Gateway's low-end eMachines PCs target families, students, and the similarly budget-conscious with a tried-and-true formula: offering a tiny selection of cheap, ready-to-ship products. Want to configure your own system? Try somewhere else. Need a fancy graphics card or a big monitor? You're in the wrong place. But if you want the basics at a bargain price, you need look no further than the $920 ($650 without monitor) eMachines T6520 Media Center PC.
The T6520 we evaluated is actually the highest-end model in eMachines' current four-model fall lineup--indicating just how deep into budget country we've ventured. Like its brothers, the T6520 is available only through retail chains such as Circuit City and Best Buy, and in only one fixed configuration. All four models share the same silver-and-black external plastics (clearly bearing the stamp of Gateway's in-house designers), differing only in their guts.
Based on AMD's 2.4GHz Athlon 64 3400+ processor, the eMachines T6520 Media Center PC delivers impressive application performance for this class of system. In testing, it ran circles around the more expensive Gateway 5310S we covered in a recent sub-$1,000 PC roundup. The T6520 also held its own against the Editors' Choice-winning iBuyPower Value-Pro, falling only a few points short of the iBuyPower machine on our SysMark 2004 test.
Nonetheless, the T6520 didn't fare well on CNET Labs' 3D-gaming benchmarks, although low-cost PCs rarely do. Its integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chip handled our 1,024x768 resolution Unreal Tournament 2003 test with a passable 42.1 frames per second (fps). On our 1,024x768 Half-Life 2 test, the T6520 managed only 10.2fps--an unplayable clip by any standard. We don't recommend the T6520 for gaming as is; fortunately, its unoccupied x16 PCI Express graphics slot can accommodate an upgrade to a discrete graphics card.
Once you wrestle the deceptively difficult side panel off the case, you'll find a nifty interior that provides ample room to grow. In addition to the aforementioned PCI Express graphics port, you get plenty of spare PCI slots and drive bays, should you need them. There is one expansion drawback: the T6520's motherboard has only two DIMM slots, and both come filled (with, we must mention, a healthy 1GB of RAM). If you ever want to add more memory, you'll first have to discard one of the 512MB sticks that came with the system--a less than ideal solution.
On the outside of the T6520, you'll also find lots to get excited about: a double-layer DVD burner, a 48X CD-ROM drive, and an 8-in-1 flash-card reader on the front panel, along with a full complement of ports around back. Although the eMachines T6520 Media Center PC provides seven USB 2.0 ports (with three up front), you get but one six-pin FireWire port (located on the back panel).
The price of our review system included the 15-inch eMachines E15T4 LCD monitor, a bright, if small, display with a native 1,024x768 resolution and an intuitive OSD menu with side-mounted buttons. While the graphics chip inside the T6520 can drive a big monitor at resolutions up to 2,048x1,536, the video fidelity was lacking. We found DVD playback grainy, although at least it didn't drop frames or create a jerky image.
As its name implies, the eMachines T6520 Media Center PC uses Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE), which is unusual for sub-$1,000 systems; however, eMachines doesn't include a TV tuner and a remote control, as you'd find in higher-end Media Center systems. The argument here is that MCE offers plenty of other functionality, such as photo management and DVD controls, that makes it worth its relatively small additional cost. You can always add the other elements later if you wish. Unfortunately, the T6520 ships with a pair of flimsy stereo speakers that sound as lightweight as they feel. The functional but unremarkable Internet keyboard and the three-button USB mouse share the black-and-silver design motif of the tower box, which adds to the T6520's aesthetically pleasing image.
eMachines includes the Microsoft Works 8.0 productivity suite, Microsoft Money 2005 accounting software, and a 30-day subscription to Norton Internet Security 2005 antivirus software, among other workaday titles. You also get a standard one-year warranty and some bare-bones documentation. You can upgrade the warranty directly through the company--two years runs you $99, and a three-year warranty goes for $139. eMachines also throws in free phone support for the life of the warranty, although the call is not toll-free. Support hours run from 5 a.m. to midnight PT, seven days a week.
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BAPCo's SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | |
SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
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1,024x768 with no antialiasing and no anisotropic filtering |
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:
eMachines T6520 Media Center PC
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 3400+; ATI Radeon RS480 chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; Seagate ST320021A 200GB 7,200rpm ATA/100
Gateway 5310S
Windows XP Home SP2; 3.06GHz Intel Pentium 4 519; Intel 915GV chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated Intel 915GV graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
iBuyPower Value-Pro
Windows XP Home SP2; 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+; Nvidia Nforce-4 chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce 6200 TurboCache PCI Express; Western Digital WD1600JD-98HBB0 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Shuttle XPC K6200h
Windows XP Home SP2; 2.8GHz Intel Celeron D 335; ATI 9100IGP chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated ATI 9100 graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; Western Digital WD1600JB-00GVA0 160GB 7,200rpm EIDE
ZT Group Pro A7055
Windows XP Home SP2; 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 3400+; Via K8T800 chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB Nvidia GeForce4 MX 400 AGP; Western Digital WD2000JB-00GVC0 200GB 7,200rpm EIDE
Product Specifications:
Product Description:
EMachines T6520 - Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4 GHz
Type:
Media center
Product Form Factor:
Tower
Dimensions (WxDxH):
7.2 in x 16 in x 14.1 in
Weight:
23.0 lbs
Processor:
1 x AMD Athlon 64 3400+ / 2.4 GHz
Cache Memory:
512 KB L2 cache
Cache Per Processor:
512 KB
RAM:
1024 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR SDRAM - 400 MHz - PC3200
Storage Controller:
Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-150 ) ; IDE ( ATA-100 )
Hard Drive:
1 x 200 GB - Standard
Hard Drive (2nd):
- None
Optical Storage:
DVD±RW (+R DL)
Optical Storage (2nd):
CD-ROM
Card Reader:
8 in 1 card reader
Storage Removable:
None
Monitor:
None.
Printer:
None
Graphics Controller:
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 - 128 MB
Audio Output:
Sound card - 5.1 channel surround
Communications:
Fax / modem - 56 Kbps
OS Provided:
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Manufacturer Warranty:
1 year warranty
Product Basic Spec:
Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 3000+ (2.4 GHz)
RAM installed:
1024 MB DDR SDRAM
Cache size - type:
512 KB L2 cache
Hard drive:
200 GB Standard
2nd hard drive:
None
CD / DVD drive:
DVD±RW (+R DL) IDE
2nd optical storage type:
CD-ROM
Monitor type - technology - form factor:
None.
Video RAM installed:
128 MB
Graphics Processor / Vendor:
ATI Radeon Xpress 200
Audio output:
Integrated Sound card
Cabinet form factor:
Tower
Dimensions (W x D x H):
7.2 in x 16 in x 14.1 in
OS provided:
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
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