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E-Machines. Good or Bad?

Discussion in 'Computers & Technology Forum' started by HeDied4U, Aug 2, 2003.

  1. HeDied4U

    HeDied4U Well-Known Member
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    I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with the E-Machines brand of computers? Our computer, a trusty Toshiba laptop, unfortunatelty is trusty no more (it got dropped and hasn't worked since, and was told that it would cost more to fix than it's currently worth).

    Anyway, money is kind of tight in our household, and if we had a choice, we wouldn't get a replacement computer at all, but we both use it in conjunction with our jobs. We have looked at quite a few computers in the last week, and the least expensive we have found has been a E-Machines system for $499.99 I've heard conflicting stories about them. I've been told that they are cheap as heck and to stay as far away from as possible. OTOH, I have had people say that they have had no problems with theirs, and those that have had problems said that the customer support is top-notch.

    Any insights, comments, complaints you may have concerning E-Machines will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks, and God Bless!!!

    Adam [​IMG] :cool: [​IMG]

    p.s. in case you're wondering (which i'm sure y'all are hehehe :D :D ), i'm posting from work. ajc
     
  2. Born Again Catholic

    Born Again Catholic New Member

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    We have bought two stationary units for our office in the last 12 months, and have had no problems so never had to deal with their customer service, with the price of alterantive machines out there from dell etc we figured that even if one out of every three we buy is a lemon we are still way ahead.

    We got the 2 e-machines at Costco and got very feature rich machines for an incredibly low price

    This probably doesn't help much but you asked for any experiance.

    God Bless

    PS Someone else just told me about an ultra slim feature rich metalic laptop that looks like a Sony knockoff that with a rebate they picked up during a special sale at Best Buy for $500 I am sorry I don't remember the manufacturer but am pretty sure it started with an "A" and it was a french company :( .
     
  3. HeDied4U

    HeDied4U Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for the comments B.A.C, they are appreciated. More than likely we will go with the e-machines computer, but we'll hold off for a couple more days.

    On a related note, is there anyway of getting saved information off of a hard drive of a ruined computer? We do have a back-up disk, but it had been about 4 weeks since we last did a back-up, and we have done tons of work in that time that we don't want to lose.

    Once again, and comments and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks, and God Bless!!!

    Adam [​IMG] :cool: [​IMG]
     
  4. dianetavegia

    dianetavegia Guest

    Adam, My husband bought me a brand new Hewlett Packard Computer last Oct. at Best Buys and with the rebate he spent $450. plus tax.

    Jim said Dell has a special right now for $499. on a full computer with a printer. I didn't need a new monitor tho. He got a laptop from them for his job a few months ago.

    Also, we had a Western Digital Hard drive and got software off their web site that transfered all everything off my old hard drive to the new hard drive. The hard drive wasn't bad tho!

    Check those out!
    Diane
     
  5. Baptist Believer

    Baptist Believer Well-Known Member
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    I know two people who bought e-machines and neither of them was satisfied.

    One of them had problems almost immediately with the hard drive and had a hard time getting anything done about it. Finally he was able to get it fixed, but his monitor burned out in less than a year. Since his system was an all-in-on design, he finally went back to best buy and bought an inexpensive HP system instead of messing with his e-machine anymore. (He would have saved money just buying the HP in the first place!)

    The second person did not have as bad of an experience, but found out that they were very limited as far as upgrading things like memory and hard drive space and such. They "outgrew" their e-machine in about 18 months and decided to go buy another.

    From what I have heard, e-machines are cheap to buy but expensive to own. If you have to buy a new computer every 18 months that gets expensive. :eek:
     
  6. Bible Believing Bill

    Bible Believing Bill <img src =/bbb.jpg>

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    Adam,

    I have had an eMachines computer for the past year. So far two problems with it. I had a bad keyboard, and the power button on the monitor fell inside the unit. I had purchased a Best Buy in-home service plan so both units were replaced in a timely manner.

    Let me give you a little of my PC history. My first PC was a Packard Bell. To make a long story short I had a $1400 door stop for 6 months before they finally replaced it, under warranty. I had the hard drive go out twice after I got the new system. It's a good thing Packard Bell dosn't sell puters in the US anymore.

