A usable, cheap laptop
Written: Feb 21 '04
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Pros: Cheap, Feature Rich, Great Display, Plenty fast for just about everyone.
Cons: The K-Mart brand name and the AMD cpu
The Bottom Line: If you want a great laptop for a cheap price, and can stand your geek friends taunting you about the brand name, then get it.
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| SomeNYCGuy's Full Review: eMachines M5309 PC Notebook |
This is probably my 5th laptop, and actually the second one I use currently. I have an IBM Thinkpad R40 laptop purchased by my company, and recently got the M5309 for personal use.
I teach courses on computer programming, and need a laptop of my own for in-class demonstrations. I also ride a motorcycle, so I have always purchased Ultra-lights in the past, paying a premium for the ultra light weight. But, you can only spend $1600 for a laptop so many times to see it get out dated in a year or two.
When my curriculum changed so that I needed to start teaching Microsoft Visual Studio.Net, I quickly discovered that my old Fujitsu P2040 (933MHz Crusoe CPU) simply wasn't up to snuff. Although it was under 3 pounds (with optical drive removed, it simply didn't have the performance needed anymore.
Having two kids, I decided I couldn't afford a slick ultra portable anymore (I will miss the 'Hey, that’s a cool laptop' comments), so I started looking for a 'main stream' notebook, which was in the 6 to 7 pound range. I had the following criteria:
1. Could not weigh more than the R40 at 6.6 pounds.
2. Had two have a 2Gig or better CPU
3. Needed 40 Gig or more of disk space
4. Needed at least 256Meg, hopefully 512Meg of memory
5. Needed VGA connector, without a dongle or adaptor
6. Needed USB 2.0 connectors
7. Needed DVD and CD/RW drive
8. Needed WiFi connectivity, or PCMCIA slot (I already had a card).
9. Needed Ethernet LAN connection
10. Battery life of 3 hours or more
With the above criteria, I started scouring the CNet reviews. I didn't set a price for myself, but was thinking in the $1200 range, and willing to be flexible in some of the above areas.
I looked at *every* laptop on paper: Toshiba, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Gateway, Medion, Sager, etc. The problem with the larger names is that while the 'intro' price fit my needs, by the time I added all my desired features I found that I was in the $1600 category (at which I would have just gotten another Fujitsu).
Most of the cheaper Toshibas, Compaq/HPs were out because of their weight, though their features were acceptable. The IBMs, because of their price (though I like my R40, it is my second Thinkpad to experience an annoying 'extreme slowdown' problem, so that too made me cross it off my list). The Dells were out because of the delivery time, and partially their price (the M600 looks good).
I kept going back and forth: Start with the lowest price, and see how I could add the features I wanted. I have Wifi and Ethernet PCMCIA cards, and I'm not afraid to upgrade the laptop hard drive myself, so I was trying to get every combination I could think of.
It finally boiled down to two choices: The Gateway M305XL and the eMachines M5309. The eMachines was lower in price (after rebate) by about $150, and had everything I wanted. Some of the key points in comparing the two were the following:
Gateways price of about $1200 vs. eMachines $949.
Gateways 40 Gig drive vs. eMachines 60.
Gateways lack of Firewire, vs. eMachines included one.
Gateways 1024x768 resolution vs. eMachines 1280x800.
Gateways 256M RAM vs. eMachines 512 Meg
Gateways 2.4G P4M vs. eMachines AMD 2500+M
Gateways 6.1 pound weight vs. eMachines 6.6 pounds
Gateways 14" width vs. eMachines 15" (note higher resolution above)
Gateway support and reliability vs. eMachines
Of all the above items, the eMachines won all but the last 3 items. And for these, I decided that they were close enough to not be a problem. The two biggest negatives I saw in the eMachines, was the brand name and the AMD processor. As to the AMD, I figured that it would be fast enough, considering I was coming from a 933MHz Crusoe and I don't play games with the laptop.
The Gateway did have one nice feature: It had flash card readers like SmartMedia and SD where the eMachines didn't. Nice, but I doubt I would have used it much.
I tried not to compare actual performance benchmark numbers, as I know these can be misleading. In fact, basic notebook performance reviews are very misleading. When I read how someone says a P4 2 Gigahertz laptop is good for web surfing and emailing, I have to laugh. These are the same things that my old Pentium 0.1G (100 MHz) used to do without a problem. As time goes on, and faster computers are released, we become snobs towards slower yet still very-capable machines.
I typically can have 4 or 5 programs running during usage, and my 933MHz would often have Visual C++, Microsoft Word, Microsoft SQL Server, and IIS all running, and it never seemed slow at all (until Visual Studio.Net came out, taking up 10 times the memory of its predecessor).
