PC Comparison

[MrOuija]

I was wondering if I could get some advice on a cheap PC. Intended uses are internet, audio/video playback, and light, non graphics intensive gaming. Which is the better value ?

 

http://www.amazon.com/eMachines-ET1831-07-...671&sr=1-40

 

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AX1301-U1302-De...e=UTF8&s=pc

[Typhoid Maxx]

I'd give the Acer the nod.

[Guest aevans]

I'd just go to Staples and get whatever low end HP laptop they're trying to clear out of inventory. I've done it twice so far in the last three years and have been satisfied both times.

[Phalanx]

The Acer is better on paper. A little more upgrade potential on the eMachines system over the Acer, though (which has virtually no room for upgrading - literally and figuratively).

[m1a1mg]

E-machines is really Gateway. Terrible, almost non-existent support.

 

Acer has some reliability issues.

 

Go with what evans said.

[EvanDP]

I was wondering if I could get some advice on a cheap PC. Intended uses are internet, audio/video playback, and light, non graphics intensive gaming. Which is the better value ?

 

http://www.amazon.com/eMachines-ET1831-07-...671&sr=1-40

 

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AX1301-U1302-De...e=UTF8&s=pc

 

If you want real cheap my local Fry's and BestBuys have Acer Aspire Revo's (D230 1.6Ghz Atoms with NVIDIA ION GPU) for $199. No built in DVD but they do handle the web and Spider Solitaire real well. A lot of people like them because they are about the size of a external HD and are very low noise (fanless).

 

http://us.acer.com/acer/productv.do?Langua...p;CRC=750687650

[MrOuija]

I'm surprised that it seems to be a unanimous decision for the Acer. I thought that the slightly more powerful E5400 processor would be the sticking point. The Acer has a few more USB ports, and a HDMI and firewire, although i'm not sure how much i'll use them. Can someone elaborate on anything i'm missing as to why the Acer would be the better purchase ? I know eMachines seems to have a mixed reputation, is that the biggest thing ? The graphics card comparison, Nvidia 7050 as opposed to the 9200, is there really that big a difference considering they're both integrated ? I wanted to stay away from a laptop because I wanted to pair the new computer with my old monitor, and since I don't have much use for mobile computing, the desktop seems to be bigger bang for the buck specs wise. Being able to upgrade the graphics card or RAM easily at a later date would also be nice. I have one more PC to submit for comparison (wanted to keep the price at about $400). Thankyou for all your replies.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Compaq-Presario-CQ53...2/ref=de_a_smtd

[Guest aevans]

You know, I just don't pay attention to hardware specs anymore, unless I'm specifying a web or database server, where throughput might really challenge the machine's capabilities. I mean, I run a lot of data mining and analysis aps at work that I think are clock cycle intensive. Heck, standard computational complexity theory says the should be. They barely register any CPU usage, and my desktop ain't anything special. There's really not that much to choose between CPUs these days for anyting an individual is likely to do on a home recreational machine. And if you're limiting your budget to $400, you're just not going to get high end graphics processing power. You're in the strictly commodity parts range. So buy the machine with the best reliability rep. (I don't trust any OEM's service department, no matter how good a reputation for customer service they're supposed to have.)