Great PC for under $500
Written: Jan 13 '04
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Pros: DVD, CD-RW, Processor speed
Cons: Monitor and modem that are bundled with it are low quality.
The Bottom Line: Good PC for internet browsing, occasional greeting card or photo editing, and light gaming.
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| gilesdad's Full Review: eMachines T2245 PC Desktop |
I must confess that I was upgrading from an MSI computer that boasted a 166 MHZ processor and only 2 gig hard drive. I saw the ad in a Best Buy sales circular in May 2003. The emachine has 2.2 ghz Intel Celeron processor, 40 GB of hard drive space, a DVD player and CD-RW. It was priced at $499 following a bunch of rebates and Best Buy was offering 24 months to pay.
If I only made minimum payments it'd be about $20/month. I figure I can pay this off and buy another when the same deal comes along some day. My computers will never be obsolete. I've been blown away by the emachine. Remember....I'm comparing it to my old 166 MHz processor. The pros include faster tasking, making my own cd's, and the free cd-roms that my kids get out of cereal boxes can actually be run on the computer instead of being put on a shelf and me saying "someday we'll get a faster computer". The cons include the modem. Although it connects at about 48 kbps it often disconnects and has to redial. That never happened with the other computer. So I upgraded the modem recently to take care of that problem. The 17" monitor is not real crisp. I've gotten used to it but it was noticeable when I first turned it on. Edges of icons and fonts are a bit fuzzy but nothing major. (I was looking at some $600-$1000 monitors in Circuit City last week. JUST LOOKING! Amazing clarity and crispness of colors) The 3.5 inch floppy works but seems a bit finicky in what it wants to do. Sometimes it demands that the diskette be formatted. Then it refuses to format or hangs up and keeps driving without results. But if I ever wanted to I could upgrade the floppy drive for $10. This is a great computer for someone who does an occassional resume, greeting card, internet surf, and light gaming. Not sure if the machine is even still made but I'd give it a thumbs up.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: 201-300
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
gilesdad
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Location: Central Illinois
Reviews written: 6
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