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Computer Woes

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
Thursday afternoon, I ran out to Walmart to pick up the new PC and microwave that we ordered and had delivered to the store. Got them home, got the microwave set up, got the PC set up. Fired up the computer...a quad core E-Machine with Win 7 Home Premium. It fired up, but Windows failed to boot. After a few hard boots, a boot recovery activated and Windows booted up and ran fine. Deb used the system for a while, and liked it. She was so happy to be using a much faster system and loving the 19 inch Acer monitor that we bought to go with the system.

Friday morning, Deb fired up her system..and again Windows failed to boot up. Again, a few hard reboots and a boot recovery utility kicked in and got the system going. Same thing happened this morning. So, I box the system up, drove it back to Walmart and got our money back...well, it was credited to our credit card and can take up to 7 days to actually be back in our account...depending on how fast the card company and bank process the credit.

Came home and got on Newegg.com to price some parts to build Deb a new system. Right at 390 bucks to build a system....quad core AMD, 2 gig of DDR3 RAM, new MOBO and PSU.

Then I looked at some of the system they had and found a Lenovo something or other system. Faster quad-core AMD processor, 3 gig DDR RAM, 500gig SATA HD, plenty of USB ports and space for expansions. Win 7 Home Premium. $370 free shipping. We ordered it. It will be here in 3 or 4 days.

I know a lot of people have been happy with E-Machines...but not us....this was our first and last experience with an E-Machine. Cheap...for a reason.

OBIO
 
I've gotten all my pooter hardware through Newegg, everything's worked fine out of the box. My son has ordered me stuff (gifts) from TigerDirect (his preference) and no prob with their stuff either, except for the Seagate internal HD I replaced in January but not TigerDirect's fault that it went bad.
 
I can't count the number of E-Machines I have had to rebuild before the first of service was up. They use very cheap power supplies, RAM, and motherboards. Sorry you had to experience it.
Ted
 
E-Machines are total junk, too many complaints, too many failures, I wouldn't touch one with Txnetcop's finger. I know some computer technicians who feel the same way.

Yes, you are usually better off building your own when it comes to desktop systems. I'm still not a big fan of AMD systems, Intel just seems to be in the lead when it comes to multi-core CPU's.
 
Gdavis101 said:
Easier and cheaper to build your own, never buy an E-Machine!
Click to expand...

I can attest to that. Years ago, I bought an e-Machine. The first one I brought home would not even power up, so I took it back. The second one I brought home (exchanged for) powered up OK but like OBIO's machine... wouldnt load Windows up. I'll never buy another.

BB686:USA-flag:
 
stansdds said:
E-Machines are total junk, too many complaints, too many failures, I wouldn't touch one with Txnetcop's finger. I know some computer technicians who feel the same way.

Yes, you are usually better off building your own when it comes to desktop systems. I'm still not a big fan of AMD systems, Intel just seems to be in the lead when it comes to multi-core CPU's.
Click to expand...

Mostly I agree with what you have to say about AMD vs Intel. Given a choice I now almost always choose Intel, however the new Phenom II X6 1075T, 1090T, 1100T are truly outstanding bargains when it comes to price/performance and have stood up to very rigorous testing stock and overclock. The motherboards are really nice and full featured, but in all honesty none of them are as fast as the new Sandybridge and i7 Core units. But a nice choice for a second computer you use for light to moderate gaming and office.
Ted
 
Friend of mine that runs a computer repair shop jokes that he likes e-Machines. They keep him in business.
 
Boy, this is a real bummer, I have been using a old E-machine for a year and a half with no problems..
I hope this piece of junk doesn't down down anytime soon, it was all I could afford when I got this and there is no way I can replace this..It was a couple of years old when I got it..
I am grateful just to have it..

But if these are as bad as you all say a HouseHobbit might only be here a limited time..
Boy this has me worried now..
Big Bummer...
 
Hobbit

I have seen E-machines that are solid and reliable, and I have seen E-Machines that are junk. My mother-in-law has an E-Machine (Celeron based...slowest computer in the world) that has given rock solid performance for the last 4 or 5 years. One of Deb's aunts has an E-Machine that has been rock solid for 4 years...other than all the trojans and viruses she picks up because she is a total dufus and clicks every YES button that pops up on her screen. My brother-in-law bought two new E-Machines 3 or 4 years ago....his went belly up due to a blown MOBO capacitor (I replaced the MOBO with a new MSI unit and all is good) while his wife's (Deb's sister) has run like as steady as a fine Swiss watch.

E-Machines are like Chevy Corsicas....either you got a good one and it will run forever or you got a bad one and it broke down every other day. Hopefully you got a good one.

OBIO
 
Hmmm... I've had several eMachines over the years, and none of 'em have given me a lick of trouble. In fact, my main development machine (the one I'm typing on in fact) has been running pretty much 24/7 for the past three+ years!

eMachines ET1161-05
AMD Athlon LE-1640 2.60 GHz
4.00 GB
Vista Home Basic 32-bit, SP2
140 GB C-Drive

The only changes I've made over the years was to replace the original 2GB of RAM with a matched pair of 2GB Corsair sticks, add a 150 GB secondary SATA hard drive, and upgrade the power supply to an 850 watt unit.

However, I do know that over the years eMachines have produced some truly awful POS's...
 
I wouldn't buy an Emachine, nor would I buy a computer at Walmart. I have no beef with Walmart, shop there all the time, just not for electronics. They have a price point they insist manufacturers meet, so the exact same gear sold to Walmart can have cheaper parts than sold elsewhere.

I have purchased my last two desktop 'puters refurbished from ecost.com and they've both been excellent. Both HP AMD quad-core machines. The only complaint is my current one takes a LONG time to boot. It sits on the blue boot-up screen for a full 30 seconds, then begins the boot process. It takes almost two full minutes to get to the desktop. Could use a larger PSU also.
 
I feel the same way about my Gateway I got 2 years ago... All the specs were pretty darn good when I bought it, Quad Core, 8 gigs of RAM, nVidia GT120 card, TV tuner.... for about $780..... But I'll never get another Gateway... The thing overheats in about 30 seconds!!!!!!!!!!! I actually have it, w/ the case on, with a desktop fan sitting next to it... doesn't overhead that way.. but still..... It was an obvious design flaw...
 
Witt, for 700 bucks you could have built one that's a srcreamer. I'll never buy another desktop computer out of any store. Home-built is the only way to go. If I can do it anyone can. ;) And I'm old. LOL
 
GT182 said:
Witt, for 700 bucks you could have built one that's a srcreamer. I'll never buy another desktop computer out of any store. Home-built is the only way to go. If I can do it anyone can. ;) And I'm old. LOL
Click to expand...

The nice thing about building your own is the education you get concerning which component parts work best together or power/price/performance. You have an upgradeable unit and you will know where the weaknesses are in your system that need to be upgraded as time goes on. For instance the 775 socket Intel units were upgradeable for almost 5 years that makes makes your initial cash outlay hurt a little less. The i5 and i7 Core will have about the same amount of time for upgrading. AMDs have had even longer upgrade cycles because of AM2+ and AM3 motherboards!
Ted
 
True Ted. And it can be one heck of an education too. LOL You've gotta put lots of thought into what you want and want it to do..... just like picking the right woman. ;) LOL
 
GT182 said:
True Ted. And it can be one heck of an education too. LOL You've gotta put lots of thought into what you want and want it to do..... just like picking the right woman. ;) LOL
Click to expand...


I've screwed that last part up a couple of times...besides computers are much more predictable..at least as opposed to some women. Sorry no offense meant ladies!
 
I think the next one I will build from scratch... Problem was, I would have maybe done that, but at the time I took advantage of Best Buy's 24 month financing... Also, I just didn't have anyone to help me put it all together....

-witt
 
Never seen a E-Machine I liked. I have an old Gateway 500x running XP SP2 and Gateway FX6840 running Win7 no SP. I think the FX6840 has an boot prob some times. I think it has to do ATI graphic card. I have no idea how to update the damm driver for graphic card.
 
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