Advice on Emachines W3080

J

JJH

OK So long story short is I looked for information on buying a budget
desktop and somehow I couldn't find two bad words said about the
Emachines W3080, Athlon XP 3000, or TigerDirect. Reluctantly, I
ordered a refurbished system that seemed like a really good deal
because everyone I asked said that refurbished systems are the way to
go.

[OK so thie story isn't that short SKIP DOWN TO BOTTOM IF YOU JUST
WANNA GIVE ME TECH ADVICE]

Well, I got the computer quickly and set it up.. and I was very
pleased to start with. I don't do any heavy gaming... mostly just do
web design, normal internet use, and some graphics editing... so I was
fairly impressed with the computer's speed and all. Then after about a
whopping 36 hours the computer froze, would not respond, and never
booted up again. I went through the paces with emachines support,
trying safe mode, trying resetting bios, trying restore CDs, all the
stuff and in the end they said it sounded like I had a defective Video
card or ram or something.

Of course, when i went researching this problem I came across 8
million people who were aware that Emachines are notoriously crappy.
Not to mention a stack of complaints a mile high about Tiger Direct at
Ripoffreport.com and other review sites. So as it stands I had to send
the computer back to be replaced or possibly (hopefully) get a store
credit if they are out of that model. I am fairly certain I am going
to be stuck with another emachine w3080.

My Question is: How can I make the best of this situation? Anyone have
any suggestions as to what would be the most important parts to
upgrade or replace from the start? I am not experienced with hardware
upgrades but I have alot of spare time to learn how and I'm not too
stupid. Someone suggested I get a better motherboard or a better video
card since it has an open AGP slot. Should i swap the standard RAM
out? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The specs on the
system are :

emachines W3080
athlon xp 3000+ processor
512MB DDR
Integrated video and audio
DVD rom drive and a CDRW drive.

Here is a link to the full specs-
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=934497&Sku=E400-W3080

Thanks - Jeoffory
Please email me at (e-mail address removed)
 
K

kony

OK So long story short is I looked for information on buying a budget
desktop and somehow I couldn't find two bad words said about the
Emachines W3080, Athlon XP 3000, or TigerDirect.


How hard did you look?

TigerDirect is renowned for "bad words", including filings
with BBB, various online forums, credit card companies, etc.

Reluctantly, I
ordered a refurbished system that seemed like a really good deal
because everyone I asked said that refurbished systems are the way to
go.

You need to ask different people.
Refurbished can be good or bad, the "refurbished" part isn't
nearly as relevant as the "what it is" part. In general an
old OEM box can be much more of a PITA than "generic"
standard shop or home built system... "generic" not meaning
made of generic parts though, especially not generic board
or power supply.
[OK so thie story isn't that short SKIP DOWN TO BOTTOM IF YOU JUST
WANNA GIVE ME TECH ADVICE]

Umm, If i don't read it, I'm thinking the advice might not
be entirely appropriate. Plus
Well, I got the computer quickly and set it up.. and I was very
pleased to start with. I don't do any heavy gaming... mostly just do
web design, normal internet use, and some graphics editing... so I was
fairly impressed with the computer's speed and all. Then after about a
whopping 36 hours the computer froze, would not respond, and never
booted up again. I went through the paces with emachines support,
trying safe mode, trying resetting bios, trying restore CDs, all the
stuff and in the end they said it sounded like I had a defective Video
card or ram or something.

Does it even have a video card?
First impression would be that it's a Via KM400 board with
integrated video, unless you added a video card yourself.

It sounds like their tech support is next to worthless.
The best thing to do is immediately seek RMA refund, return
system to them.

The integrated video is not likely to "go out", and memory
that once worked, probably still does, not failing after 36
hours. After that interval, it seems most likely a bios
problem (if you'd changed anything on subsequent POST/boot),
or power supply failure. Either way, returning it for
refund is the best remedy, you should not have to deal with
replacement of parts at this point, unless for some odd
reason you really wanted to.

Of course, when i went researching this problem I came across 8
million people who were aware that Emachines are notoriously crappy.
Not to mention a stack of complaints a mile high about Tiger Direct at
Ripoffreport.com and other review sites. So as it stands I had to send
the computer back to be replaced or possibly (hopefully) get a store
credit if they are out of that model. I am fairly certain I am going
to be stuck with another emachine w3080.


