E Machines... *annoyed grunt*

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by Ste_harris, Jan 23, 2005.

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  1. Ste_harris Net Ninja Registered Senior Member

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    I’ve just spent the past 4 hours helping a friend fix her PC. It’s a brand new E Machine… Less than six months old anyway. I really would like to go into all the fine details of how it’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen past off as a high performance machine, but it’s really just a shower of shite… and i cant be bothered typing that much.
    My friend is, as most people are a bit of a technophobe, so when it comes to viruses she doesn’t have a clue. I installed and ran AVG when I got there, and immediately found around 40 of the little suckers. After an hour of removing them, altering registry string and generally shaking my fist at the screen, it had come to the point where I thought there was no reason in my continuing to fight an endless battle. I asked if she had anything worth backing up, when she replied no she wondered why I looked a bit miffed.
    I formatted the HD, and started the lengthy system restore disk process, after the restore I expected nothing more to do than sort out the Internet and whack on an AV and firewall. I installed the firewall (Zone Alarm) first and was immediately surprised when 10 pop-ups appeared asking for internet/port access. I did a quick check and found that originally the software bundled and pre-installed on the machine had plenty of pestering spy-ware, browser highjack and all other types of mal-ware. Pre installed! No waiting for you to accidentally pick it up off the net hey? I explained to her. Then I translated what i explained to her, saying that she was getting so many pop-ups, and really slow web page loads/downloads because 30 odd programs were watching everything she typed into IE (she is happily using Firefox now). I'm happy to say I quickly nuked the buggers with Ad-Aware and it was smooth sailing from there.
    /Rant

    Anyone still even thinking of buying an E Machine can subscribe to my seminars where I hit you with a large foam 'get-a-clue' bat until the symptoms disappear.
    /Coat
     
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  3. Dilbert Registered Senior Member

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    do you also sell t-shirts on your seminars?
     
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  5. Dreamwalker Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    What's an E Machine and who is the manufacturer?
     
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  7. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    So they get the award for worst OEM computer? I never thought Packard Bell would get bumped to second place!
     
  8. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    packard bell? is that the same as HP, HP is the shittiest pile of carp i have ever laid hands on
     
  9. Aborted_Fetus Bored Registered Senior Member

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    You are surprised by this? Emachines are cheap, they have to make their money somehow. Personally, I don't know why you even bother with the standard restore disc, I never do. I got a new laptop about a month ago and I didn't even boot the thing. I put my Windows XP Pro disc in, and did a clean install straight from my first boot. I build all my computers (but obviously not laptops) so I usually don't have restore discs anyway, but I usually just throw them in a box with all the other useless junk that comes with it (just in case I want to sell it later).

    My advice to you would be to forget about the Emachines restore disc and reformat with a clean copy of XP. That way, you don't have any of that spy/mal/ad-ware, along with most of the other useless software they bundle with it.
     
  10. Dreamwalker Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Hey,I have an HP computer, and after a bit of modifying it runs quite good.
     
  11. Closet Philosopher Off to Laurentian University Registered Senior Member

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    I was tempted to buy an eMachine laptop when I was shopping for one. It was cheaper than regular laptops, so I figured "you get what you pay for" and I decided not to buy one. Then about a week later, I realised that I had made the right decision. Someone came into where I work (I work mostly tech) and said the old "my computer isn't working and I don't know why". It was an eMachine. It was pumped with spyware, as slow as hell for its specs and didn't even come with a Windows XP CD. A few hours and almost $100 later, I managed to get it up and running but I will NEVER buy an eMachine.
     
  12. Maddad Time is a Weighty Problem Registered Senior Member

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    Ste_harris
    Thanks for the warning. I previously hadn't considered such a source of malware.
     
  13. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    Seriously... what's an 'e machine'?
     
  14. Aborted_Fetus Bored Registered Senior Member

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  15. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    mine has had quite a bit of modifying, but it still has to sit in the corner and be a linux server
     
  16. Maddad Time is a Weighty Problem Registered Senior Member

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    I have original installation discs for Windows 98SE. Any computer I get with Windows XP gets reformatted with 98 installed instead. I just like 98 better. Unfortunately I'll soon have to downgrade because the programs I want will be supported by XP and not 98.
     
  17. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    Actually XP is more stable than 98. And doesn't take much resources if configured/tweeked a bit.
    Anyways I use Linux and carry my Live Knoppix cd around, so don't care.
     
  18. blackmonkeystatue Unregistered User Registered Senior Member

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    I actually like E-machines. I wouldn't consider them high performance though. When friends/relatives are looking for a decent priced machine I usually hook them up with one of the E-Machine bundles from Best Buy. It comes with the CPU, a monitor, and a printer for $399-$599 depending on what model you get. Snag some extra ram and upgrade it to 1gb, put good video card in it and you're good to go for an excellent price. The nice thing about E-Machines as opposed to building your own is that they come with a restore CD. Your comp fucks up, just pop in the restore CD and you're set. Really good for people who aren't computer wizzes. If you want a performance machine go with something a little more...high performance-y. Or just build your own.
     
  19. Ste_harris Net Ninja Registered Senior Member

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    *Hits blackmonkeystatue with large foam 'get-a-clue' bat*

    I'm not sure if the production for E Machines is the same globally, but she paid near £1000 for the above-mentioned machine in the UK, and with its quoted spec it should really run twice as fast as it does.

    My friend phoned E Machines the other day, basically to complain bitch and rant, sort of like my initial post about this. I don’t know how they misinterpreted her complaints as a request for tech support but that’s what she was eventually connected to… who told her to use her restore disc… I got a phone call half an hour later..

    ‘Same shit, different day’

    I’m not going to bore you with the process of me installing her an Os from my backup device, but I will tell you I found a use for the system restore disc. She now has a brand new shinny coaster for her desk.
     
  20. blackmonkeystatue Unregistered User Registered Senior Member

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    Ouch!

    I've worked worked with 4 or 5 different E-Machines, all different models. I haven't had any major problems with any of them. I remember reading a little while ago that E-Machines was bought by someone. I want to say Gateway, but I don't remember.

    E-Machines are marketed as low-cost, not high performance/high quality. You get what you pay for. Every time I went to buy another E-Machine the tech guy rolls their eyes recommending something of higher quality.
     
  21. Maddad Time is a Weighty Problem Registered Senior Member

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    It's not that XP is more or less stable than 98. It's that XP masks your ability to tell where you are inside your own computer. (It also removes the quick launch bar which I use extensively in 98.) When using Explorer (that's another microstupid mistake, naming more than one program by the same name) in 98 you have an address bar at the top that tells you which drive you're on and what subdirectory (also called folder; I'm an old DOS guy) branch you followed getting there. XP doesn't give you that information, and it doesn't allow you to surf your own drive from one folder back up to the parent if you entered it as a logical drive. 98 does.
     
  22. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    Wow. Have you ever seen XP???
    Literally everything you mention is indeed doable in XP..you simply have to turn that option on.
     
  23. weed_eater_guy It ain't broke, don't fix it! Registered Senior Member

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    my emachine's the best damn computer I've ever known, no problems what-so-ever and I run the shit out of it. just typical manitnence, that's all I need to do. Dell on the other hand....

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