[JaneInVegas]

I'm not sure where else to post this question ... I purchased my eMachine about 4 years ago, and was told there were inherent differences between an eMachine and a PC. I need to reformat my hard drive but no longer have my rescue discs. I just requested a brand new rescue disc be postal mailed to me, and they no longer have those available for retail.

So ... are there REALLY big differences between eMachines and PC's or was I given a load of crap by the salesman? I do have an XP re-installation CD available to me, but obviously it's not in my best interest to go ahead and reformat my hard drive and then not have any kind of back up for my operation system.

Any advice more than welcome!! Thanks you guys!

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I have delt with Emachines extensively. I find that they have some poor quality hardware but software wise they have the most normal of systems. I seldom use a recovery CD to reinstall XP, but instead use a regular XP microsoft CD to install the system with. I have not had any problems doing so and have not had any problems finding drivers for the hardware.

The real problems i find with Emachines is a power surge can cause quite a bit of damage to them. It seems their motherboard is a weak point and along with the power supply is the first thing to go in them. I have a small industry going here installing new MB's an PS's in these computers and reselling them.

I got a kick out a customer coming in praising Emachine computers when he brought it to me to install a Nvidia card for games. It seem i have my shop sticker plastered on the back of the computer and he didn't notice. I did point out to him that a EVGA motherboard does not come installed from the factory. Nor does Thermotake PS's come in stock units. It all went right over his head, because he asked me if this was a Upgraded computer for gaming. I didn't have the heart to tell him i just threw it together to send another one out the door.

SRX660

[SRX660]

I have delt with Emachines extensively. I find that they have some poor quality hardware but software wise they have the most normal of systems. I seldom use a recovery CD to reinstall XP, but instead use a regular XP microsoft CD to install the system with. I have not had any problems doing so and have not had any problems finding drivers for the hardware.

The real problems i find with Emachines is a power surge can cause quite a bit of damage to them. It seems their motherboard is a weak point and along with the power supply is the first thing to go in them. I have a small industry going here installing new MB's an PS's in these computers and reselling them.

I got a kick out a customer coming in praising Emachine computers when he brought it to me to install a Nvidia card for games. It seem i have my shop sticker plastered on the back of the computer and he didn't notice. I did point out to him that a EVGA motherboard does not come installed from the factory. Nor does Thermotake PS's come in stock units. It all went right over his head, because he asked me if this was a Upgraded computer for gaming. I didn't have the heart to tell him i just threw it together to send another one out the door.

SRX660

[jt1990]

LOL.

I believe I replaced four emachine mobo's over the winter. Talk about weak mobos :|

[JaneInVegas]

I have heard a lot of bad things about eMachines, but I've been pretty lucky with mine. (knock on wood!)

Okay, I guess I'll go ahead and reformat it, I'm just pretty nervous about this whole pc vs eMachine thing, the salesman told me they were not compatible with each other.

[Neil Jones]

I'm not sure where else to post this question ... I purchased my eMachine about 4 years ago, and was told there were inherent differences between an eMachine and a PC. I need to reformat my hard drive but no longer have my rescue discs. I just requested a brand new rescue disc be postal mailed to me, and they no longer have those available for retail.

So ... are there REALLY big differences between eMachines and PC's or was I given a load of crap by the salesman? I do have an XP re-installation CD available to me, but obviously it's not in my best interest to go ahead and reformat my hard drive and then not have any kind of back up for my operation system.

eMachines are pieces of junk, they rarely last more than three years on the original hardware. The scary thing is eMachines is part of Gateway which is now part of Acer, the third largest PC manufacturer in the world after HP and Dell, and they still sell eMachines with substandard bits in them.

Rescue CDs are typically only available while the machine is and this is common practice amongst all big manufacturers. An XP CD will do the same job but you'll have to download all your drivers from the eMachines website.

[jt1990]

eMachines are pieces of junk, they rarely last more than three years on the original hardware. The scary thing is eMachines is part of Gateway which is now part of Acer, the third largest PC manufacturer in the world after HP and Dell, and they still sell eMachines with substandard bits in them.

Yowch

[SRX660]

All the while i have been building new computers out of Emachine cases and parts, so not all of Emachines are bad. I am typing this message on a quad core 6600 and a XFX MB in a Emachine T2642 case. You can recycle quite a bit of them with th added benefit of some cost savings, and you are recycling at the same time.





SRX660

[Joeyp]

I've had an emachine for 4 years now,and haven't had one problem. I heard all the talk about them being junk,but I've also heard the same stories about dells. I think it's like anything else in this world,sometimes you get good ones and sometimes bad,I guess it just depends on your luck.