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Just wanted to ask some opinions here about a purchase.
Arthil
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Now before I mention anything, it isn't me buying this thing it's a friend of mine. Basically doesn't like buying stuff as big as a computer online so more or less he screws himself over in terms of being able to build one himself.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachines+-+Desktop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+X2+Processor+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive/1696352.p?skuId=1696352&id=1218281190823
This is the machine he's buying, no it isn't meant for gaming although he is under the assumption it can be upgraded easily. Just wanted to see if I could get some opinions on it before he actually runs off to get it.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachines+-+Desktop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+X2+Processor+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive/1696352.p?skuId=1696352&id=1218281190823
This is the machine he's buying, no it isn't meant for gaming although he is under the assumption it can be upgraded easily. Just wanted to see if I could get some opinions on it before he actually runs off to get it.
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The case dimensions and back panel look to me like they won't accomodate full-height expansion cards (difficult to tell for sure), so any upgrades may be limited to half-height cards. Half-height video cards tend to be lower performace cards for servers, HTPC, or productivity work and not the best at demanding games. The case also doesn't look like it would fit a normal sized PSU and the PSU is probably sized for the hardware installed; it may not be up to drive a significantly more power hungry GPU or CPU.
I've found a lot of budget pre-builts are not designed to be upgraded easily. Sure adding memory or swapping out or adding a hard drive is no problem, but unless it's a gaming/performance/multimedia machine (which this definitely isn't) the PSU probably lacks the additional PCIE power connectors that would be needed to drive a powerful GPU. And it may be difficult to source an upgraded power supply that fits the back panel cutout.
And he doesn't want to spend $300+ online? What is he, 80? If he participates in social networking sites he's opening himself up to exploit much more than ordering stuff online from reputable vendors. Buying desktops from BestBuy is seldom a value proposition unless you have exceedingly low requirements or terrible shipping cost overhead.
It only gets complicated when you add gaming to the mix, since that machine could run some games fine, and some games poorly, and some other games would be unplayable. So it would depend upon which games he wanted to play.
No doubt that system could accomodate some upgraded video cards, but a lot of cards would not be installable in that box due to size constraints and power constraints. So whether or not that machine would work for him down the line (when he wants to install a new video card) again depends upon which games he wants to play and what kind of gaming experience he wants to have (detail level, frame rate, resolution, etc.).
emachines are shit, tell him to save himself some money and build one
He certainly won't be using it 10 years from now like his old one. Although, I did see someone in a Yugo yesterday that was moving under it's own power, so maybe he'll get the magic one.
That's pretty common with just about any computer nowadays though. About 5 and a half years ago my apartment got burgled and my laptop was stolen, which was my only computer at the time. I was a broke college kid, and it was about a week from black friday so I went out and picked up a $200 (after rebates!) emachine from compusa or some place like that and it lasted me quite a while. After about a year I'd thrown in a ram upgrade and a loaner 7800 GT from a friend who had just upgraded, and it kicked along pretty well for a few more years. After actually putting something of my own together with more than 1 processor core I set it up as a media box for my TV downstairs where it worked faithfully until about a year ago when the power supply finally crapped out and I just started using my netbook to stream stuff to my TV.
Basically, it shouldn't be bad for a general use computer, but it is going to have a lot of bloatware you'll want to get rid of. Having an extra copy of windows makes eliminating bloatware easy, but can be pricey. As far as gaming upgrades go, that looks a lot like a tower that my little sister has and it's SMALL. It's almost definitely going to be micro-atx, which isn't really a problem, but it's going to have a hard time fitting a modern full size vid card, which is definitely going to be the most effective upgrade path. My old e-machine was micro-atx, but was decently sized otherwise and could barely fit a full size video card.
twitch.tv/tehsloth
It will work swimmingly as an everyday use machine, which was the purpose of it. Technically he could have gotten the damn thing for cheap but he always has to go for the highest warranty. You are correct though Sloth in that it is a tiny-assed machine, though it runs well regardless.
Upgrading to some kind of real graphics card will be possible, there were many reviews stating people had done exactly that, just when he does it wont be able to be top-of-the-line and it really doesn't need to. We've got a gaming PC already.
Edit: And to the mention of eMachines being crap, Gateway bought them. Not sure when, also not sure if that even helps things any.
Acer owns both companies.
Well god damn everybody buyin' everybody up.
I think Acer is supposed to be good, that's the brand my LCD monitor is at least.
None of these companies are really know for their computers being particularly reliable. Their standout quality is usually cost.
Just an FYI to make sure he keeps an eye on the machine and get it fixed while its still under manufacturer if theres even a hint of an issue
"Software packages included: With Adobe Acrobat Reader and more." Sweet!!
My Acer laptop also performs better in gaming than my friends $1200 laptop, for nearly half the price.
I have a lot of trouble buying the idea of a 50% return rate for Acer products (because a company does not stay in business if half their shit doesn't work,) and am inclined to believe this is a case of confirmation bias.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/reliability.study.has.apple.4th.place/
If I were to single out Acer for a complaint, it would be the hassle of using their tech support.
YOu always get these people. They go "But its a brand new computer, i just bought it, why cant i run so and so high end game? Its a new computer! This doesn't make sense!" these people do not know how PC's work and think they are buying something akin to a console that just runs everything out of the box, and have no concept of hardware what so ever.
People have definitely been conditioned to assume that newer is better. It seems like people think "well, sure I paid 600 bucks for this PC 3 years ago, but this is a new PC, even if it cost me $250 less, so it should be better."
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Is this your way of telling us you're posting from jail, bowen?
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