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| eMachines T1100 |
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Hardware Reviews February 2002 • Vol.13 Issue 2 Page(s) 16 in print issue |
eMachines T1100 Sub-$500 Trouper | ||
 How low can eMachines go? After a round of very inexpensive desktop systems for back-to-school, the company released a few more PCs in time for the holidays. ‘Tis the season to get a 1GHz processor and a CD-RW (CD-rewriteable) drive for $574, or $499 after a $75 mail-in rebate. That's the current price for eMachines' T1100, a no-nonsense PC with "muscle enough." There's very little we don't like in this budget PC. Whenever you catch us saying something isn't the best it could be, repeat this mantra: "Yeah, but for $499 . . ." Right up front, you'll have to budget extra for a monitor, which may run you about $170 or more for an eMachines eView 17p. Unbelievably, eMachines endowed this system with Windows XP Home Edition, which costs nearly half of the T1100's price after rebate. The company could have skimped on the rest of the components, but it doesn't seem to have done so. Aside from the 1GHz Celeron CPU and 128MB of SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), the T1100's most prominent feature is its Samsung SW-212B CD-RW drive with 12X/8X/32X speeds (write/rewrite/read). We've tested this Samsung as a standalone product, and it demonstrated great performance compared to its peers at the time. A Seagate U Series 20GB hard drive provides reliable, quiet mass storage, even if it's no speed king. The T1100's motherboard takes care of both audio and video needs, with an integrated Intel FW82810E 3D graphics adapter and an 82801 AC '97 audio circuit. It also has a 56Kbps (kilobits per second) V.92 Conexant Soft 56 modem for your dial-up Internet connection. The T1100's familiar, gray eMachines minitower sports front-mounted USB (Universal Serial Bus) and joystick ports, a diskette drive, and a second USB port on the back panel. Continuing a popular feature, eMachines put headphone and microphone jacks on the T1100's front panel under the power button. Used together, both jacks make it easier to place inexpensive Internet phone calls if you have a broadband connection (which requires an add-on network card). Fortunately, there are two free PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots for future devices, and they're easy to reach. The keyboard and mouse included with the T1100 are predictably standard models with no extras, such as multimedia buttons or scrolling wheels. They work just fine, though, and help keep the system's cost low. (Did we mention it's just $499 after rebate?) Even with its magical 1GHz processor rating, don't expect this value eMachine to blow you away with speed. For comparison's sake, the T1100 charted a SYSmark2001 benchmarking utility score of 74, which doesn't look great on paper. The SYSmark2001 score's two components were an 80 Office Productivity rating and a 69 in Internet Content Creation. A low 3DMark2001 figure of 454 is about all we expect from the Intel graphics adapter, which shares up to 11MB of system memory. In spite of these uninspiring scores, the T1100 certainly feels fast enough during CD burning and even games, such as Quake III Arena, at low resolutions. At 640 x 480 pixels, Q3A was playable enough. We tested the T1100's audio performance more subjectively with music CDs and game sounds. As for the SP-12N speakers common among low-end eMachines, run, don't walk, to buy different ones. The SP-12Ns are marginally better than a PC's internal speaker, but only because two of them create a rudimentary stereo effect. Fortunately, last year's Altec Lansing speakers are still awesome, and inexpensive if you can find some. The T1100 comes with an extendable 1-year parts and labor warranty that, among other things, gives eMachines buyers a full year of phone support (up from just 15 days). The support number isn't a free call, but this isn't surprising given the slim profit margins in the budget PC market. The T1100's software bundle isn't bad, either, with Microsoft Works 2000, MS Money 2000 Standard, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 5.0, among others. As a first PC for someone simply testing the waters of computing, or as a second Internet device intended to restore domestic harmony, the T1100 offers great value for the price.  by Marty Sems T1100 $574 ($499 after rebate) eMachines (877) 566-3463 (714) 481-2828 http://www.e4me.com
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