Do you have an e-machine?

Former Fetus

[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

[Samurai_Jack]

I dont get it why people insist on going the long way around.

Okay... Clean the gigantic dust bunnies out of your machine. Use a small vaccuum cleaner first, and then take it out in the driveway and use the canned air.
Clean off the plastics on the outside while you’re at it.

Clean up the monitor and the keyboard.

INCREASE the memory on your machine, Maxmize it if you’re running XP it will recognize 3.2GB of RAM (okay when you add it up it comes out to more than that because of the binary counting) Some machines wont count that high but my guess is that yours will. You wont be able to put in 3.2 GB of ram, you’ll have to put in four and waste some of it.

Get the Original disks for your machine and reimage it. Most systems come with a factory image partition that will set your machine back to where it was when you first started it. Just make sure that you back up your data first. Better yet, invest in a 1 TERRA BYTE Disk Drive and upgrade it.

If you’re not good at this then get someone to help you out.

There’s my 2cents...
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[verga]

We had one, I will NEVER buy another. We had nothing but problems from the day we bought it. Tried to return it and no go. They insisted it could be “fixed” After a year of screwing around we got a Dell, and tha is all I have had since.

[BuffaloJack]

> I really think for $400 or not much more, you can get something decent new or refurbished nowadays.
Good advice. About a year ago, I lucked into a deal on a very high end refurbished machine. At a well known auction site and for $425, I got a refurbished Dell server in a tower (no monitor, but it did come with keyboard and mouse. It was nearly 3 years old but had dual quad processors and more memory than any machine ever needs. I put a copy of Vista on it and this is the machine I’m using right now.
Lots of deals, you should be able to get a dandy refurb system for something in the neighborhood of $200.

[trebb]

Depending on the symptoms, it might be a software issue. I had a 6-year old XP machine that started freezing up and it was from a recent "security patch" that Microsoft supplied.

Before giving up on it, you might consider reloading it or removing the update patches that you put on over that period of time.

Also, remove any software that was put on over that period of time and use a registry/junk cleaner - I use CCleaner because it's simple and easy and I've never run into a problem where it messed anything up.

I thought mine was on its last mlegs a year ago and bought a Windows 7 machine before I discovered my mistake. My stepson is using my old machine today with no problems.

[norwaypinesavage]

I have an eMachine. It works great. The only problem I've had with it was upgrading memory size. Several attempts left me with memory that didn't work. I solved that by buying used eMachine memory sticks on eBay. The were cheaper, too.

The bargains out there, though, are "refurbished" Dells. They usually come with XP, cost very little ($100, or so), and work great. Especially for what you are doing. I have four of them, with no complaints.

[Big Giant Head]

I bought that exact model you mention in your post. It was a birthday/Christmas gift for my son. He wanted something better than all the used laptops that overheat.

So far, I’ve been impressed. I haven’t read the thread yet, so I don’t know what all has been mentioned. This was intended for some gaming, schoolwork, and lots of FReeping. I find it is a quick, quiet machine, and I like to mess with it whenever he’s out of his chair! He constantly has a dozen or so threads open, or is watching videos, or gaming. It’s running hours per day. Zero problems.

[Windflier]

After suffering through the deaths of three dinosaur pcs in a row, I got so sick and tired of losing all of my files and rebuilding my bookmarks, etc., that I finally broke down and got an e-machine computer this year.

It’s the same one you’re talking about. It came with Windows 7 installed, and I’ve been using it for six months. I love this computer, and haven’t had a single hiccup from it. Great machine, and cheap!

[wildbill]

I got very good service from a couple of Emachines. I haven’t seen them advertised for a while and thought the name had been changed when they were bought out.

Lately, however, I’ve fallen in love with the steady performance by my Toshiba laptop. I’ve had it for over three years. I love the ability to take it with me when I travel and still have the power of a desktop.

If you go to Toshiba Direct on the internet they have some on sale now for as low as $329. I don’t see how you can beat that price.

[waynesa98]

A few thoughts
If you do go for a new system make sure the bios is uefi compatible. Also google to see if there are coupons fen for the store you choose.