    I then sold my soul to prodigy for three years to get a compaq for $100. I had to replace the hard drive on that one once. It was still running OK, but out date when I replaced it with the eMachines.

    I really recommend that you buy the store service plan or extended warranty from the manufacturer no matter what type of computer you get. It's a little more upfront, but in the long run will save you money.

    Bill
     
  7. I Am Blessed 24

    I Am Blessed 24 Active Member

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    Adam: Hubby and I are both using E-Machines that we bought in 1999. We are very satisfied with them.

    I am running out of room and they have a "Compaq Presario" on sale at Wal-Mart for $498.00 this week. I am going to put one on lay-away because I haven't found any E-Machines on sale.

    [​IMG]
    §ue
     
  8. Dr. Gerald Click

    Dr. Gerald Click New Member

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    We have an e-Machine(personal) and an H-P at the church office. Recently had occasion to take covers off both machines to add more memory. SURPRISE!! The emachine and the H-P use the same components! (Presumably, they both buy components from the lowest bidder) The emachine seems to work fine,and it gets a pretty good workout as I use it to draft weekly sermons, etc. Only problem seems to be that the keyboard sticks once in a while and may eventually have to be replaced. For a church/office using a lot of different operators, the H-P keyboard may hold up better, but internally, they seem to be the same machine.
     
  9. GloryBound

    GloryBound New Member

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    [I really recommend that you buy the store service plan or extended warranty from the manufacturer no matter what type of computer you get. It's a little more upfront, but in the long run will save you money. ]


    I agree with Bill on the extended warranty!!! It's not "Will your hard drive crash! But more like "When your hard drive crashes" you will want that extended warranty.

    My nephew has had his eMachine now for about 3 years and the only problem he has had has been operator errors. Took me three days to get it straightened out! Ended up having to reformat his hard drive and set it back up. Slapped him on the head with a spoon when he picked it up! [​IMG]

    I have a computer grave yard in my home where I have put them to rest when I get a new one! Even have my first one, the old Texas Instrument 99/4a. The box for the Floppy Drive is bigger than my computer(tower) I am using now!!! And yes, I had an old Commador too! :D Traded it for a treadmill. Now that I think of it, the TI 99/4a was not my first. It was a Timex one that was no bigger than a large handheld calculator! Anyone remember that one??? I took it back to the store after one day and got the TI 99/4a. Should have kept that Timex one, huh!


    Gave away my faithful ole 286 and 486 33mhz. Geeze, I can remember how fast I thought that 486 33mhz was!!! Thought I had been struck by lightning it was so fast!!!! Oops, rambling down memory lane here, sorry HeDied4U! [​IMG]

    ~GloryBound~
     
  10. ColoradoFB

    ColoradoFB New Member

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    If you can use a screwdriver and can plug Lego blocks together, it is not hard to put together your own machine with quality parts. I suggest www.newegg.com. I have had terrific luck dealing with them, and they have great prices.
     
  11. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    Adam, I won't bash e-machines, but there are plenty of places to get good computers in that price range.

    IBM, for example, offers refurbished machines at very nice prices.

    IBM Refurbished Computers

    Tiger Direct also has some good deals:

    TIGER DIRECT

    And the price of Dell machines has plummeted so that an entry-level computer is $599 with free shipping:

    Dell computers

    I put together my own computers for years (spanning a 386SX-33 up to an AMD K7-366), but the price drops (and software packages) available now have pretty much put an end to that.
     
  12. Jimmy C

    Jimmy C New Member

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    I buy many computers for our company, I would not ever by another e meachine.

    I would suggest either Dell or Gateway, good machines, fairly priced (especially now), great warranty and service.

    Check out dell's refurbished machines on their web site - you can really get a bargin there.

    You might also check out ebay, a friend bought a dell, new in box, full warranty for what you would expect to pay for an e machine.
     
  13. HeDied4U

    HeDied4U Well-Known Member
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    I'd like to thank everyone for their replies. Most informative.

    Well, we decided to go with the e-machines model. It's got a 60GB hard drive, which is by far more than we will ever use. CD-RW, DVD, all the bells and whistles. We've had it for a few days now and so far so good.

    God Bless!!!

    Adam :cool: [​IMG]
     
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