Dell and Emachines.

U

UnlimitedMP

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 8, 2004
Messages
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Every now and then, I see deals for these companies that list like either a a64 3200+ or 3.0 p4, 1 gig dual channel, lcd monitor, etc etc for ~600

Now, for a budget gaming system, it doesn't look that bad if you buy your own video card when there's one on sale (like that 9800 pro 256bit 130$).

Is there anything wrong with these parts? Are they cheap parts that don't work well? I know you can build it yourself with better parts but I dont' want to get into that.

Any experience with these budget machines would be appreciated. And I don't overclock.
 
Well, alot of times with the Dell and Emachines models, they use the lower qualities of the higher rated hardware. I'll elaborate - many Dells claim the Pentium 4 as the awesome, greatest processor to ever grace their proprietary machines. However, these same Pentium 4's are the Celeron versions, which are in no way NEAR the quality of their higher priced, Northwood "C" models, which are the processors with the 800 Mhz FSB.

It seems that nowadays, these manufacturers are using better components (Hell, Dell used to use thier own proprietary PSU's), but personally, I'd rather pay some more money and know that I have assembled a product FAR better than what I could acquire from Dell with the same amount of money. Plus, the software loaded on those machines is nothing short of infuriating.

Overall, I'd only advertise a Dell for someone that I can't specifically help much because of distance or if they're wanting a real budget system, which is what these manufacturers truly cater to. You still can make cheap machines that are pretty good, as outlined by [H]ardOCP's budget system guide, but some people just don't want to learn.

Dark Assassin
 
Also, many of these low budget machines have built-in video and thus your nice video card won't work.
 
What are you talking about? Wont work? As long as it has a pcie or agp slot, you can plug your card in and disable onboard video. Just make sure it has one of those, or go hunting for a pci video card, but they dont get much better than onbaords i've seen. Maybe an emachines doesnt have the slots, but the 4600 i ordered fro my grandfather for $325 AR did. but solitaire doesnt require much video resources.
 
Dark Assassin said:
Well, alot of times with the Dell and Emachines models, they use the lower qualities of the higher rated hardware. I'll elaborate - many Dells claim the Pentium 4 as the awesome, greatest processor to ever grace their proprietary machines. However, these same Pentium 4's are the Celeron versions, which are in no way NEAR the quality of their higher priced, Northwood "C" models, which are the processors with the 800 Mhz FSB.
Click to expand...
LOL Comedy post of the day.

Dell uses regular P4 chips... in fact they seem to get the cream of the crop, lowest TDP versions.

Maybe you've been in a deep freeze since the P3, but all Dell desktop P4 systems (SFF excluded, just like virtually all other SFF which use custom sized PSUs and boards) use standard ATX 12v PSUs (20- and 24-pin), standard memory slots, standard drives, etc. You can mount a microATX motherboard in virtually any Dell case. What's proprietary about that? LOL @ your post.
 
I'd rather get a basic barebones from someplace like MWave:

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=YB04

for example for $388.90 you get built:

AMD ATHLON 64 -939 SYSTEMS (BLACK)
ANTEC SLK1650B 350W
MSI K8N NEO4-F
AMD ATHLON 64 3000+
MWAVE 1GB DDR400(512MBX2)
MITSUMI 1.44 FDD
LITE ON 16X DVD
SKU: YB04 -BA20580 -BA21128 -BA20768 -BA08583-BA08583 -AA17310 -AA13850

then add some bits and pieces for an ok budget gaming computer::

LEADTEK GF6600 128MB PCI-E DDR W/TV & DVI # PX6600TD (Retail) $129.00 SKU: AA30260
WD 160GB 1600BB UATA-100 7200RPM 2MB (Bare drive) $75.00 SKU: AA29230 -
HARMA HK810-360 PS2 KEYBOARD & MOUSE BUNDLE (Silver/Black) $9.90 SKU: AA22190

then just add an OS & Monitor. I do not like Dells/HP/Compaq type systems myself.
 
Most of the time when they have those super deals, it's pretty hard to beat; especially when you consider that you get Win XP with it which can normally cost you an extra ~$120 when you build a new system on your own.
 