If you have an external back up device get all your pics, files and data off the machine. then find your software cds and wipe and then rebuild the system. computers tend to get filled with crap and need to be rebuilt every year or so. get all the latest drivers from the dell site. If you do a rebuild contact me for the updates to do first.

Lastly most dells have a dos level hardware checker. run that before you do much of anything

[E. Pluribus Unum]

There is probably NOTHING wrong with your current computer.

Have somebody reformat the hard drive and reinstall your operating system and your programs.

That will be as good as a new computer, and won't cost a cent.

[UB355]

Four Years old, just getting broken in.

I have a six year old Dell laptop running XP as a second computer in my home. It has been problem free. I reload the operating system every few years just to clean things up.

[ROTB]

I had pros open it and do it.

Everywhere possible.

[Former Fetus]

Thanks to y'all and everybody else who offered a suggestion.

On Christmas afternoon I opened my PC and blew it well. There's a slight improvement, the fan that wasn't running now is moving some, and Word documents open fast. Everything else remains the same, it freezes all the time, yesterday I could not get in IE for several hours.

I've heard in the radio of "Doublemyspeed.com" I ran their diagnosis and it says there are over 1000 fragments, corrupted files... Bottom line, they are trying to sell me CyberDefender, that is supposed to take care of all of that. What do y'all think about it? Are you familiar with it?

TIA

[Former Fetus]

Thanks to y'all and everybody else who offered a suggestion.

On Christmas afternoon I opened my PC and blew it well. There's a slight improvement, the fan that wasn't running now is moving some, and Word documents open fast. Everything else remains the same, it freezes all the time, yesterday I could not get in IE for several hours.

I've heard in the radio of "Doublemyspeed.com" I ran their diagnosis and it says there are over 1000 fragments, corrupted files... Bottom line, they are trying to sell me CyberDefender, that is supposed to take care of all of that. What do y'all think about it? Are you familiar with it?

TIA

[ROTB]

1) Download and install “Microsoft Security Essentials” from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials. It is excellent. Make sure the following options are checked ON under “Settings”

Scheduled Scan
“Run a scheduled scan on my computer”
“Check for the latest virus and spyware”
Real-time Protection
“Turn on real-time protection”
“scan all downloads”
“monitor file and program activity on your computer”
“enable behavior monitoring”
Advanced
“scan archive files”
“scan removable drives”
“create a system restore point”
Microsoft SpyNet
“Advanced Membership”

The last one sounds creepy, but basically it means that new viruses can be spotted EASILY. I recommend it.

Please let me know how this turns out.

Also, make sure you “defragment” your hard drive after you do this.

Also, you can get just your fan replaced. No need for a new computer.

Finally, get “Mozy Home” to back up your data. You do backup your data in case your hard drive dies, right?

[Little Pig]

There are plenty of free programs, like CCleaner, that will do all that, and do a better job of it. Don’t waste money on stuff like that.

[chuckles]

A “moving some” fan isn’t good enough. It should run 3-4k rpm’s. Don’t bother with the “doublemyspeed” and PCfix type programs. They can’t fix what you have. Get the fan replaced and do a fresh install. When the files get screwed up like that, you have to just erase and replace. Format C: and reinstall Windows. I wouldn’t even try a restoral point. You probably backed up damaged files and would just replace damaged files with more damaged files. The fan was probably the culprit in the first place.

[roamer_1]

E-Machines suck.

As a service tech, I have been recommending folks go to WallyWorld or Staples and pick up the value based Acer machine they have there - about 350-400 will get you a 64bit system that is quite nice. It is just a touch light on RAM, but that can be fixed later... Do not settle for less than a 64bit system... with the most RAM available, and the biggest CPU you can afford.

You WILL need Win7 64bit to get the full capability of any modern processor. Don’t be scared of it - it is quite a bit different in comparison to XP as far as “where things are kept,” and “How to change settings”, but you will be able to operate it just fine within an hour or so, with a longer learning curve for the more arcane stuff. Within a month or two, you’ll be wondering why you were scared of it in the first place.

[AlbertWang]

The Registry Fix in CCleaner will clean up these problems.... for free.

[dis.kevin]

bump to self