Customer Reviews

eMachines ET1831-07 Desktop (Black)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was having trouble with an old computer (single processor with Windows XP that I have had for 8 years) at a remote site and was looking at replacing some parts when I stumbled across this. When I looked at the cost of replacing the parts of the old computer with buying this one, it was no contest. If you add up all the parts for this computer (purchase them separately here on Amazon), it gets close to $600. This is truly an amazing buy and the speed is actually really good. I have an I-7 960 with a solid state drive (that was extremely expensive to buy) on my other computer and even though this doesn't match that one, it doesn't do a bad job of keeping up. Really, this does a decent job at an incredible price. I would recommend this for anyone replacing an older computer.

For this price, this a great for normal light computer uses, like surfing the web, watching a DVD, answering email, playing a low-end video game. If that is all you ever want to do, then the price should convince you to buy this. But what really impresses me is that (compared to my older computer) this can also do the more sophisticated items much faster. Rendering a video, expanding a zip file, dealing with several tasks at the same time, playing a higher end video game. I am rather impressed by the ability of this computer to do what you would expect in a computer twice as much.

Just on a side note, I deleted all those "trial" programs. I had bought Office Home and Student for another computer and it allows 3 installations, so I just used that. I downloaded AVAST, which is a free virus protection program with great ability. I loaded Firefox instead of using Internet Explorer (IE just doesn't have enough features and is too buggy) and Thunderbird as a replacement for Outlook. I also use TeamViewer to connect all my computers instead of PCAnywhere, PCtoGo, or Windows RDP. All those programs are free (CNet), work on Windows 7, and run much faster and bug free.

this is for the eMachines ET1831-07--not the 05, this is a pentium dual core processor.


windows 7 after a short while will prove wonderfully easy to navigate. the thing is, windows 7 is huge. the first thing you do once you get the computer up-and-runnin is create your recovery discs. it will take four dvds: three for the recovery and one for the drivers. then go about deleting the programs you dont need. i always get rid of trial software and i delete norton in favor of kaspersky (unless you can afford a nod program, or mcafee).


this comp is very easy to set up and use and the processor is insanely quick. this isnt a gaming computer, but it is fast and has a lot of drive data, plus the usbs are 2.0. plus, though it reads on the box that the hard drive is a 750g, it is really a terabyte hard drive (odd but very cool), and the processor is not only an intel pentium but is also a dual core. this comp is insane for the price. i picked one up for my mother in law and went to setting it up. liked it so much that i went out and got one for our house.

found it at best buy for $350. that is a steal. im so much happier with it over my old emachines, w3650. this is a much better product, a luck find. get it while you can.

A great product for the money..This is my third E-Machine and always have been satisfied with them...Had some trouble with my first unit (due to some unfortunate mistakes on my part)I completely lost the O.S....The vendor thankfully replaced it...It's fast,runs cool and windows 7 was a quantum leap form XP...some of the hardware is a little "tinny" ie. the rear video plug and the rear expansion bays are difficult to remove...I've had it a month and overall, I'm generally well satisfied

I loved almost everything about this computer (especially the price)....the speed is fantastic and there's lots of memory, etc. It was a huge improvement over my previous computer. But the only two drawbacks are that it doesn't come with a recovery disk (you have to create your own using your own CDs). And when I went to do so, I discovered that there are some problems with the CD/DVD drive. When I went to remove the CD, it would not come out (I got some error message). So I don't know if the CD drive was not installed properly at the factory or what. I'm not very techy, so I have to do a little homework to figure out how resolve that. I'm not going to spend money to take it somewhere to fix a new computer. Other than that everything works well and again the price was unbeatable for what I needed.

I've always been a fan of the underdogs, i had two Acer Desktops from 1998 to around 2009, only TWO. They both stood the test of just over ten years and i would buy them again, but being that they now own Emachines(who used to be pretty junkie) this is what i went for. I think the reason you see less and less actual ACER brand desktops out is because they have there hands full right now. Buying out Gateway and Emachines and also being the inventor of the Netbook they have certainly a full plate no doubt. So even if they concentrate on netbooks/laptops with the Acer logo it doesnt matter because they have created a superb machine in cunjunction with Emachines. I had an Acer i got last year but sold it to my parents because they wanted one, and only had laptops, and i decided to give this one a shot. Well i'm more than pleased, the 4gb of DDR2 RAM feels absolutely no different than the DDR3 i've played around with in other machines. Yes it does have what some would call a dated Dual-Core processor, but let me give you this. My father has an hp and has had nothing but problems, first the key fell off after a month, then the power supply shorted out, and now the screen is slowly fading, and he just got it 1 yes 1 YEAR ago. I just got this and before this got one of the 298$ Emachine laptops at wal-mart with a very similar processor of less speed, lets just say these computers put that laptop to shame. So don't be fooled by the big boys, i have always loved Acers and now that they are buying out these companies i love them just as much. Both this and my laptop run flawlessly, no freezes, no drops on my wireless, super speedy, even great for converting video files quickly and with no slow downs. I've had HP, Asus, and Compaq and none of them can even compare, i say this because of all the freezing and hardware issues i have had with all the formentioned machines. The only other brands i recommend is Sony(in most cases), and Toshiba(very reliable as well), so don't spend hundreds or even thousands(which most don't) on a desktop when you can pick this up and a good monitor for UNDER 600 bucks, i did. I use to be into computer gaming but i have a PS3 and Xbox 360 and have no need for games, although i still may get a bigger power supply for around 80 bucks and put in my ATI 4850 card, mainly for sccreen clarity. That is mainly the only drawback and not even a big one. The integrated graphics stink as most do but really does anyone care? Well no, but i did get a screen with DVI input and its high resolution so i would like to get rid of the regular VGA fuzzy picture to make this an even more awesome machine. May as well, it won't cost me much, so this is just a killer deal, god praise Acer for making this company shine, both price wise and reliability, if they hadn't then Emachine probably would have eventually just dropped out all together. (wink).

