Computer for my Grandsons

I personally do not recommend E-Machines, or similar low end PCs.

Functionally, they are fairly limited to word processing, web surfing, and "simple" games.

The bundled printers are usually of low resolution, and ink hogs too boot.

Further,if anything breaks, it is often cheaper to replace the machine then to repair it.

The problems with them include:
Celeron Processors
On-Board graphics, sound and modems!
Non-standard components.

I would not be afraid to test one of my custom built AMD 1GHz system against any E-Machine, and I am confident that my system would have better performance for the same or lower price.

Keep in mind, as your grandsons get older, they will want to play the more elaborate games, and will be disapointed thet they won't run well, if at all, on their computer.

Chas

There's nothing wrong with purchasing these machines and configuring them however you want. Games will work just fine on them, and usually all the drivers for all the OSes are provided on the cd that comes with these now.

I have recently purchased a machine with linux on it. Installed Win98SE (all the drivers came with the box) and totally have had absolutely no problem with it. This computer is a PIII, 733 MHZ, 128MB RAM and 40 GB storage. It cost $199.

I purchased 4 E-machines for our place of business. I have had to replace the power supply on 2 of them, Keyboards on 2 of them, update the motherboard and memory on one and the other one is working fine. It depends on your knowledge of PC's and your ability to work on them. They are easy to work on with the way they are laid out inside. Good luck with your decision.

Tell me a computer to purchase that would not be so expenive...and then printer and monitor???? thank you

All of the above answers are fine. If you are not comfortable buying the lower end E-machine, you could go for a name brand PC that is being pushed to make way for the new Pentium 4's. Both Gateway and Dell have great deals going on right now on new PC's and the support for non-techies is good, but both have lengthy waits on the phone in support (they all do).

The best part is that the support is geared to those who do not build and configure pc's all the time, and perhaps worth a few moredollars. However, I do believe that you can get pretty close to $500 from one of them.

Good luck and best wishes!

I too would shy away from Emachines. I have found that Emachines are what Packard Bell was when they were still in business. If you are not comfortable going to a shop and having them build a system to order then you may be uncomfortable with Dell or Gateway. It might be best to purchase an off the shelf system. This gives you vendor as well as manufacturer support. The tough thing will be deciding what you want/need in a system. Keep your eyes open as some of these systems have limited capability for expansion. Hope this helps.

Considering that you're purchasing a first computer for 2 young kids an e-machine wouldn't be a bad system for them to start with and learn on. The techies on this site will lead suggest buy what they like based on performance and all the other hypeand the arguments on what's better could go on forever. The e-machines are basically designed and built for what you're going to do with it. An affordable home system that a family can enjoy for a couple of years. As the kids grow older and want to play the latest games etc., any computer made today will be outdated. So keeping in mind that it's a beginning computer and it'll work just fine for what they'll be doing is the reason that I wouldn't hesitate to get the guys an e-machine.

Make sure and purchase any extended warranty offered :)

If you're looking to purchase a computer, rather than build your own, I would recommend purchasing a PC from Dell. Where I work we have machines from Dell, Compaq, and a few older Gateway machines. And barring any major issues from end-users, I have found that the Dell boxes are a lot more reliable, and when necessary, easier to work on and in.

Dear Kiddo52,
you should choose Petium4 with RD Ram coz next generation applications would need best perfomance. and be include DVD Rom that's importance for Kids too.
be luck,
L.Seng Du.

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