Bought an AMD64 machine today, worth it?

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: justly
Nice price there DuronBoy the only problem is you took my statment out of context. I said "if it fits your needs the way it is configured" and "it is hard to say you could make it much cheaper without using old hardware/software" so where are the speakers, keyboard, mouse, floppy drive and the other 40GB of hard drive space and 6MB of cache, not to mention the labor and waranty.

I also said "The only thing that would make a DIY Athlon 64 system better would be that you could tailor it to your specific needs" and you did just that when you substituted the hard drive, video card, case, optical drives, added fans and left off parts you didn't need.

For me, yes I could canabalize my old system and save a few bucks but that leaves me with parts instead of a whole system and some of the parts in my current system though functional are getting old enough that I probably wouldn't mind upgradeing them anyway. In my situation Boonesmi hit the nail right on th head with his comment "if you are not a gamer then an ati 9600 is more then enough, WAYYY more then enough. (yes there are actually people out there who need a fast cpu and dont play games)" nor do I need a DVD-R\+R\RAM. In fact the only things about it that I would want to change are so trivial that it really wouldn't matter.

Okay, problem solved. Now just find out which BestBuy he took it back to, because they obviously have one left for you to buy!

 

[Gudos]

good decision , learn to biuld it your self. DOWN WITH DELL DELL DELL!!!!!!! Dell for dummies!!!!! I say build it......

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: DuronBoy


Pricewatch is your friend.

rofl, pricewatch is a joke. If you give your money to the company with the lowest price on pricewatch, you might as well give your money to charity, because you'll never see your money again. If on the slight chance you actually recieve something, it will either take 4 weeks to send out or you will get the wrong item, most likely both.

If you MUST use pricewatch, use ResellerRatings.com to check the integrity of the company before you buy.

Pricewatch is a joke. Pay the extra 5 bucks and go with newegg and get the excellent service and quick shipping.

 

[alexruiz]

I guess emachines got their bad reputation building culerons....

The recent AMD machines are not bad at all.... The Athlon XP line uses NForce 2 mobos, maxtor/Wd hard drives and similar components....

I am assuming it is AT least a very decent machine..... Why don't you keep it for a few days? Test it, open it and see the interior, try to get the whole picture of the system..... See what kind of components are inside. you are the judge!

If you want to know if an Athlon 64 system is worth the money, I say yes! Just remember that being on the leading edge is not cheap.....

Alex

 

[Jeff7181]

Does eMachines use proprietary motherboards and power supplies like other companies?

 

[Richdog]

I opened up my friends eMachine PSU and found a hamster running around, powering a crude generator. I was appalled.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: daveymark

Originally posted by: DuronBoy


Pricewatch is your friend.

rofl, pricewatch is a joke. If you give your money to the company with the lowest price on pricewatch, you might as well give your money to charity, because you'll never see your money again. If on the slight chance you actually recieve something, it will either take 4 weeks to send out or you will get the wrong item, most likely both.

If you MUST use pricewatch, use ResellerRatings.com to check the integrity of the company before you buy.

Pricewatch is a joke. Pay the extra 5 bucks and go with newegg and get the excellent service and quick shipping.

It doesn't seem like he's ever actually bought anything through Pricewatch, or he would already know how most of the "companies" listed on it are about as reputable as a politician who's a used car salesman on the weekends...

 

[justly]

myocardia, how good of you to use a one liner on me then later turn around and agree that the person I was responding to was providing priceing information that even you wouldn't use. Seems you you are indirectly supporting what I said, like it or not.

 

[rgreen83]

Originally posted by: DuronBoy
edit: his profile shows a decent rig, he must have been drunk when he bought the emachine...

Originally posted by: DuronBoy
Do we really think this guy should build his own? His signature says, "Man I hate computers" and he bought an emachine...

No offense dude, but you should get a dell.

