[QUOTE=truelyfe, post:59, topic:255930]
I only just got one, sheesh. My machine will be a security DVR using a 4 channel input card and 2x500gb HDD… and running Gentoo.
I specced out a similar machine and came to about $50 more, although that already had exactly what I needed. With this system, I’ll have 2gb of RAM to shove in another box, a spare mouse and keyboard, and a spare 320gb HDD.
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<3 you.
lifted from an old NewEgg description
Expansion
PCI Slots (Available/Total)
(1/1) PCI-E x16
(2/2) PCI-E x1
(0/1) PCI
lifted from an old Amazon description
Drive bays - 2 x external 5.25 (one available), 3 x internal 3.5 (two available)
the pictures on newegg show only 2 available sata ports of the 4 on the board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883114067
they have a nice picture gallery… more shots to peek at.
I don’t need this one, but did suggest it to a friend who needed a basic machine in this price range.
Amazon 2 ratings of 5 (one all in caps so yeah)
NewEgg 5 ratings 4 - 5 eggs, and dreams of upgrades and overclocking…
main complaints were the dvd eject button being hard to get to when drive open, and bloatware taking 5 min to remove. (the horror, and not like we have programs that decrapify new machines now… oh wait we do.) Almost everyone seems to upgrade the power supply off the bat from 250 to 500.
You, as always, can do better, you can do worse. It depends on your formula for cost vs requirements.
Out of the box its not going to play Crysis (well not well), but save your pennys (or use an older vid card you have laying around) and it might…
That’s funny. I assume you will run Linux on your mythical machine, since Windows alone will run you the $150 you want to spend. Cheaper prices are for upgrades, and your home built machine has no OS to upgrade from.
Or are you telling us that you prefer bootleg copies of an OS?
Vista may make you shiver, but there’s a free upgrade to Windows 7, so why the concern?
Netbooks are good alternatives, but much slower than this system.
[QUOTE=LithiumP4, post:61, topic:255930]
(though 10/100 is a bit sad for file transfers).
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Why? Your Internet connection is probably no faster than 6 or 7 Mbps. How would Gigabit Ethernet help that? Even if you put in a Gigabit switch or router and upgrade your wiring, you’re Intenet connection is the same speed.
BTW, most people do not use Gigabit Ethernet, so 10/100 is fine. Gigabit Ethernet is mostly used for backbone connections between routers, not to desktops. The only real need for Gigabit Ethernet in the home might be to stream videos from a dedicated home server.
For the average home network, it’s overkill and an unnecessary added expense.
This site has some useful info. Seems to be room for at least another 3 1/2 and 1 5 1/4 drive. You may need to upgrade the power supply if you add much to this pc tho. There is also an empty memory slot.
Hey tortnotes,
Thanks for all your well-written comments. Very informative and understandable.
Anyone know if this comes with the 32- or 64-bit version of Windows Vista? Even eMachine’s spec site just lists “Vista Home Premium SP1”.
[QUOTE=jevernham, post:87, topic:255930]
Anyone know if this comes with the 32- or 64-bit version of Windows Vista? Even eMachine’s spec site just lists “Vista Home Premium SP1”.
http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=ET1161-07
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Based on how much ram this machine has…I’de have to guess that it is running x86 Windows Vista (32-bit). Machine configurations in the early days of vista were sold with 3gb’s of ram because of the limit of 4gb’s addressable ram. This includes other memory addresses, including discreet graphics cards video memory. Most of the time, if you have 4gb’s on a x86 windows, you will be able to access at least 3.5 gb’s of that ram.
Watch the power supply! I had two eMachines and have suffered three power supply failures in two years. The third failure also cooked the motherboard in one machine. So if you buy this, you may want to upgrade the PS immediately.
yes it can handle a second hard drive
Does anyone know whether this will play 720P media smoothly? All my older machines play video, but hesitate every few seconds, which make them unusable as serious TV viewers.
Yes. Page 1.
@jj2me: You’re welcome. I do it for the warm fuzzy feeling. And, today, because of insomnia.
eMachine AND a Refurb is a double negative.
But a double negative equals a positive!
Everyone should be in for 3 because my logic is sound!
Well, I got one. Perfect for my 9 year old’s room.
Also ordered the Gigabyte PCI Express 2.0 card that someone mentioned for $33 from NewEgg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125289
I’ll make sure to upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit (re-install upgrade) so no RAM limitations. Later on I will blow up the RAM appropriately and may even consider a CPU upgrade.
From experience I can assure everyone this class of machine, even without the above video card, can play major games WOW/etc. without major problems. Those games all scale quite well. But with the above video card it will supplement it fantastically.
Save the stress on the machine and just replace the main HD with a larger replacement, that way there is only one HD to power.
I wouldn’t touch an eMachine with a 10ft VGA cable…
Pfft! I don’t like reading descriptions.
32-bit, but when you upgrade to Windows 7, you can use the re-install upgrade trick to fresh install it to Windows 7 64-bit.
1.5x more expensive at BestBuy ($325).
this is worth it just for the “Labelflash” feature on the drive. It really confuses people when you use it.