PC Help...should I buy this cheap crappy PC?

Okay, here's the deal. I've got an aging 1.8 ghz Athlon that I've been looking at upgrading, and I've come across this:

http://www.emachines.com/products/pr...tml?prod=T5274

Now, I know emachines are pieces of crap, but I can get this thing for $200 new, and I can't do the upgrades for that. The only thing right off that I would need is to add a video card to it, and put my old sound card in one of the PCI slots since I despise onboard sound.

Unfortunately, my PC knowledge has atrophied, so I thought I would check to see if there's any reason not to jump on this.

You get what you pay for.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GohanX

Okay, here's the deal. I've got an aging 1.8 ghz Athlon that I've been looking at upgrading, and I've come across this:

http://www.emachines.com/products/pr...tml?prod=T5274

Now, I know emachines are pieces of crap, but I can get this thing for $200 new, and I can't do the upgrades for that. The only thing right off that I would need is to add a video card to it, and put my old sound card in one of the PCI slots since I despise onboard sound.

Unfortunately, my PC knowledge has atrophied, so I thought I would check to see if there's any reason not to jump on this.

---

For $200 I think it is worth it. Emachines was bought out years ago (by Gateway I think) and their quality is not nearly as poor as it used to be.

Upgrade the video for sure and it's not bad for $200.

If you only kept the OS, motherboard and RAM it would be worth that cost.

I would put serious thought into a cheap Core2Duo though. You could pot a 1333Mhz sucker in that puppy for about 100 bucks.

Okay, I decided to pick up the system. Even if it turns out to be crap, I really need to learn the ins and outs of Vista if I plan on getting any kind of tech job in the near future. I've got it on hold, waiting for tomorrow (Sunday) when it goes on clearance.

For the record, the $200 price is at OfficeMax retail stores. As far as I know, it should be nationwide, although my store only had one in stock, it's not an advertised deal. The delivery center had a ton, but I'm not sure if it would be the same price.

Okay, bought the computer, and I'm happy. As expected, the integrated audio and video cards are complete crap, but I threw in an old Audigy card and I'm going to order a new video card for it.

It's kind of funny, Vista is super fast doing some things, and super slow doing others due to the nice combination of fast CPU, a ton of ram, and a crappy video card. It does run much better since I've been tweaking it.

I think I'm going to pick up one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121250 (gaming performance isn't a big deal for me.)

Might want to look at the 4350/4550. They run at or under $35/55.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3420&p=1

If you know something is cheap and crappy then what is wrong with you that you can't actually make a decision on whether or not to buy it?

Do you ask passers-by if you should shove a handful of shit in your mouth just because it's cheap and available?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by omfgninjas

If you know something is cheap and crappy then what is wrong with you that you can't actually make a decision on whether or not to buy it?

Do you ask passers-by if you should shove a handful of shit in your mouth just because it's cheap and available?

---

Like in the first post I mentioned, I'm not really current on PC stuff anymore since I've been out of the PC repair/sales game since a bit before dual core stuff became mainstream. I was checking to see if any of our fine friends here in TNL that likely knows more about the given subject could point me in a better direction if needed. For all I know, someone could have popped in and said "Yeah, the motherboard in that computer gives you herpes if you watch porn on it" or something.

I'm actually surprised at how non-crappy the computer is. I could build something for a few hundred more bucks that would be a lot better, but screw spending any real money on what is basically my home's file server.