So, I decided that performance would be acceptable for my use. Then, there was the brand name. I mean, this thing is sold in K-Mart. This isn't very cool. But I decided that I could live without the coolness factor so my kids could have some more toys. Another interesting point was that in the CNet user opinions, the eMachines had a 96% approval rating (out of 55 users), which blew away every other rating.
I did go and look at the Gateway 305XL in person, and also decided that the case was just plain ugly, and the display seemed of poor contrast and washed out. So, I went to Best Buy, bought the eMachines for $1199, and filed for the $250 in rebates, for a total of $949.
First, I should say that the computer worked on startup perfectly, and that if you wanted to just start using it, it would have been great. However, I had to install Windows XP Pro for work, so I completely wiped out everything on the hard drive. Typical end users won't need to do this, and I was actually pleased to see that the default setup from eMachines didn't include alot of the extra junk I've found on other computers ('free' software and ads from companies).
When I installed my XP Pro, I was surprised that the modem, ethernet card, and video card were not recognized by Windows. This is pretty unusual, so I went to the eMachines download site, where I was unable to find drivers (serious oversight since the computer is on their home page). I downloaded the drivers for the M5310, and they all worked fine. I actually also tried to load the drivers from their backup disks, and found that it looks like what is labeled 'Disk 2 of 3' is actually a duplicate of disk 1 (it says 'please look on Disk 2 for these files'). Disk 3 however had everything I needed.
I then installed Office XP, Visual Studio.Net, SQL Server developer edition, IIS, and several other tools that I use like InstallShield Express, CodeWarrior 9.2, Visual Studio 6, Embedded Visual Tools, Power DVD player, etc.
When all was said and done, things went quite smoothly. Still wanting to 'burn in' the machine, I would leave the machine on for about 12 hours a day the first couple days, while I installed the software. No heating issues, everything worked fine.
I then ran every major application I had, at the same time. Something I doubt anyone would ever want to do, and then I tested the speed of Visual Studio.Net while these other 7 or 8 major applications were running. It ran fine.
I did have some quircks with my WiFi card the first day, but then tried again a day or so later and it has worked fine since. That may have been a wireless network problem, nothing with the laptop, not sure.
I've used the Ethernet connection to copy about 8 gigs worth of my work and downloads to the computer, and for the first time have a laptop that can actually serve as my desktop replacement, without exception (I built my own 3.2G 1 Gig RAM, 260G hard drive PC).
I chose the M5309 over the M5310 because it was a 2500+ vs. 2400+ CPU. The M5310 has built-in wireless, but the M5309 was the same chassis, and it looked like I could add a miniPCI wireless card to get the same feature if I wanted.
So, machine wise, I couldn't ask for more (maybe lose a few pounds or a removable optical drive). But, this probably isn't really practical. With the saying 'you get what you pay for', I feel like I already got more than what I paid for.
So, I'm real happy with it, and I decide to try their tech support. I wanted to know if I can just add a miniPCI card for wireless. I go to their website to get the phone #, and note that they have a 'Help Chat' system, so I try that instead of a call. Within 2 minutes, I am chatting with a rep who tells me that the miniPCI can accept any universal miniPCI wireless card with a built-in antenna. That turn around, was amazing.
I've only had the machine for about 4 days, so I honestly can't speak for the reliability. I will probably get the $109 service plan from them, though the Best Buy salesperson basically called me a moron for not getting their service plan (though, he never actually asked me how I intended to use the computer, or for what purpose).
Here's a practical test: My 3.2 Gig P4 800MHz Bus desktop with 1 Gig RAM and WD 36G 10,000 RPM SATA drive takes about 4 seconds to load Visual Studio.Net, while the eMachines takes about 4. Then again, my desktop weighs about 30 pounds more and cost about $1200 more. Funny thing is, the Passmark performance benchmark software rates my desktop at almost twice as fast as the eMachines.
Quality wise, I wouldn't want to drop it, but I am also not to concerned about bits falling off. The lid is a little flimsy and you can see that with your fingers on the back of the lid when you close it, you can see fluctuation ('waves') on the LCD display.
So, trying to bring this all down to earth: Unless you are a serious gaming power snob, this computer is an incredible deal. And, if you want to spend an additional $1,000 for a faster computer so you can blow away nasty aliens, I'm not sure why you would purchase a laptop at all (does anyone really go to these LAN parties?).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 949
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
SomeNYCGuy
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Member: Mario G
Location: New York
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 3 members
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