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NeRve · Thu Feb 26, 2004 9:01 pm

Emachines M6807, Athlon 64 3000+, 512MB, 64MB Radeon 9600, 60GB Drive, with a DVD burner (dual format) for $1649 (currently with $100 rebate). How are emachine laptop design quality?

idchafee · Tue Mar 02, 2004 9:58 am

Never seen an emachines laptop but emachines desktops are huge piles of poo, for whatever that's worth. :-?

Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:56 pm

They are not as bad as they used to be since their company really changed the way they do things. Their new systems are nowhere near as bad as they used to be.

leor · Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:25 pm

it's a good deal for what you are getting, the only question is whather emachines has straightened their act out.

siddman · Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:33 pm

E-machines was recently bought or going to be bought by Gateway. Steer clear. Not worth the hassle IMO. Try IBM, Toshiba, HP/Compaq, Dell. There's certified reconditioned laptops with warranty etc. out there.

Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:47 pm

Its a nice desktop

Bomber · Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:56 pm

Actually that laptop is currently the best laptop to get for the money. I hate to send you to another forum...kinda rude, but the mobile section at http://www.hardforum.com has lots of info on that laptop from actual users.

redeye · Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:57 pm

siddman wrote:
...Try IBM, Toshiba, HP/Compaq, Dell. There's certified reconditioned laptops with warranty etc. out there.

I'd steer clear of Dell...or at least make really good, regular backups. Just speaking from experience.

idchafee · Tue Mar 02, 2004 4:18 pm

redeye wrote:
I'd steer clear of Dell...or at least make really good, regular backups. Just speaking from experience.

Interesting, I've had problems with Compaq/HP laptops going under and losing data, but never a Dell. And my last job was a 100% Dell shop, like 4000 PC's and 1000 notebooks. Did you have problems more than once?

redeye · Tue Mar 02, 2004 4:41 pm

Yea, we had laptops dying left and right. I knew one tech who had his mainboard replaced at least 4 times. Hard drives and video were the main culprits for problems. The hinges for the display were always cracking. After the warranties ran out I was slapping pieces in and out of laptops weekly.

I've had a Toshiba Satellite pro 2100 for about a year now and I'm pretty happy with it.

siddman · Tue Mar 02, 2004 7:06 pm

Dell's inspiron line sucks. That is why they totally redesigned their laptops. Latitude line is better IMO.

maxxcool · Tue Mar 02, 2004 7:41 pm

I have the m6805, and i find it awfully well built (but it may just be my laptop). the display model at best buy was solid so i made the clerk pull 2 more of the rack and poked / twisted the other two and found them solid.

so i bought mine a bout 1 month ago.

so far im quiet happy with it.

nice thing was that with cpuid.com tools i can overclock it and underclock it. so far i have had the batery last about 3.5 hours when i crank it down to 400mhz @ .09 volts.

the only thing that i find troublesome is the ati card doesnt seem to respond to throttling very well. on battery mode with the cat 4.x drivers i find it at "optimal performance" and have to switch it down manually

but other than that i love the thing

plays ut2004 like a dream, splinter cell, no game i have wont play on it.

redeye · Tue Mar 02, 2004 8:14 pm

To me the true test of a laptop is time. Any laptop should be great out of the store. After 6 months of good use you can generally tell the difference between a good, solid laptop and a (excuse the technical term) pile of poo.

LicketySplit · Tue Mar 02, 2004 8:15 pm

Good lappie for the money...they have finally gotten their act together :wink:

Looking for Knowledge · Tue Mar 02, 2004 8:45 pm

Where's the link? I want to dream about having extra money to spend.

idchafee · Wed Mar 03, 2004 11:21 am

siddman wrote:
Dell's inspiron line sucks. That is why they totally redesigned their laptops. Latitude line is better IMO.

You know, you're right. We only had like 3-4 Inspiron's and they were in a lot more than any of the 1000+ Latitudes. I kinda forgot about the Inspirons.

redeye wrote:
To me the true test of a laptop is time. Any laptop should be great out of the store. After 6 months of good use you can generally tell the difference between a good, solid laptop and a (excuse the technical term) pile of poo.

Yep. I have a Compaq Evo N180 at the moment, and its been almost a year without a hitch. Me likey.

Bomber · Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:04 pm

idchafee wrote:
Yep. I have a Compaq Evo N180 at the moment, and its been almost a year without a hitch. Me likey.

