eMachines EL1200-05w review

As expected, the eMachines' budget components just don't stack up against the competition. Because of its single-core and reduced processor speed, the disparity is most obvious in the multitasking and Cinebench benchmarks, where it took 5,220 seconds to complete our standard multimedia test. To put it in comparison, the next closest score is another eMachines system, the ET1161-03, at 1,300 seconds. The eMachines also trailed in the applications ratings as well, dragging its feet at 466 seconds for Photoshop and 323 seconds for the iTunes test. Even the most budget PCs available usually feature at least a dual-core processor, so we can't recommend the eMachines unless you're a fan of tapping your feet between commands.

This eMachines system comes with a typical one-year warranty covering parts and labor, as well as phone support seven a days a week from 5 a.m. to midnight Pacific Time. The eMachines Web site also provides you with a live chat feature from 3 a.m. to midnight Pacific Time where a virtual operator can mitigate software issues via remote access and online chat. eMachines also offer $99 and $139 extended warranties that guarantee service for an extra two or three years, respectively.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:

eMachines EL1200-05w
Windows XP Home; 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon 2650e; 1GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB Nvidia GeForce 6150SE graphics card; 160GB, 7,200rpm hard drive.

Dell Inspiron 530s
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.2GHz Intel Pentium E2200; 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB (shared) Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics chip; 3200GB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

Acer Aspire X3200
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.1GHz AMD Phenom X3 8400; 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 8200 integrated graphics chip; 320GB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive.

Compaq Presario SR5610f
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (32-bit); 2.5GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800; 3GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB (shared) NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics chip; 320GB 7,200rpm SATA hard drive.

eMachines ET1161-03
Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 (32-bit); 2.3GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400; 3GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB (shared) NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics chip; 320GB 7,200rpm SATA hard drive.