Yep, I did buy an emachine, for testing. Truth is I have a small company here in KC building custom rigs for people, and I only say I hate computers because I see them 60 hours a week, and my fiance less than that. Dont take it that I dont know what I am doing, I was trying to come off as average in knowledge because I, personally, was just curious about peoples views of the new processors and off the shelf PCs. I dont really think it matters how someone got there computer as long as it meets there needs, for me personally I build them, but for most people it is easier in the long run for them to have someone else build them.

As far as emachines and dell and such go, I think they provide an invaluable service for the average user and I have bought things for myself from them before, simply because I couldnt build it/buy it cheaper. As far as how my testing went, the machine ran great and I know that since I am not buying parts in large enough quantities, I cant build a rig as cheap as I could buy this one and add components to it.

 

[alexruiz]

Originally posted by: rgreen83


Yep, I did buy an emachine, for testing. Truth is I have a small company here in KC building custom rigs for people, and I only say I hate computers because I see them 60 hours a week, and my fiance less than that. Dont take it that I dont know what I am doing, I was trying to come off as average in knowledge because I, personally, was just curious about peoples views of the new processors and off the shelf PCs. I dont really think it matters how someone got there computer as long as it meets there needs, for me personally I build them, but for most people it is easier in the long run for them to have someone else build them.

As far as emachines and dell and such go, I think they provide an invaluable service for the average user and I have bought things for myself from them before, simply because I couldnt build it/buy it cheaper. As far as how my testing went, the machine ran great and I know that since I am not buying parts in large enough quantities, I cant build a rig as cheap as I could buy this one and add components to it.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the rig..... Can you check what kind of components are inside?

 

[destaccado]

If you couldn't build that emachine for 1149 you need a different distributor......

case and ps- $30 (and you could probably find these 2 cheaper then that with the quality case emachines is using)
asus k8v motherboard- 109 (motherboard and a64 from neweggs bundle with coolermaster hsf, and I highly doubt they are using a k8v)
a64- 420
160gb hd- 110
apacer (samsung) 512mb pc 3200 mem-72
ati 9600- 97
sound card- 20 (or don't they even use one?)
dvd/cdrw - 55
winxphome- 90
kb and mouse- 25
floppy - 8
speakers- 8
56kbps modem- 10
$1054
$1076 with shipping
--------------------------
now the pc I just configured is $1299 at best buy.......is the $1149 after rebates? because you do know only about 25-35% of money given in mail-in rebates actually makes it to the consumer......

These are newegg's prices, so basically anyone could build a pc with better parts for that price.......with the $220 you could get.....

ACTUALLY I noticed I had shipping figured in but not tax on the emachines so add 5.5% for that (some areas are even higher) so $71

Now with the $291 you can get.....(And keep in mind this is if your building it for youself using online parts since your not paying tax)

seagate/western digital hd ($7-10) $10 (ALL PRICES HERE ARE TAKING INTO EFFECT SAVINGS FROM NOT BUYING THE OTHER PARTS)
corsair xms memory $50
lite on dvd/cdrw $25
ati 9600xt or 5900nu $100
ms optical kb/ mouse combo $10
chenbro xpider/antec true (330w) $75
(or any decent case/ps combo, not hard with $105 to spend)

And you still have $20 left over to take your significant other to a decent dinner......(I'd rather have $20 then $150 in rebates I'm never going to see anyways).......(coupon for hl2 if you go with the 9600xt)

OR, since you build systems you could build it the same way emachines does (probably take you an hour to throw everything in there like they do) and have $220 in profit (since the customer has to pay the tax that's no longer profit you can keep) with some pieces still being higher quality........add to that fact that your distributor probably saves you some money......I priced it with mine and saved a whopping $53 so basically I could make a slightly better pc then emachines and make $273......now to get that $1149, I offer $150 in 3 confusing (for the average consumer) rebates, we'll be over-honest and say I pay out $73 a pop.....bang $200 for an hours work.......Now I'm sure best buy is making close to nothing on the tower as they make all their money in extended warranties, some monitors, and accessories like usb cables.......

Would I ever sell a pc as crappy as this? No, but I'm just giving you the idea of how they stay in business and how you could too if you think you can't compete with them...you can.......

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: DuronBoy
Do we really think this guy should build his own? His signature says, "Man I hate computers" and he bought an emachine...