I love my Evo. I have an N800

FroBozz_Inc · Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:09 pm

Chances are that the laptop in question is actually built by one of the three or so companies in Taiwan that pretty much builds all the laptops for all the computer companies. Nowadays, my feeling is that most laptops are pretty similar, quality-wise.

I would say go for it on that laptop....looks great.

idchafee · Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:16 pm

FroBozz_Inc wrote:
Chances are that the laptop in question is actually built by one of the three or so companies in Taiwan that pretty much builds all the laptops for all the computer companies. Nowadays, my feeling is that most laptops are pretty similar, quality-wise.

I would say go for it on that laptop....looks great.

Even Dell? I thought Dell made a big thing about Made in the USA and custom making them to fit your order?

Edit: Now I'm thinking...is there a link somewhere to this laptop to buy it online? I have a few grand of my work's money burning a hole in my pocket

FroBozz_Inc · Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:30 pm

Here's a review:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1537624,00.asp

You can get it at Circuit City:

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?o ... &WT.mc_t=U

Enjoy ;-)

Edit: The one thing that's lacking a bit is the hard drive. Only spins at 4200RPM. This is normal for laptop drives, but now the 5400rpm models are becomming more common. You might want to spring for a faster drive eventually.

StrangeDay · Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:02 am

Is there any way to upgrade the ram on this thing? Is it still a stick, or is it soldered in?

JediNinjaWizards · Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:19 am

I have used, dealt with, and owned many laptops in my time. Stay the F*** away from Dell, HP and CompaQ, all their products are essentially the cheapest made hardware you can buy, with the exception maybe of dell's servers, they are OK, but all their LT's are ****, same as with Compaq, they are made of cheap ass plastic that falls apart quickly.

Emachines used to be just as bad, although to be honest ive dealth with a few Emachines and never had any problems with them personally. They recently underwent a facelift, so they may be even better, I don't know. That sounds like a decent price for what youre getting, but I always go with craftsmanship first, before options.

idchafee · Thu Mar 04, 2004 5:03 pm

JediNinjaWizards wrote:
I have used, dealt with, and owned many laptops in my time. Stay the F*** away from Dell, HP and CompaQ, all their products are essentially the cheapest made hardware you can buy, with the exception maybe of dell's servers, they are OK, but all their LT's are sh*t, same as with Compaq, they are made of cheap ass plastic that falls apart quickly.

Emachines used to be just as bad, although to be honest ive dealth with a few Emachines and never had any problems with them personally. They recently underwent a facelift, so they may be even better, I don't know. That sounds like a decent price for what youre getting, but I always go with craftsmanship first, before options.

So if all those lappys are crap, what do you suggest?

FroBozz_Inc · Thu Mar 04, 2004 5:48 pm

Gateway laptops are my company's de-facto standard. They are pretty good, all things considered...

Truth is, I've had problems with all major laptop makers through the years. AFAIAC, there is no such thing as a problem-free laptop maker.

I would probably choose Dell or Gateway...Of course you have things like Alienware laptops that I would choose first, for myself, for home use....But that suggestion isn't really realistic for a buisness user.

Then you have panasonic (toughbook, and others like them) laptops that are built very strong, but they are very expensive.

AmishRakeFight · Thu Mar 04, 2004 5:55 pm

The Athlon 64 runs with PC2700? I was just looking at the specs and I thought that kind of odd...

JediNinjaWizards · Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:20 pm

idchafee wrote:
JediNinjaWizards wrote:
I have used, dealt with, and owned many laptops in my time. Stay the F*** away from Dell, HP and CompaQ, all their products are essentially the cheapest made hardware you can buy, with the exception maybe of dell's servers, they are OK, but all their LT's are sh*t, same as with Compaq, they are made of cheap ass plastic that falls apart quickly.

Emachines used to be just as bad, although to be honest ive dealth with a few Emachines and never had any problems with them personally. They recently underwent a facelift, so they may be even better, I don't know. That sounds like a decent price for what youre getting, but I always go with craftsmanship first, before options.

So if all those lappys are crap, what do you suggest?

I would recommend Gateway, Emachines, Alienware, Sotec (now Averatec, they have been awesome for the short time I've worked with them, and Sager, not necessarily in that order. I realize Alienware and Sager are high end ****, but so is their customer support, they have excellent service, and are generally very helpful. Also, if youre sick of Windows, theres always the Apple PowerBook, arguably the best made laptops you can buy.

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