[Physicist]

I tell you this as soberly as I can manage: under NO CIRCUMSTANCES purchase an emachines computer, unless it is intended as a gift for a mortal enemy.

My father bought one of these boat anchors several years ago. On paper it looked like a good deal, but to get the low price he had to buy a 3-year subscription to a god-awful MSN service that he didn't need. New out of the box, the machine would freeze every half an hour, and tech support was almost non-existent. Occasionally, the machine would go "on the fritz", with nothing displayed on the screen but an odd kind of snow. Everything about the machine was cheap and flimsy. It sounded like a lawnmower. It even stank.

I got so fed up with helping him cope with this system that we bought him a new Dell Dimension 2400 last month (complete system including monitor for $500, shipping was free). Rock solid, no problems so far.

[rs79bm]

I would probably aviod E-Machines, jsut my personal opinion. They like to offer really great deals, but skimp around on the hardware end. As for good solid machines, try Dell or Gateway. I cringe when I suggest Gateway, but it would be better than a HP or Compaq machine, which in my mind are closer to Emachines than Dell. All this of course is if you can't get a reputable, locally built computer in the area, I find they can build far more superior machines than any big computer company can.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I have been looking at the E machines at Best buy.

I've owned 2 eMachines and was never sorry. They are very nicely priced and well put together.

[FLCowboy,]

I have two Dells in the house, an undersized, but okay for the wife laptop, and a newer, bigger tower for me. I'm getting ready to put in a house network.

I had trouble with the laptop, but Dell's service is overnight. That's the key. Spend a few extra dollars on their service plan, and buy as much computer as you can afford, because you'll be using the extra capacity before you know it.

Dell will be around to take care of you, and some of the others won't.

[patriota-ferus]

I would hesitate to buy anything over the counter, esp. a DELL !

I did tech support for them for a year. They spend more on the their advertising than on their product. I had never been cursed so many times in my life as I did that year!!

My advice is simple: Find a local “geek” and have him build a good/solid machine and install a real operating system ( not a "recovery disc").

The problem with most over-the-counter machines is they use the cheapest parts that can be found. The outside is cool looking, but the inside is third-world.

There are two places that I would recommend online for help in this area. PCPartsCollection.Com and TigerDirect.com

I build my own computers. These are the places that I get my parts from. They , also, have computers that they build themselves. Just a thought!

[LibWhacker]

I'm not sure how much you want to spend, but Cyberpower has a weekly special on their AMD Athlon XP-2200, 256MB DDR RAM, 80GB hard drive, no monitor, no OS, for $399.

Or for $599, you can get their AMD Athlon XP-2100, 256MB DDR RAM, 40GB hard drive, 19-inch ViewSonic monitor, CD-RW 52x24x52, Windows XP Home Edition. This one won a c|Net Editor's Choice Award. My brother owns one of them and likes it.

First choice for me, though, is still a Dell. Wouldn't want an eMachine.

[Agnes Heep]

Tyan motherboards and AMD processors have always worked for me. Find someone who can put one together for you.

[visualops]

If you want to do alot of video, multimedia and the like, do not get a machine with "integrated" video (these borrow ram from the system). Get one with a real video card with it's own ram. An incarnation of the GeForce or Radeon cards is preferred.
Dells are not bad (although I prefer scratch built systems), but get one with the best features for the money, rather than a low-end system designed for business and not multimedia.
I'll also point out that CompUSA is a good place to buy computers and parts. They have excellent service and replacement warranties.
If you do get a Dell or other factory make, have a knowledgeable computer person help you configure or turn off all the nonsense running in the background and loading on startup that will really slow down even a better system.

[Iris7]

See post #29, #39, and #42.

Good luck with your kiddoes, better you than public school, the teachers are very not smart, most of them. A lot of "sentimental" liberals.

It will be a lot of work. Use a teaching plan, know what you want to cover before you start. There is a very good Web network of and for homeschoolers.

[dawn53]

We've got a Compaq and a refurbished Dell.

Everyone in the family prefers to use the Dell, no problems with it, but we've only had it about 6 months.

I will say this for Compaq, they honored their warranty. We had the monitor go bad within weeks of receiving it, and they shipped another one out ASAP, then the computer had a problem just short of the warranty period, and once again we were provided with a whole new unit. Since then it's worked find.

[Dasaji]

The Dell is going to be the best bang for your buck. For $699 on eBay, there are new Dells w/ flat screen monitors all over the place. We just bought a Dell for our company in March - it is a good, solid machine and runs smoothly.

[Malsua]

The best bang for your buck will come from these things in order.

1. 7200 RPM Hard Drives.
2. At least 256mb of Ram.
3. 32mb Ram on a video card.

Processor speed won't make nearly as much of a difference as these things will, although, you don't want to skimp on processor. Athlon 1800 or better or a P4 2GHZ or better.

I won't buy a drive under 40gb in size but frankly, 40gb is a whole bunch of space. 120 is overkill.

512k Ram is great! Gig is better! It boils down to your cost point. 256mb is enough if you run XP. 128 is bare minimum for XP an I wouldn't recommend it. It will run fine at 128, but performance will take a hit if you run alot of things.

As others suggested...Dells are good if they fit the criteria listed above and most do. E-machines can run great but you can get lemons. I've had vendors provide equipment driven by E-machines. The biggest issue is proprietary case and proprietary and substandard power supply. Generally the Emachines work ok, but I've trashed 2 of 5 within a 18 months. They stopped working and I just replaced them rather than deal with it. Of course, I deal with hundreds of PCs at work so it would cost more to bother with them than to replace(Down equipment can run into the hundreds of $$ per hour lost production).

As another suggested, you might find a local PC house that can build to order. You'll get your best bang for the buck there and if it breaks, you can go there, flop it on the counter and say "fix it".

Don't get the 3 year warranty from anyone. If you computer lasts a year, it's prolly good for 3 and by the time 3 years roll by, you'll want to upgrade anyway.

My .02.

Good luck.

-Mal

[Sabertooth]

Can't help you.

I'm a Mac fan, but I'm advocating a boycott of them until they fire Al Gore from their Board of Directors.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I just built a Dell online and got a great deal with their rebates.

Please stay away from the E machine.

[varon]

Just send me $500 cash and I'll take care of everything ;-)

[Tribune7]

Have you considered a used Pentium IIII or something along those lines?

[Cicero]

I'd certainly look at Dell. I usually buy a machine just a few cuts below the top level, but they also have some bargain-priced machines if that will serve your needs.

Also, look at the notebooks if you can afford it. They're somewhat more expensive for the same amount of processor speed and memory, but they take up a lot less room in the house and are easier to move around if the kids want to write outdoors, take them to their bedrooms, sit with them in the living room, and the like.

[Salvation]

I would get a Dell

[snooker]

Go here http://www.tigerdirect.com/ and get a refurbed hp machine. 2ghz or better, 512m memory. Comes with full factory warranty. Cheap. Others sell refurbs, but I have dealt with these people at their store, so they are reasonable and established(as any PC vendor can be).

If you want a custom built, get a bare box version from http://www.zipzoomfly.com with a Intel board or ASUS AMD nforce2 board if you want AMD AthlonXP processor, which is just fine and will save a few hundred.

[Misplaced Texan]

I purchased an e-machine for my wife over two years ago because it was cheap and I thought if she got a year's use from it, the price was right. It is working great over 2 years later except that the the fan is noisy, but always has been.

Having said that, the next one I buy will be a Dell because I like the company better and I believe that the product is better.

Consider buying a couple of used Dells on eBay. You can probably find what you need for a good price and you don't need top of the line equipment for home use.