No offense dude, but you should get a dell.

Good luck getting an Athlon64 at Dell.

 

[daveymark]

In some cases, my time isn't worth the money saved by building a computer when I could have a pc with a warranty built for me for just a few dollars more. Otherwise I have to search for all the parts, make sure each piece doesn't need to be RMA'd, keep track of all the reciepts, etc...

 

[destaccado]

your right in some cases it's better to buy it with a warranty then buy the parts and build it......but not when your comparing it to emachines warranty which is basically non-existant and even if they do service it you'll wait 3-6 weeks for your pc.....If you want to save time then buy a voodoo, falcon-nw, hypersonic etc.....otherwise build it yourself....

 

[sorehead]

If the e-machine computer worked and did what the owner wanted and met his needs, then it was a good buy.

 

[rgreen83]

@ destaccado:

I realize you might be able to build a machine for yourself for less money, but when it comes to doing it from a business standpoint it is totally different. First, warranties are not as much the huge margin makers some believe them to be, they do entail real costs, just tracking them incurs a cost let alone the expense of fixing something if it goes wrong. Plus the business itself has set costs which have to be paid regardless of how much money it is maknig. Our business model is a 15% margin, withholding labor, or else it is a loss in the books, once labor expenses, shipping, storage, operating expenses, etc. are figured in. Just remember economies of scale from economics 101, I said "small company" and that can mean much higher costs per unit.

 

[1EZduzit]

My brother is still running his E-machine Emonster P3-550 Katmai with 8Mb Nvidia video card and has never had a problem with it. Of course he never does anything demanding with it but he still runs it almost every day for like 4 years or better??

 

[destaccado]

rgreen83.....I feel for you, but maybe you don't understand my background.....I also own a "small" computer company but I've had pretty good expansion in the last 4 months or so (since I actually became a legit business) I've been making high end pc's for about 5 years now mainly thru word of mouth, due to my "excellent service".....I'm currently getting my website designed which had a tremendous cost to it. It would probably put me at a loss (or close to it) for the entire 5 year period, but I love what I do and take pride in only building high-end computers that I know people will enjoy...I really believe people will pay more for excellent service and support when combined with an awesome product- time will tell but it's worked for me so far.....In terms of markup the key (IMHO) is to make people realize what you are doing for them and what your product has to offer......now I'm not trying to say you don't know how to run your business because as long as you're still in business, you know what you're doing .....My best business aspect is keeping my costs "extremely low".....I only build high end computers ($1300+ for the tower/kb/mouse).......In the last 4 months, I have sold 17 computers.....hardly record breaking but for being open only 1 day a week (I have a seperate full time job that enables me to take more risks with my pc business), it equates to about 1 pc every day that I'm open.....My hope is that by having a good/professional website, it adds credibility to my business and allows it to expand.....

Extended warranties......you are 99% wrong on this end.....my full time job involves selling pc's along the lines of sony, hewlett packard, compaq, and systemax......since I'm paid on commision I have the ability to check what the store cost is on an extended warranty.......perhaps you don't realize this but you can buy extended warranties thru third party insurance companies and they reimburse you for repairs that you do on the computer later on.....I personally do not do this because I dont feel anyone should have to pay extra for excellent service and that all my customers are entitled to it but just to give you an idea the company I work for pays $62 to offer a 3 year warranty (starting from date of purchase) on a tower/monitor/printer package.....they sell it for $150........that is $88 of profit along with profit in labor if the item actually breaks......now your price might be a little higher since this is a big chain and i'm sure they buy them in bulk.....but even so, if you offer better product (and compared to hewlett packard/sony/compaq) I trust that you do...you could probably pass on your additional charges to your customers and get away with it........

