eMachines Intel Dual Core Desktop PC

If I had to guess, I would say 8GB (4GB per slot).

Can’t find anything that mentions the max supported or I didn’t look hard enough.

YouTube review

another

Amazon has it for $379.98 new, looks like good reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/eMachines-ET1831-07-Desktop-Black/dp/B00313JCUC

Previous emachines I had wasn’t the greatest quality, but the value’s pretty good.

PCWorld’s review March 31 pretty good:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/382687/review/et183107.html

ZDNet’s roundup:

http://www.zdnet.com/reviews/product/desktops/emachines-et1831-07/34071255

Best Buy $350

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachines+-+Desktop+with+Intel&%23174%3B+Pentium&%23174%3B+Processor/9703523.p?id=1218153427158&skuId=9703523

as is, no it wont, you would need to pop in a decent graphics card to get games running smoothly.

Do I know for sure? No. It should definitely be able to play CS 1.6, Source is probably going to be less reliable on decent resolutions. Turning off v-sync is going to be a must, but this is extremely easy with the NVidia control panel.

That’s odd.

I’m typing this on an emachine I bought here last year for $199 – the best bargain I ever got in a computer purchase.

It had a nicely built standard cabinet (no proprietary requirements for power supply or motherboard), a nice Intel motherboard, and it’s been a rock-solid performer.

I’ve beefed it up some over the time I’ve had it – added a second hard drive, a second DVD drive, upped it to 4GB of memory, and I’ve got a TV card and a more powerful video card, neither of which I’ve installed yet (the on-motherboard video is actually quite capable – it handles Vista’s aeroglass option with nary a hiccup).

The fact that it says “emachines” on the front is meaningless. It could just as easily have said “Gateway” since at the time it was built, emachines was part of Gateway, and similar machines were sold under both labels. Now, though, it could just as easily say Acer, since all three are now the same company.

So, on the plus side, we have standard high quality non-proprietary components, solid construction, and it’s put together by Acer.

On the minus side, we have a label on the front that you don’t like (perhaps based on the early products marketed by a company two or three times removed from the current parentage, a decade or so back in time).

Sorely tempted to get another one tonight…

some more reviews

Again - Not every computer needs to be bleeding edge for every person!

eMachines has made strides in improving quality.

8 Reviews on NewEgg total of 5 eggs.
NewEgg Product Page
They also offer more pictures that are zoomable.

This can be upgraded with a newer/better video card, althou the 250 watt power supply might be a little underpowered. Farmville… not a problem. Twitchy First Person Shooter that requires a bajillion Ghz… not likely.

Spore - According to the Sporespecs out of the box it can play it.
Sporespecs

Not sure how much memory is dedicated to video, however in many (not all YMMV) systems you can raise or lower it usually capping out at 1 gig. Someone will come along and tell you how horrible the integrated video is, but you might find someone who finds that detail.

If your expecting an Alienware (well as awesome as they used to be) at this price you will be sad. If its better than what you have now and in the budget its a deal.

I bought the AMD equivalent of this computer at a giant retail store that should remain nameless to protect my pride. I upgraded it a bit and it is a great, inexpensive HTPC for my needs.

I put in a 1 GB NVIDIA video card and a 250 GB hdd. I installed windows on the smaller hdd to improve media center recording performance on the larger hdd.

Note: To upgrade anything on this machine, you will want to get a new power supply. This was the most difficult part for me, finding one that had all the right connectors, 500W+ and a PCIE power connector. I would recommend this PC, not to mention the fun I had taking it apart and putting all the new guts in.

The last bit I put in was a $5 case fan from best buy. There was no fan in the case, which is not good, especially with an upgraded video card, but the one I got is WAY too noisy for an HTPC, I recommend buying one labeled “quiet”.

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150439

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159105

This is 2010, and eMachines is Acer.

Where do you see that it has a video card? I see integrated video, ie motherboard.

Yeah – it warns you that you’ll have two more USB ports available than you’d otherwise have if NOT for those two ports.

I would hesitate to buy a computer that did NOT have those connectors. I’m always running short of USB ports, and a lot of devices do NOT like running off a hub (even a powered hub).

Sorry cap is 4 GB memory.

Emachines Specs

This should be fine to play CS:S + HL2, however, with a GeForce 7000 onboard series though I wouldn’t expect it to handle much more than that unless you upgrade the graphics card.

Here’s a link to the graphics card’s tech specs.

I’m currently building a computer that nearly matches the specs on this one. Should have waited a week, I wouldn’t have to do all the work.

this is a sweet deal actually. if you put these components together at newegg, you’d spend about $450. ($100 being the operating system)

the processor is solid (yes, core 2 architecture), ram is friggin’ expensive these days, and the HD included has a little room to breathe. pop in a $100 graphics card for some very reasonable gaming.

heck, put in a $150 gfx card and a small $150 ssd (wait for sales on deals.woot) for your operating system and for $600 you have a very nice machine.

edit:
OK, you also want to head over and get newegg’s shell shocker today for $25 after rebate. power supply is one of the things you don’t want cheap, since it can fry everything. if you upgrade the graphics, you’ll also likely need the extra wattage.

We had an eMachines refurb alomst a year ago, it lasted about 6 months. I love refurb prices, but I hate refurb merchandise.

User Guide & drivers

With a good video card, would this computer be any good at running WoW? Is the motherboard any good at all?