eMachines Athlon Desktop Computer with Windows 7 Home Premium

Not everyone is into super computers. No matter what Woot puts on here there’s always someone that knows of a better deal. Probably most of the so called super geeks are running windows 95 with a 120 khz processor LOL… :o)

Jimmie FZ-30

http://photosbydave.net/index.php?action=forum

The 2850e consumes very little power, making this system somewhat greener than most.

Very much depends on what you’re doing with it. Word processing, e-mailing, and web surfing, sure. But if you try to play 720p video…you may start wishing for more horsepower.

From an IT professional:

If you have children they should NOT be using the same computer you use for your personal work and banking.

Kids will install anything and everything they see. There are multiple really nasty and often undetected trojan/rootkits out there stealing credit cards and bank logins. I deal with these things every day at my job

If you have the money, buying your kids their own computer that you can lock down down and monitor, while keeping them out of your stuff is a great idea.

Win 7 Home Premium OEM: $104.99 + free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116752&cm_re=windows_7_oem-_-32-116-752-_-Product

True super-geeks know that the majority of computers are far overpowered for the tasks people use them for. This system could be a bit faster, I’d recommend a basic Core2 these days, but it’s perfectly fine and I would have no problem using it myself.

This is coming from the owner of an i7 (8 logical processors) with 6GB of RAM and 3 video cards.

I have a Pentium4 2.8ghz and it is PAINFUL to try and watch streaming video on it.(i.e. Hulu, Youtube or any of the networks abc.com etc.) And multi-tasking is laughable.

Fine for email or light web-browsing (non-flash heavy sites), but that doesn’t make it worth the $245 price tag then.

Buy a crappy netbook instead. Or buy a cheap Intel dual-core chip and build your own PC.

Exactly the reason my 4yo loves it. Helps her learn the keyboard, alphabet and math. She can play games all she wants and it doesn’t matter if she blows it up with viruses, sw downloads, etc. Great starter PC. Cheap cheap. Its not a supercomputer, but it has 9 USB ports (not used up/wasted by the KB and mouse)… A few years ago, a PC like this would have been a few thousand $$. What do kids care? If it works, it works.

EDITED - NOTE: I have been told there is an issue with Pentium 4’s and streaming video to high resolution screeens, which I wasn’t aware of. My apologies, ignore below

There is something else going on with your computer if a 2.8 P4 can’t do it. I maintain a local deployment of around 200 computers at 2.8GHz and less and they work great (after we put 2GB of RAM in them).

I fully accept I could be wrong but it’s possible some malware or other issues that are causing these symptoms.

Can I recommend you download and run MalwareBytes and message me the result log? (you’ll understand when you see it). Then again, it could just be the ton of software the companies install on computers before you even get them. We have old IBMs that run literally 4x faster starting programs after we uninstall all the junk that came with them. (Note to IT people, these were installed before I came in and we started using images)

Do you think this machine would be able to handle fullscreen Hulu playback?

What is the resolution of your screen? Right click on your desktop and go to Properties/Resolution

This is or was a Walmart-specific machine, that’s why the W at the end of the model number. Around Thanksgiving Walmart had this for $299.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/eMachines-320-GB-EL1333G-01w/13352324

bestbuy had a black friday deal on it (non WM model #) but with 3gb ram and a 19" flatscreen LCD monitor for $299, we bought it.

Actually does very well for an internet, email, basic machine. No trouble with it so far. Handles Win7 Home just fine.

As far as I’m concerned, eMachines are a good product, and a good buy. They’re offering this computer at a great price.

I have an eMachine computer model T5026 that I’ve had for almost five years now. Will be ordering more RAM next week. This machine has served me well for what I need. I do some graphic arts work and website design, and I find it works well with programs like GIMP and Dreamweaver. I do use an external hard drive for storing some things, as there are only 160 gigs available on the original hard drive.

The only noticeable downside to this machine so far is that when it’s working hard, like streaming movies from Netflix or playing online games, it makes a roaring sound that can be distracting. I don’t know if newer models have the same issue.

A few of the specs for my machine were originally:

CPU : Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 519 Operates at 3.06GHz
1MB L2 cache and 533MHz FSB
Operating System : Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Chipset : Intel® 915GV chipset
Memory : 512MB Dual Channel DDR Expandable to 4GB
Hard Drive : 160GB Serial ATA 7200rpm, 8MB cache
Optical Drives : DVD±RW, 16x Multi-Format double layer
CD-ROM drive - 48x max write
Media Reader : 8-in-1 digital media manager
Video : Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 w/DirectX® 9 support
Up to 224MB shared video memory
Sound : Intel® High Definition 6-channel audio (5.1)
Ports/Other : 7 USB (1 in Media Manager, 2 in front, 4 in back), 3 IEEE 1394 Firewire (2 in front, 1 in back), 1 VGA external connector, 1 serial, 1 parallel, 2 PS/2, 5 audio (2 in front, 3 in back)

I had an IT guy come in 3 months ago and replace/upgrade a few things, clean the old stuff off the hard drive and rearrange it a bit, give it a general tune-up I guess you could say, and it’s working fast and efficiently again.

It seems to take very well to upgrades and even after five years is doing well and letting me do the things I want to do. I’m very happy with my eMachine.

I’m thinking this might be the perfect home theater PC to get for my parents, so it’s a widescreen plasma television. I had actually found and rehabilitated a Dimension 2400. It works great except it chokes on steaming video. I’ve read that P4’s have aged horribly and simply are not capable of that. If this machine can play Hulu, I’d buy it, immediately put Boxee or ZincTV on it, and put it in their living room.

Walmart still sells this computer for $298.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/eMachines-320-GB-EL1333G-01w/13352324

I watch Hulu on mine. The only time it gets a bit herky-jerky is during prime time hours, but I think just about everyone who watches Hulu has that problem. Other times of the day, it streams just fine. I have broadband.

When machines have high load, for example streaming high quality compressed video, they take a large load on the processors, which generate heat.

Normally this heat will be taken away efficiently by the cooling system. If the heatsinks and fans get clogged with dust its ability to cool itself off will be impacted, and thus will automatically turn the fans up higher to compensate. A Dell Optiplex 760 when on max fan can sound like a small get engine (no joke, ask one of your IT guys to rev it up for your if you use Dells).

Desktop PCs are usually extremely easy to clean. Take the fan and heatsink plastic off and give it a good bast with compressed air everywhere. Hold the fan blades while you do this, if you spin them too fast with the compressed air you will ruin the bearings. Put everything back together and it should be much quieter.

Of course, maybe a machine this cheap just has a low quality cooling solution in it that requires it “spin up” even under normal conditions.

Hope this helps.

That would be cheating/violating the TOS.
The terms of that license are for resellers. Personal users have to buy the retail edition.
Otherwise, you can’t move that license. So that mobo dies or what not, you’re SOL on moving your perfectly good copy of Windows to your new machine.

I do clean it regularly, both my brothers are IT guys and they drummed it into my head, the keep-it-clean thing - it’s done the roaring since the very beginning and yeah, it sounds like a little jet engine. I situate my desk so it’s next to a closet and keep the computer in there so I can have the room quiet while I’m working. Or playing. :slight_smile:

I’ve read in various places that other eMachine owners have noticed the noise, as well.

The price is not bad for what you’re getting, but keep in mind two things:

1- It’s a refurb.
2- Only a 90 day warranty.

You could get a DELL Zino HD for a little more and at least get a year warranty from them. You’re rolling the dice with this one.

As for Win7, it’s most likely an OEM license which means you can’t transfer it to another system. You may not even get the original media with this refurb.