Also one last note, if your looking to upgrade do it gradually, this machine has a simple motherboard and simple cooling system and is NOT designed for a high end graphics card. Even though you can put a new power supply and large card in it, it will shorten the life of the computer drastically and is very hard on the components. This is an everyday plain computing system, if you want to make a gaming system upgrade to a higher end machine, preferably Asus.

I went to Best Buy last weekend to buy a new computer. I was pulling my hair out with my old XP computer (if you have an old XP computer, you know exactly what I mean). I bought the cheapest machine there, not really needing a high-performance PC. But, wow! Was I surprised. This machine screams! Even from a cold start, I'm at the desktop within seconds of hitting the power switch (with XP, your lucky if you can even get to the desktop in a half hour from a cold start, never mind it actually responding ro your mouse clicks). IE and Email launch immediately. My trains fly down the track in Microsoft Train Simulator. And photos load and save instantly in Photoshop. w00t!

So what are the flaws? For one, I had intended to mount a removable drive bay, place the existing internal hard drive in a removable slider, and get a second hard drive and slider so that I could install Linux on it so that I could boot from either removable drive. Well, the drive bays are behind these little plastic doors that hinge down, so I can't install a removable drive bay without taking the whole front of the case apart (this design also makes it a little difficult to reach the eject button on the CD drive). Grrrr!

For another, the keyboard and mouse are cheap and tinny feeling. The keyboard is like the type of keyboard on laptops with the keys flush to the surface of the keyboard base. But I prefer trackballs to mice anyway, so I replaced the mouse with a USB Logitech trackball (that I bought from Amazon a while back), and I'll replace the keyboard one of these days.

I can't comment on the quality of the computer itself. Shipping and customer service I can.

I bought on amazon through [...], free shipping, and it arrived within 2 days, carefully packed. Wonderful.

My computer arrived dead. It happens. I called, got through to someone relatively quickly, they efficiently realized it needed to be returned, and they gave me a return authorization. They told me to send it back via Fedex and ship it back.

That's where the frustration began. There are two REALLY IMPORTANT things that eMachines doesn't tell you about return shipping of their computers. (1) If they give you a "Drop Off Number" (instead of a pre-printed label), you can only take it to a Fedex Kinkos, not to any old Fedex authorized shipper. (Fedex stores are surprisingly few and far between in the large city where I live.) (2) The Drop Off Numbers expire within 48 hours from the time they're issued. I got mine on Sunday morning before Labor Day Monday, so it had already expired before I could use it and I had no way of knowing. Why don't they just tell you this?? Who knows. Too much business? (According to the manager I spoke to, it has something to do with the fact that the small print in their warranty says the customer has to pay for all the shipping for warranty issues; they realize they can't actually enforce that, but for some reason that keeps them from explaining how returns actually work.)

Suffice to say that learning all this cost me an hour wasted in the car and another hour wasted on the phone getting transferred around and disconnected 3 times in eMachines customer service hell.

Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I hadn't taken a chance on eMachines. Hopefully your mileage will vary.

ABSOLUTELY THE BEST BUY OUT THERE. I'VE BEEN USING EMACHINE FOR PAST 4 YEARS WITHOUT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE. THE HI GLOSS BLACK CASE LOOKS VERY NICE. WITH THE 4 GIG MEMORY AND 750 GB HARD DRIVE, THIS IS A TRUE BARGAIN. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE INVIDIA 7050 GRAPHICS.
NOT MANY CONS, BUT I WISH THEY USED A LARGER POWER SUPPLY INSTEAD OF THE 250 WATTS. I DONT SEE THE NEED IN UPGRADING MY GRAPHICS AS IM MORE THAN PLEASED WITH THE 7050 GRAPHICS. ITS ALSO THE QUIETEST MACHINE IVE EVER OWNED.

OVERALL, A GREAT DEAL!

I ordered a new Emachine 1831-07 desktop and recieved it 3 days later. Unfortunately it didn't work and after hrs. online with emachine support they stated that they thought it was the BIOS system needed to be reinstalled. Note this is a new (not refurbished computer). Now this pc doesn't come with BIOS disks so I would have to wait a minimum of 10 days for them to get me one, and then I would have to try to install it?????
I said "this is crazy", but that is all they would do. Amazon was no help either and I am returning it for a refund. The bottom line is that Emachine didn't care and Amazon didn't either. I guess that is why Dell is doing so well. Imagine how Emachine would have been if this was a couple of months old. also, Acer owns Emachine I am told. I would have given negative stars if that were an option.
*******DON'T BY AN EMACHINE COMPUTER******

This computer comes with nearly a one terabyte hard drive, 2.7 Ghz of speed, and an absurd 250 watt power supply! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that wattage. No wonder it's not advertised. The heat on a summer day could be enough to blow out this computer. I also dislike the fact that it doesn't come with a firewire port for making videos. I did add a card that has both firewire and additional usb ports, as well as a 550 watt power supply. Out of the box, this computer is for casual users, since it has a ridiculous set of features.