Which system is better?

[KillSwitch_J]

I have a friend that is about to purchase his first computer from walmart or one of the other big stores. He asked me which was better "e-Machines or Compaq'.

I well I've used e-machines before, but never a compaq so I really can't give him a fair answer. So what do you guys think?

[MunkeyQ]

Compaq are the better one out of those two.

An Emachines computer will kill you, your family and everything you love. Well, maybe not that much...but they're still awful for reliability and stability. Motherboard controllers (USB, serial etc.) seem to die on a whim.

[KillSwitch_J]

Compaq are the better one out of those two.

An Emachines computer will kill you, your family and everything you love. Well, maybe not that much...but they're still awful for reliability and stability. Motherboard controllers (USB, serial etc.) seem to die on a whim.

Yeah, I've run into that myself on occasion. I wasn't sure if Compaq computers had the same problems though.

[toraton]

Yeah, I've run into that myself on occasion. I wasn't sure if Compaq computers had the same problems though.

Compaq computers are definitely comprised of low-quality parts. Tell him to buy an HP or a Dell.

[phmeworp]

At the risk of jinxing my luck... I have had this eMachines system for about 2 years now without a single problem.

Admittedly, the reason I picked it was that it was about the only packaged system that still had a COM1 serial port and a DB-25 LPT port. Along with just about every other type of I/O you could think of.

[KillSwitch_J]

Compaq computers are definitely comprised of low-quality parts. Tell him to buy an HP or a Dell.

To be fair. I've heard bad things about both HP & Dell computers as well.

[MunkeyQ]

My experience with Compaq has been alright. Acceptable customer service and build is ok. Hardly the best of machines by anyone's count though...

However, the new Dells really are quite nice. I have a Latitude. It's built as good as a Thinkpad and costs one hell of a lot less. Not to mention all the service manuals are available publically on the Dell site, and they're built for easy maintainence.

[KillSwitch_J]

My experience with Compaq has been alright. Acceptable customer service and build is ok. Hardly the best of machines by anyone's count though...

However, the new Dells really are quite nice. I have a Latitude. It's built as good as a Thinkpad and costs one hell of a lot less. Not to mention all the service manuals are available publically on the Dell site, and they're built for easy maintainence.

Well I certainly pass on this info to him but I don't I've ever seen an HP or a Dell listed on sale in any of the store papers he has shown me in the past.

[13579]

Compaq are the better one out of those two.

An Emachines computer will kill you, your family and everything you love. Well, maybe not that much...but they're still awful for reliability and stability. Motherboard controllers (USB, serial etc.) seem to die on a whim.

In the few years my dad's had his, the HDD has died, dialup-modem PCI card died (After he sent it in for a new one for TWO WEEKS, he got it back with nothing changed. Same dead card, I had a spare I replaced it with), and now the built in sound card has died, I'm using a PCI one I got from a junked Pentium 3 machine.

[NamelessNom4d]

They both suck. Don't expect to get a good machine from Wal-Mart. However, I would think I you bought a Wal-Mart PC you could probably get everything out of it except the motherboard and the RAM, and buy a nice reliable motherboard and RAM and then build a nice new PC with the scrapped parts. No idea if that would save you any money, but lately I've seen quite a few Wal-Mart PC's that actually seem cheaper than a custom build (probably because they are crappy).

[OneSadisticFucker]

They both suck. Don't expect to get a good machine from Wal-Mart. However, I would think I you bought a Wal-Mart PC you could probably get everything out of it except the motherboard and the RAM, and buy a nice reliable motherboard and RAM and then build a nice new PC with the scrapped parts. No idea if that would save you any money, but lately I've seen quite a few Wal-Mart PC's that actually seem cheaper than a custom build (probably because they are crappy).

This ^

And for Dell, I have owned 3 and never had a problem with them.

[KillSwitch_J]

They both suck. Don't expect to get a good machine from Wal-Mart.

I think he is going for the cheap prices versus quality of the system. Yet he still wants the best of the cheapies.


However, I would think I you bought a Wal-Mart PC you could probably get everything out of it except the motherboard and the RAM, and buy a nice reliable motherboard and RAM and then build a nice new PC with the scrapped parts. No idea if that would save you any money, but lately I've seen quite a few Wal-Mart PC's that actually seem cheaper than a custom build (probably because they are crappy).

I think the whole point of his asking, was so he could get the best one of the "Walmart cheapies" so that it would at least last a while.

Then if and when it crashes he could pull out the bad parts and replace them with some older backup parts he already has, but he wouldn't have to replace everything from scratch.

[Haiti's Space Agency]

but can it run crysis?

[KillSwitch_J]

but can it run crysis?

I wouldn't know. What kind of system would you need to play Crysis?

[reidy-]

I wouldn't know. What kind of system would you need to play Crysis?

A suprisingly low spec PC, but people dont want you to know that:confused::confused:

basically In this day and age if you bought a PC and the graphics sollution isn't intergrated then it will play crysis

[puzld]

At the risk of jinxing my luck... I have had this eMachines system for about 2 years now without a single problem.

Admittedly, the reason I picked it was that it was about the only packaged system that still had a COM1 serial port and a DB-25 LPT port. Along with just about every other type of I/O you could think of.

I see you're a software/hardware engineer, do you use the serial & parallel ports for hardware interfacing? What about using USB for this, and what OS is best for this stuff? Also what about using microcontrollers, I know that there are PIC controllers that have built-in communications.