Dark Assassin said:
Well, alot of times with the Dell and Emachines models, they use the lower qualities of the higher rated hardware. I'll elaborate - many Dells claim the Pentium 4 as the awesome, greatest processor to ever grace their proprietary machines. However, these same Pentium 4's are the Celeron versions, which are in no way NEAR the quality of their higher priced, Northwood "C" models, which are the processors with the 800 Mhz FSB.

It seems that nowadays, these manufacturers are using better components (Hell, Dell used to use thier own proprietary PSU's), but personally, I'd rather pay some more money and know that I have assembled a product FAR better than what I could acquire from Dell with the same amount of money. Plus, the software loaded on those machines is nothing short of infuriating.

Overall, I'd only advertise a Dell for someone that I can't specifically help much because of distance or if they're wanting a real budget system, which is what these manufacturers truly cater to. You still can make cheap machines that are pretty good, as outlined by [H]ardOCP's budget system guide, but some people just don't want to learn.

Dark Assassin
Click to expand...

Alot of the models that are like 600 they don't come with AGP slots. They are all PCI.
 
If you want to know about what slots you have in addition to the (probably) integrated video on those machines, just give them a call. Even your average Dell tech can read that off the spec sheet for you....
 
Yeah I got screwed over. My dad bought a Dell with only PCI so make sure that doesn't happen to you. Now I am stuck with intergrated video! :(
 
Yeah I was thinking of buying a PCI card. But I decided on just building myself a computer. LOL

Might be alil more but I thnk I will be happier.
 
Dark Assassin said:
. However, these same Pentium 4's are the Celeron versions, which are in no way NEAR the quality of their higher priced, Northwood "C" models, which are the processors with the 800 Mhz FSB.
Click to expand...

There are so many things which are wrong with this statement....

If Dells used cheapo version of Intel processors, than why does my Dell include an Intel 630 with 2mb L2 cache(hardly what I call crippled), and all those other fancy extensions Intel uses in their "normal" Prescotts?

Case in point, Dell does not use inferior parts. The memory is made by Samsung, as are the optical drives. The only things that are "noname" brands are the motherboards and the psu. Dell PSU although may be proprietary, they're still enough to run a Prescott and X800Xl without any stability issues.
 
Blah425 said:
Alot of the models that are like 600 they don't come with AGP slots. They are all PCI.
Click to expand...


Actually thye USUALLY have them. It's cheaper to produce mobos all the same.
 
pxc said:
LOL Comedy post of the day.

Dell uses regular P4 chips... in fact they seem to get the cream of the crop, lowest TDP versions.

Maybe you've been in a deep freeze since the P3, but all Dell desktop P4 systems (SFF excluded, just like virtually all other SFF which use custom sized PSUs and boards) use standard ATX 12v PSUs (20- and 24-pin), standard memory slots, standard drives, etc. You can mount a microATX motherboard in virtually any Dell case. What's proprietary about that? LOL @ your post.
Click to expand...
Seriously....they'd get sued if they were actually using Celerons and labeling it as a P4! :rolleyes: There's no "celeron version" of the P4...the P4 is the P4!

EDIT: I just read someones post about the "no name" mobo...normally, Dell and Emachines will use an Intel board and chipset (makes it cheaper, bulk mobo+proc=cheaper for Dell or Emachines=cheaper for consumer)
 
I'm not sure what these links are supposed to show. Yes, there are Celerons based on the P4 core. Nobody will dispute that. Yes, Dell and eMachines put them in their low end computers, but they clearly state that the processors are celerons. So yeah. I'm not sure what your point is.

/edit:
OK, I sort of get what you are saying. It is sort of confusing what celeron is what. They say P4 just to differentiate with a P3 cored Celeron. Even I get confused with the celeron nomenclature sometimes especially with the mobile ones. I mean, what a Celeron-M vs. Mobile Celeron can be confusing if you aren't careful. I wouldn't get upset if people described the computer as having a northwood celeron vs. dothan celeron.
 
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