E Machines

[NV30]

Any opinions? They have good systems for a cheap price, but how is customer support and performance? I would be buying from Future Shop most likely btw.

 

[Vehementi]

By all means, build your own computer! It will give you valuable experience and knowledge. Seriously. Even if you're buying this for another person, build it anyway. It can really be a rewarding experience.

Anyway, to the point...I imagine it's good, but not the best. E Machines has never really had a good reputation when dealing with customer service, part quality (the small things - like HSFs, cables, fans, PSUs, cases, etc.), in fact I've never heard anyone say anything good about E-Machines. But I would very much reccomend building it yourself. If I can do it, so can you.

When I built the 2nd machine in my house - I bought everything in mass from newegg - and they gave me no problems, had great prices, customer service, etc. etc. And it was very fun building the actual computer, from scratch. The great thing is that when you set up every peripheral for the first time, and set it up in it's permanent location, you press the button and everything works flawlessly. Very good feeling :grinthumb

 

[conradguerrero]

It all depends on your location. ie, local dealers can have some good prices, auctions, etc.

Personaly I would have to order all of my parts at one time from one supplier due to the fact that all of those online companies just love shipping with fedex/ups which charges around $30.00 more than usps. Apparently, fedex ground doesnt go across water.

 

[NV30]

Installing my video card was a good experience, building my own PC wouldn't be bad. The only thing is is that I'm in Canada which means there aren't too many good stores, and if I order from the US I get dinged badly on exchange rate, shipping and customs. But I will definitely hunt around.

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[iss]

A friend of mine lives in montreal he orders his PC stuff from a place called frosty's located there in canada. he sent me the link and the prices they had were pretty reasonable. I didn't keep the link but you should be able to find them thru google.

I had an emachine a couple of years ago. they have little or no upgrade potential and they tend to use no name generic parts including motherboards and you can forget bios upgrades for them they are non existent. I have built several computers, with todays jumperless motherboardsand PNP bios there isnt anything complicated about it. and you have the advantage of complete upgradibility and having exactly what you want. I will NEVER buy another pre-built computer

I found the link bu6t I donthave a US to Canadiancurrency converter so I am not sure about the prices.

http://www.frostys.qc.ca/

 

[videobruce]

Do you have local computer shows or Hamfests?

 

[NV30]

No I don't.

 

[videobruce]

Within 75 miles of your home?

 

[NV30]

Don't thonk so.

 

[Rick]

Well, first - I would ask what kind of PC you want. A simple internet machine? Perhaps a gaming rig? Maybe something to do work on with light gaming?

If you want to get on the Internet and perhaps do some light work, then a store-bought PC is for you. They come cheap and with good enough parts to get by. If you want a gaming computer or something that runs very nicely, then the only thing you can do is build you own. There's almost no such thing as a "perfect" pre-built computer unless you buy from the local computer shop or a company that doesn't cut corners, like Alienware... And believe me.. You'll probably PAY for it too.

E-machines, much like an HP, IBM, Gateway, Dell, Compaq.. etc.. is a different incarnation of the same product. Support is irrelavant for the most part since places like Techspot's forum offer FAR superior tech support for any computer than they could ever pay for.

The only good thing about buying a store-bought computer is the warranty.

E-machines are known as "bargain" computers, and to put it reasonably, you get what you pay for when you buy cheap PCs. You can expect a cheap E-machine to cut corners where possible (cheap memory, proprietery motherboard, sub-standard peripherals etc..), but this is true no matter what brand you buy. On the other hand, you can expect an expensive E-machine to have decent parts with relatively few corners cut... But you can expect some bargain trimming to occur with any brand of PC.

Just remember there is no such thing as a store-bought PC that has no cut corners. For this reason, my recommendation is to build your own if you believe in yourself enough to assemble one and hand-select the parts. If not that is fine, but building your own is rewarding and you get a high performance PC for comparably little money.

Even some of the most expensive systems out there are still behind in many respects, and you'll pay almost a 100% premium to own such a thing over building it yourself.

E-machine, Gateway, Compaq, IBM, Acer... It matters not. Look at what's inside and if it sounds like a good deal, then take advantage of it. Just make sure you aren't getting taken advantage of.

Unnamed parts, rebates, generic claims and proprietary components are common in all systems expensive and cheap.. Make sure you look out for warning signs like unmentioned parts or undescriptive specs, like "32mb video memory" and nothing else. This means they have cut corners and I for one won't stand for such an insult for such an important and expensive purchase. "56k modem" or "256mb of RAM" can be silly claims as well, if they aren't backed up with more information. That 56k modem should say something like "hardware" and that 256mb of memory should proudly state "DDR". That 80gb hard drive should be labeled "7200 RPM" and that warranty should say 3 years on it because things break.

Whenever they have something GOOD to say about the PC, it you can guarantee it will be in bold letters on the sticker. Anytime they have something they don't want to mention, it is discreet and half-mentioned.

If you cannot find these things (it's going to be tough!) then try building your own. We'll gladly help you if you run into problems.. We'll even help you with selecting what you should buy, where you should buy it and how you should configure it.

Everytime someone buys a store-bought computer, a computer techie dies. I'm worried one day it will be me.

 

[NV30]

Thanks Rick. I will stick with building my own. I'll keep ya posted as well.

 

[Skeptic]

I bought an emachine before and regreted it horribly.

If you MUST buy a computer that's already built, go for Dell.

Dell blows e-machine out of the water, and actually has good tech support and frequent driver updates on their page.


I never understood why emachine and HP are all Futureshop sells.

 

[NV30]

Thanks, I'll definitely build my own.

 

[agissi]

I personally dont like their machines...made cheep. For more $$$. Defently make your own PC. Theres a box Office Depot is selling, thats very similar to mine, going for about $900. I made mine for $350.