Ask (demand?) specifically that you need a refund, not only
to 1st tier CSR, but their manager, on up the ladder.
My Question is: How can I make the best of this situation? Anyone have
any suggestions as to what would be the most important parts to
upgrade or replace from the start? I am not experienced with hardware
upgrades but I have alot of spare time to learn how and I'm not too
stupid. Someone suggested I get a better motherboard or a better video
card since it has an open AGP slot. Should i swap the standard RAM
out? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The specs on the
system are :

emachines W3080
athlon xp 3000+ processor
512MB DDR
Integrated video and audio
DVD rom drive and a CDRW drive.

Here is a link to the full specs-
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=934497&Sku=E400-W3080

If you were to keep the system, it may be best in the long
term to replace power supply and motherboard, but since you
aren't gaming with it, it's possible the motherboard is
serviceable. Memory can be tested with
http://www.memtest86.com (for several hours).

The thing is, who knows the history of this box? Tiger gets
questionable goods and moves them, then you're stuck with
it. You might see if there are any eMachines support forums
(newsgroups OR online web forums) where someone might know
the common failings of your specific model. If we knew the
make/model of motherboard and power supply we might have
more to go on, but again I'd seek a refund.
 
J

John

OK So long story short is I looked for information on buying a budget
desktop and somehow I couldn't find two bad words said about the
Emachines W3080, Athlon XP 3000, or TigerDirect. Reluctantly, I
ordered a refurbished system that seemed like a really good deal
because everyone I asked said that refurbished systems are the way to
go.
emachines W3080
athlon xp 3000+ processor
512MB DDR
Integrated video and audio
DVD rom drive and a CDRW drive.

Im sort of on the fence here. I have experience with that type of
cheapo all built into one machine and I loathed the old Packard Bell
and helped a neighbor to put one together. However when he wanted to
do it again I didnt feel like ordering all the parts and then hoping
he would pay me back and all that hassle. I told him to just go buy an
emachines, If it was me --- id rather build one but if you get it at
a low enough price , its OK. However I understand why many bash it.

You used to see lots of complaints about the power supplies. My
neighbor who has had it for a year or so hasnt had any problems except
the stuff I mentioned before. The board turns out to be an ECS --- its
hard to get all the details on it -- they have several versions and I
had to go to the Taiwan ECS site to track down the exact version.
Since they use the cheapest all-in-one micro boards yours is probably
an ECS or PC CHips or something in that vein. Not crazy about those
boards ---- but they can be OK. Id much rather have an NVDIA based all
in one board with 400mx level graphics. Ive bought 3 of them and they
work great so far.

Try the PS first after you do another going over of the PC just ot
make sure its not something obvious. If there is something wrong with
the MB look for a nvidia based all in one micro atx board by Biostar
or Asus etc. Computer Geeks was selling one for 36 bucks I think a
while back and Newegg used to have lots of refurbs but they blew them
all out a month or two ago and dont seem to have many refurbs anymore.
Maybe zipzoomfly might have one.
 
E

ECM

OK So long story short is I looked for information on buying a budget
desktop and somehow I couldn't find two bad words said about the
Emachines W3080, Athlon XP 3000, or TigerDirect.
***SNIP***

My Question is: How can I make the best of this situation? Anyone have
any suggestions as to what would be the most important parts to
upgrade or replace from the start? I am not experienced with hardware
upgrades but I have alot of spare time to learn how and I'm not too
stupid. Someone suggested I get a better motherboard or a better video
card since it has an open AGP slot. Should i swap the standard RAM
out? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The specs on the
system are :

emachines W3080
athlon xp 3000+ processor
512MB DDR
Integrated video and audio
DVD rom drive and a CDRW drive.

Here is a link to the full specs-
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=934497&Sku=E400-W3080

Thanks - Jeoffory
Please email me at (e-mail address removed)

Well, sounds like you got hosed.... sorry. You really DO get what you
paid for.

Try to get your money back, that'd be the best outcome. Swallow the
15% "restocking" ripoff if you have to. The cheapest competitive
system I've seen would be a Compaq at Costco or Walmart - about $500
with a monitor. I'm not sure that these systems will be much of an
upgrade, though - you should look at epinions.com and
resellerratings.com for reviews. It's ALWAYS better to buy an
el-cheapo budget system though a local store - you have real people to
go and talk to, and somewhere to take it back when it goes wrong. If
you want to buy online, go with Alienware or maybe Dell - they have
some problems, but they also have millions of satisfied and loyal
customers, too.

If TigerDirect won't refund your money, then at least insist on a
working system - make a real pest of yourself - phone them daily,
insist on talking to the supervisor, be firm but not obnoxious. Get to
know them all by name (ie. keep detailed notes of who you talked to
and what was said). