Comments on: Get a new eMachines laptop for $349.99

As well-equipped as machines costing hundreds more, the eMachines eME625-5192 has everything most mainstream users need. The sole shortcoming: Vista Home Basic.

[longveu]

This makes Amazon's pricing strategy for the Kindle (in any flavor) all the more difficult to understand. I mean, you can download and read books from the Kindle library to this plus have a fully functional computer (including *ahem* native PDF support) for up to $130 less. And what do you lose? Whispernet access and, errr....

[yottabyte21]

... and er... The ridiculously long battery life of the kindle compared to even a netbook coupled with a 6cell battery is what else you lose.

[Nychocolips]

ARRRRRRGH!!!!! DAMN DAMN DMAN. I was liking it. But no firewire port. May pull the trigger anyway and follow your windows 7 idea. It appeals to me. :)

Cheers.

[bennywhatever]

This is a pretty sweet deal. Kinda bummed there's no firewire, but that's to be expected. The only thing that turns me off is the slow processor...

[GJFrye]

yeah, that's the only thing that's keeping me from buying it....

[JDawg1983]

I just ordered the Dell Inspiron 15n on Sunday. I upgraded to the t4200 processor that was recommended, added a gig of ram, and a 6-cell battery, and the WLED screen. Should I have waited to get this instead? If i don't like the linux os that it comes with, i'll probably be going to the windows 7 beta.

[yoyojam55]

Don't feel bad about going for the 15n, the processor in this is probably around as fast as an atom (more likely slower. The 3GB of ram will make it faster than a netbook, but I still wouldn't recommend windows 7 on here.

[wiredchicken]

Wow incredible, better then a netbook!

[dupublic]

Inspiron 15n is a better deal imo. Upgrade to t4200 and WLED which is extra $60. Don't upgrade RAM, prices are less in retail channel. WLED will save battery time and you'll have 2x cpu power over eMachines. Too bad 15n doesn't come with 5-in-1 card slot, you'll have to use USB to connect camera.

[Forked_Tongue]

Agreed, for the price the Dell is a much better deal once you go dual core, if you're replacing an older machine you can reuse it's xp home key as well if you want to replace Ubuntu (running single core with Vista is foolish) or run win7 instead.

[typicalgamer]

cool. needed a new laptop.

[montex66]

I can't wait to see how selling this super-cheap laptop is going to help Dell's meager profit margins. Or maybe it just doesn't matter if Dell's shareholders pull in any coin. I'm sure they are comfortable in knowing that their money is being well cared for.

I have an idea. How about if Michael Dell sells off the company and give the money back to the shareholders. ;-)

[logos]

I thought this was a great deal for my dad that does some surfing, plays a few videos and with the larger 15.6 screen it'll be good for his eyes. He's been running an old compaq 600mhz laptop with a 12.1 inch screen, so this should be an improvement. I'll put on Windows 7, tweak it a bit and hopefully I'll have no regrets with the purchase. For $350 which includes the shipping, I can't really go wrong with this especially for someone with modest needs.

[LaTene_Man]

E-Machines doesn't have the best reputation for quality. Anyone out there actually have one of these? Can they comment on quality? Pack in the late 90's, early 2000's, eMachines was a joke. Have they gotten better lately?

[SHADuck]

gateway is now owned and run by Acer, probably not the same company in earlier times

[LaTene_Man]

Gateway, Acer? I'm asking about e-Machines. Does Acer own both now? Acer has its own reputation to worry about.

[leganx]

I still have an emachine laptop that I bought back in august of 2004. It is still running but here is my review on the problems of quality of this particular laptop:

-I used it to travel for a bit, I went from US to India, europe, and some travel inside the US. So within months it developed cracks on the hinges for the lcd display. It never broke off as I gave it desk duty after two years of using to travel. I bought a lighter laptop two years ago for my travels.


- the other thing is that it had a temperature sensor problem, or so I guess, that would shutdown the laptop at power up 1 out of three times I turned it on. this problem showed up withing the first month after I bought it. I lived with it until it broke down completely, I send it back to them for repair and since them it is working better.

So, yes it is an OK laptop, it had some cheap build choices, such as the weak hinges. But ohter than that it runs windows xp ok. And like I said, it still runs to this day. And as long as keep it on desk duty, it should last me a year or two more.

[abundantsnotbob]

I had an emachine desktop, but the power supply died.

[rickbroida]

I've seen that happen in countless desktops. Not a brand flaw. :)

[unwritten_law9]

Rick. I have a question for you. I pulled the trigger on the lexmark z1480 in October. It was from circut city which is now the new tiger direct. The thing is the ink for that printer was circut city exclusive. I looked around and all i could find was Lexmark selling cartridges for $20-25 a pop. Add that up and it's more then I paid for the printer. So how do we cheapskates buy ink? Any inside secrets or is it better just to buy a new printer?

[molotov]

Take a trip out to West Africa iron ore mines. All the minerals to make your own ink you want and then, how Borat says; you're rich man!

[rickbroida]

I almost always use third-party and/or remanufactured cartridges. That said, I don't do much color printing (we order photos online or print them at the drugstore), so I don't have to worry about color fidelity, fading, etc.

[LaTene_Man]

There are tons of third party manufacturers out there. Most of the manufacturers will say that it voids the warranty on the printer, but hey, whatever. I use manufacturer ink for the 90 day warranty or so and then switch to third-party stuff. There's a place here in my town that refills them for a fair price too, and reset the little chip that says there's no ink (when there is). Epson is in court about that by the way.

I've been told that if you print very infrequently, that HP printers are your best choice because the print head is sort of in the cartridges. Don't know if that's true.

Then there's Kodak, their ink is much less expensive and lasts longer. If you print a lot, and I do mean a lot, laser printers are more cost effective. Toner is much less expensive per sheet printed than inkjet ink.

[unwritten_law9]

I am kind of a rare printer. I use my schools printers to print almost everything and I only use mine for those last minute late night papers. So where do you purchase these 3rd party or remanufactured cartridges?

[tlittlelex]

If you'll contact me at [e-mail], I'll be happy to suggest ways to maximize your ink investment and advise you where you can find ink for your printer.

[cradddockjustin]

Seems like a great deal. Not sure I would trust e-machine over a Dell or HP laptop. I'm may purchase a mini-laptop and just move on.

[logos]

I took an extended three year warranty out on it, so I've got nothing to lose. As for Dell, don't get me started. My M1330 has had two motherboard failures due to the Nvidia GPU chip issue. I've got a non working Matash ita DVD drive that failed just after the warranty was up and I've got 2 USB ports where I have to remove the battery and the power supply from it every other week for USB to be recognized by external devices.....and to think I originally paid $2000 for that notebook. Paying $350.00 doesn't seem like too much of a risk especially with an extended warranty and reliability that can't be any worse than my Dell.

[yacahuma]

Are they disposable?

[ospideyo]

I bet you could cook dinner before this machine finishes booting. I really can not stand slow unresponsive computers.

[spamblocker]

I have had two eMachines desktops. They were both absolutely junk and any money I saved up front was quickly eaten up by upgrades, repairs and replacement parts. Save yourself money and a mountain of headaches by going to a reputable manufacturer. eMachines is so bad I will not even by Compaq, the company that purchased eMachines, for fear their shoddy products have infected the new parent.

[sweaty_taco]

I can't believe you used "lappie". I'm surprised you didn't end the article with "cheers, I'm going to strap on my Chucks, throw on my messenger bag, and hop on my fixie, and go the the drinking well and have me a pint".

[phigata]

mmmmm. pints.

Awesome deal. I jumped on it. Thanks for the heads up Rick.

[paulimusmaximus]

That's a good deal, but with that processor, I'd probably pass. I'm surprised the the large amount of ram and large hard drive for the price though. They shoulda made it $379 or $399 and gave you a way better processor. And I agree with some of the comments on here, I know some people who bought emachines and they were total garbage. That was a long time ago, but I'd still be very wary.

[SilentSkies2889]

"Quote from spamblocker: I have had two eMachines desktops. They were both absolutely junk and any money I saved up front was quickly eaten up by upgrades, repairs and replacement parts. Save yourself money and a mountain of headaches by going to a reputable manufacturer. eMachines is so bad I will not even by Compaq, the company that purchased eMachines, for fear their shoddy products have infected the new parent."

WTH? get your facts straight, maybe because they were junk to you because you didn't know how to use them. Compaq is owned by HP. eMachines is owned by ACER/Gateway.