If you don't expect a $3,000 machine for $849...
Written: Jul 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of options for a low price.
Cons: Screen, touchpad, and limited RAM could use some work..
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| meltdowndave's Full Review: eMachines eSlate 450k |
...then this machine is for you. Otherwise, keep looking.
After you uninstall the bloat and unnecessary applications that eMachines preloads, upgrade the RAM to 96 MB (an additional $75 from Egghead.com), and patch Win 98 SE you should not have any use for the almost non-existent tech support.
The 450 Mhz AMD K2 will not perform a complete SETI@home work cycle in under 30 hours (running in the background full time, not as a screensaver) because of poor floating point performance. For the same reason, don't expect to get decent frame rates with any game newer than Tombraider III. But this is due to the older CPU design, and no fault of eMachines. Besides, who would expect a notebook to be able to handle the same apps as your main box anyway?
Likewise, the display, speakers, and touchpad will not win any awards. But then, what do you expect for $849 (again, Egghead.com). If you are after a no frills Word machine, then this is a tough deal to pass up.
Although I cannot say for certain, I think that if you do not install more RAM you will see more "blue screens of death" than you care to. Also, by not eliminating the "courtesy" software that the factory saw fit to pre-install, you could be causing yourself some grief.
If you know how to properly set up Windows and throw in an extra DIMM, the cost savings of this machine may well be worth it. On the other hand, if you are hesitant to go this extra mile then perhaps spending some extra cash on better system intergration and tech support may give you the piece of mind that you'd be missing if you picked the eSlate up.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 849
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD K-2
Processor speed: 401-500
Screen Size: 12"
RAM: 32
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 4-6
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Epinions.com ID:
meltdowndave
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 3 members
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