How do I sell computers when for like numbers they are paying nearly 20-30% (and it's not because I have more profit it's because my parts cost alot more, OCZ/Corsair/Seagate/Asus and Abit's top of the line equipment costs more then generic equivalents or less featurefull products) more? -Well, it really isn't that hard, you have to remember that the majority of people who are buying a pc do not know anything other then speeds and feeds (ex. 2.6celeron=2.6p4, you'd be suprised) or with Ram (more always being better (which it is but there is other aspects as well, timings come to mind)......I explain to people and freely show them my pricing so they know my business model, people feel much more open to talk to you when they know how much you are charging and they know you truly care about what they need rather then trying to oversell them.....my rule of thumb is I won't build a tower that is less then $1000 at my cost.....If someone wants a tower less then that I will gladly recommend them to a competitor offering the best deal in their price range and wish them luck with it.....However, I also explain to them how they reach that low price point, part of what I do involves showing my customers my cost on different brands of memory and the benefit of the parts I am using.....for example most people don't know corsair from apacer (who usually make decent RAM), but they are smart enough to realize when you start telling them how the memory differs that if it isn't listed on the price tag, it's usually the lower quality stuff (not necessarily apacer but you get the idea).......

My favorite line though is, "have you shopped around at all for computers?" Usually I get a, "yes".....To this I respond "well then you've probably noticed I'm the most expensive shop in the area"........

Spend time on every computer you build, reguardless of it's price or your profit, treat everyone like gold, explain what you offer and emachines does not.......the easiest thing you can show people is a neat, clean, interior to your computer and tell them how you take the time to make sure they get the best build machine for their dollar.....then tell them to look inside the emachine...............You might be suprised how many more computers you sell.....

Good luck with your company............

P.S. I don't know if you sell mainly Intel or AMD, but I find it alot easier to sell either if they have the option of both......

 

[xgsound]

To the people who suggested pricewatch and specifically Tiger Direct, be sure to check http//www.resellerratings.com .
I heard the emachine amd64 comes with a FIC Via board and want to hear an Atechers experience. The package looks tempting to me.
Jim

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: shady06
emachies...ewww

worst of the worst imho.

No way, man! I'd rather have an eMachine anyday over a Compaq or an HP!

seriously.... emachines isnt NEAR as sh1tty as Compaq or HP. i've had 3 systems from emachines in my family and not one of them has crapped out or become " non-fixable " . i build my own pc's, but my relatives have all gotten emachines, all work fine. laptop, 2 desktops, not one hiccup. wtf u guys smashing emachines for? if people can build their own stuff, i think their the next best step, get an emachines! and yeah, i wouldnt buy a athlon64 emachines, especially when you can build it yourself, but if you dont know how to build it yourself, i say try the emachines.

 

[XeoBllaze]

Emacines are fine PC's... better over Compaq, HP, etc IMO.. My cousin and I had an Emachine's in the past, his still going strong, I sold mine. There's nothing wrong w/ your new PC, for 1k full retail, that's not bad. Keep it unless PC's are your hobby, and u would have the time to fiddle w/ things. Dont let 1/2 the so called know-it-alls tell u what to do w/ no personal experience w/ the company, nor others.

 

[rgreen83]

Originally posted by: xgsound
To the people who suggested pricewatch and specifically Tiger Direct, be sure to check http//www.resellerratings.com .
I heard the emachine amd64 comes with a FIC Via board and want to hear an Atechers experience. The package looks tempting to me.
Jim

Well its actually an MSI oem version of the K8T Neo-FIS2R, or at least the one I had was.

 

[HurleyBird]

Emachines sometimes OC's there systems. I once saw an Emachines athlonxp 2300+ system, which was very disturbing, since it was NOT a typo, and it was OC'ed to that level on cheap cooling. That day i lost all faith in Emachines.

 

[halik]

there is NO point getting a 64 bit processor to run 32bit windows and apps on top of it

Unless you're gonan run linux on it, its freakin pointless

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: HurleyBird
Emachines sometimes OC's there systems. I once saw an Emachines athlonxp 2300+ system, which was very disturbing, since it was NOT a typo, and it was OC'ed to that level on cheap cooling. That day i lost all faith in Emachines.

Actually that turned out to be a special processor that AMD sold to eMachines only... it was a batch of processors that didn't meet spec to be a different processor, possibly an XP2400 or XP2600 or something like that.