. Check with your local computer store and see what they have to offer.

I thought about this but $$$ is the key. If I wanted to build a super fast one blah blah blah...I'd have to wait awhile.

I'm just looking for something thats decent but isnt going to break me.

You can go custom, good quality, but not the fastest whiz bang, for cheap. I'm not a big fan of the latest greatest fastest anyways, I prefer reliability.

Anyone know if Emachines is pretty generic components or a lot of propietery shit?

Extra-cheap generic stuff.

I just picked up a computer from Micro Center nad it's a 2.4ghz 128k sdram, net card, 40gig HD, CDRW, on board sound and video, mouse/keyboard, and XP home for $400.

Nothing crazy but I had a 17" monitor and all the other crap.

Originally posted by ForestCam
Good burners can be had for under $50 now. if for some reason it isnt included... damn things are almost standard now

Originally posted by VT_Toy
Emachines are cheap. In all aspects.

Seen a lot of them need power supplies.

You get what you pay for. Dell is better, although still not perfect. Discovered last week that one of the models of "Dell-Built" systems we sell refuse to play more than a minute or so of streaming video in RealPlayer. So one of our customers who uses it all the time is getting a custom machine, we're eating the extra labor. Mail order would not cover that type of problem, we do.

Best quality will be to build your own, starting with a good solid mainboard. Check with your local computer store and see what they have to offer. bah, motherboards are the hardest thing to buy at a store, since so few seem to be carried

I couldnt find my Gigabyte Ga-8KNXP anywhere, but online you can get almost anything.

but then again, $200 for a mobo is more than most people spend

Originally posted by Getsome
I just picked up a computer from Micro Center nad it's a 2.4ghz 128k sdram, net card, 40gig HD, CDRW, on board sound and video, mouse/keyboard, and XP home for $400.

Nothing crazy but I had a 17" monitor and all the other crap. 128 megs of ram? jesus, xp must be crawling with that...

and you are using onboard audio and video? well, I can see one or two bottlenecks there

Originally posted by LordRatner
bah, motherboards are the hardest thing to buy at a store, since so few seem to be carried

I couldnt find my Gigabyte Ga-8KNXP anywhere, but online you can get almost anything.

but then again, $200 for a mobo is more than most people spend

Most will have to be ordered. We don't stock much because prices fall so quickly and everybody wants something different.

I'm not talking about big-box stores, I'm talking about computer stores with actual service departments.

http://www.slickdeals.net/category/computers/?