None of the desktops in the comparison uses a lot of power, but the eMachines ET1810-03 winds up among the cheapest to operate at only $17.37 per year. The Dell Inspiron 537s and the Asus Essentio are both faster than the eMachines and understandably cost a bit more at $20.59 and $24.57 year-over-year, but overall the eMachines' power efficiency, if not its performance, benefits considerably from its slower dual-core, 2.2GHz clock speed.
eMachines backs the ET1810-03 with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty. Technical support is available seven days a week from 5 a.m. to midnight PT, and the support section of the Web site offers live chat with a technician from 3 a.m. to midnight. For $99, you can also extend the warranty for two additional years. Given the $370 price of the system itself, it's most certainly not worth extending the warranty.
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:
Asus Essentio CM5570-AP002
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.6GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300; 6GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 32MB (shared) Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics chip; 640MB 7,200rpm hard drive.
Dell Inspiron 537s
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200; 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 32MB (shared) Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics chip; 640GB 7,200rpm hard drive.
eMachines EL1300G-01w
32-bit Windows Vista Home Basic; 1.6GHz AMD Athlon 2650e; 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics chip; 160GB 7,200rpm hard drive.
eMachines ET1810-03
32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.2GHz Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo E2210; 3GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB (shared) Nvidia nForce 620i integrated graphics chip; 320GB, 7,200rpm hard drive.
Gateway SX2800-01
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.3GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200; 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 32MB (shared) Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics chip; 640GB 7,200rpm hard drive.
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
