yes... it's ~2 years old and i bought it especially because it still had XL on it and not Vista... that said i installed prolly 50 of them where i used to work and never had any issues with any of them nor the one i now own
Posted on 12/23/2011 8:43:09 PM PST by Former Fetus
Hi! It's me again, the technologically-challenged mom.
My Dell Dimension has been warning me for weeks now that it is about to go to the big junkyard in the sky. Since it is 4 years old, my husband is insisting that I get me a new PC. Problem is, righ after Christmas shopping, the last thing I want to do is to spend more money. But then, I can't get much done with a PC that keeps freezing every 10-15 min!
I have been pricing PCs. Originally I wanted to get another Dell, so as to use my monitor, mouse... But they are not cheap. Earlier today we were at a Walmart Supercenter and my husband noticed an emachine package, PC and monitor, for $400. It sounds good: intel processor with dual core, 3 GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive. But, when I googled emachine, it scared me to death! You get the idea that they don't work, and that every call to tec support costs $199!
So, here is the question: do you own (or know some one who owns) an emachine? Can you give me any feedback?
If it helps, what I need the PC for is mostly word processing (occasional power point or spreadsheet), internet surfing, and storing and organizing photographs. I loved Windows XP, so much that I refused to replace my PC as long as Vista was the only choice. But more than one person has told me that Windows 7 is very similar to Windows XP. And no, I am not interested in changing to a different OS, at my age I have enough trouble just changing from one Windows version to another.
Thanks
I have saved my computer ignorant relatives many dollars by doing just this. A good cleansing (so they can breathe) will prolong a computer for years.
That’s news to me, thanks.
Avast and Avira are more reliable than AVG. I used to use AVG, but switched recently to Avast and found it to be less resource-hungry and to do a better job of detecting.
Scary stories indeed.
Hold off on the air compressor until you have dry air (you do have an air dryer on your compressor, right?). And then... ack that you don't have the facilities to disassemble it without destroying it, AND nuking it with static 'lectrikity.
Other than that, just put the nozzle anywhere and listen to the fan turn. Catz fuzz will blow out of it. Laptops do that even when there aren't any catz.
/johnny
Run, don’t walk, away from e-machines.
Ditto posts #4 and 19.
My computer is also older than yours. You may not need a new machine, just some maintenance.
I would add Malwarebytes (free download) to the list.
Also, if you haven’t, click Start in the bottom left of your screen), then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup and follow the prompts to clear your cache and speed up the computer.
I am a technophobe, but there’s simple housecleaning on the machine that even a novice like me can do to keep it going.
I upgraded to the latest version of Avira and it clogged up my machine. Uninstalled it and switched to AVG and have been very pleased.
I set AVG to run at 3 a.m. every morning, and it catches bad stuff both then and in real time.
Use it in conjunction with ZoneAlarm free firewall.
I really think for $400 or not much more, you can get something decent new or refurbished nowadays. Try some of the small computer stores you see, sometimes they have a distribution deal with Dell. They also make up computers or can refurb yours for a few hundred.
If you transfer all your content to an external drive, you might also try a full system restore of your machine back to factory specs. You’ll lose all data it’s like your machne just came out of the box again. I’ve done it when machines picked up a pernicious virus and there was no other way.
Also, when I bought the cheap machine locally, they were able to transfer over Microsoft Office, and that saved a couple hundred bucks.
I use to have a e-machine, it worked well enough but it was cheap. I usually keep my computer for seven or eight years doing upgrades as needed until the motherboard gives out but I sold the e-machine after having it about 18 months. It was already beginning to have little things go wrong with it, CD drive not opening, fan going out and I wasn't confident enough in the main components to just fix and upgrade as I usually do.
yes... it's ~2 years old and i bought it especially because it still had XL on it and not Vista... that said i installed prolly 50 of them where i used to work and never had any issues with any of them nor the one i now own
Both e-machine and Gateway are now owned by Acer.
But first, as some upstream have suggested, give your Dell a good, through cleaning. You might be surprised.
Do disk clean up and disk defragmenter.
Also maybe you an add memory, it’s very cheap nowadays.
Go to TigerDirect and buy the parts to build your own. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to do with just a little research. We had an eMachines once, it wasn’t horrible but didn’t last long with two adults and three teens using it all the time. Only thing that survived was the case which we used to save money when we bought new innards.
Current machine prices out around $2k if you could find one like it. Built with with ordered motherboard, etc from TigerDirect for under $500. That included a case this time.
later
My previous desktop was an e-machine. I liked it except intermittent power supply problems caused me a lot of grief. Others have said that problem has been corrected in newer models? I am currently using a Compaq Presario from Staples running Windows 7. Windows 7 is not much like XP at all in my opinion. It works well but takes some getting used to. I am using the same monitor I used with my previous e-machine and it works fine. Good Luck.
What is “remanufactured”? It can be a new unit returned for problems or a scratch and dent or a unit that comes back off lease. A computer can only be sold as “new” once. After that it becomes a remanufactured item. The OEM or authorized shop then brings the unit back to “as new” condition with the software as loaded and is resold for much less than new. In most cases, the remanufactured PC or laptop comes with a full warranty. What you need to do is look at the specs and software that's loaded into your new unit. That's where you can save a lot of money. You can also save money on upgrading the memory or disk drive.
I have really got some great deals with remanufactured machines by shopping around. If you are interested, send me a PM and I can share a lot of hard won knowledge with you.
cheap and works good
My first question is, Did you buy a mid price PC model 4 years ago?
There is no reason a PC that was a mid price model 4 years ago would need to be replaced for daily light office use.
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