I don't know about the quality of various parts but since eMachine was
bought by Dell (I may be wrong and it might have been Gateway, but I don't
think so.) and the Dell execs replaced mostly by eMachine people, I don't
know that there will be much difference.
Carl Seale, Librarian -- Retired
cbseale@sbcglobal.net
http://www.hillsboro.net/business/antiquesandthings
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is
where they should be. Now put the foundation under them.
--Henry David Thoreau
Subject: Re: Looking for information about eMachine computers
> Well......
>
> You get what you pay for in some cases. <G> In reality, the computer
> business exists on razor-thin profit margins. The reason that the
> eMachines product is so much cheaper is that they are using
less-rigorously
> quality tested parts. Most hardware manufacturers sell two to three
> quality lines of the same product...chips, power supplies, switches,
> etc. I stress that these parts are all from the same assembly line, all
> the same product design. The difference is in the quality control. The
> cheapest line is often not tested at all for quality, or only at a minimal
> level, say 1 in 1000 tested. They will likely have a greater percentage
of
> faulty parts.. The mid-line price applies to the units that are checked
at
> a higher level, say one in every 100 units pulled and run thru testing,
and
> thus, fewer defectives get thru. The top of the line (and also top of the
> price line) units may have 1 in 10 tested. Thus, the computer assembler
> (like Dell, or Gateway, or Compaq, or eMachines) pays more for the greater
> assurance that the units will work properly and therefore will not create
> angry customers or the expense of warrantee work. If they are willing to
> take a greater chance of having to repair the machine down the line, they
> can save $ by installing parts from a less-tested batch that costs them
> less to buy.
>
> So a Pentium IV chip running at 2 gig in an eMachines unit is the same
chip
> as one running in a Dell unit, but its likely that the eMachines chip came
> from a batch that was not quality tested or minimally tested, the Dell
chip
> was more likely to have tested. Put another way, the eMachines unit may
> work fine for years, or it may fail within hours (ANY unit can do that, of
> course). But the likelihood of failure is greater with the cheaper unit.
> You trade the cheaper price for less certainty of quality.
>
> That being said, the computer industry works on razor thin profit
> margins. To say competitive, ANY way of cutting cost must be looked at,
> and that means that formerly quality obsessed companies like Dell may be
> tempted to use a mid-level priced chip, knowing that they (and the
> customer) will be taking a greater chance of warrantee work/failure down
> the road. One way to assess this is to look at the computer magazines
that
> rate computers (PC World is one)...check the section on user satisfaction
> or frequency of repairs. Note that companies like Dell and Gateway that
> used to be towards the top with fewest repairs are declining. Also, look
> at the warrantee repair period. Does one company offer a longer
> warrantee? If so, its likely they have greater confidence in their
product
> because of the level of quality parts that went into it.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
>
> At 09:47 AM 8/6/2004 -0400, you wrote:
> >I'm looking to purchase a new computer this weekend, and I'm noticing
> >eMachine brand computers in a lot of the ads. I checked out the web
> >site and eMachines is a company owned now by Gateway. What I would
> >like to know is if any of you have an eMachine brand computer and what
> >you like or don't like about it.
>
> Mark Williams
> Consulting Librarian
> Professional Services for Conferences, Districts, Workshops
> markwilliams@makaw.net
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "The closest thing you will find to an orderly universe is a good library"
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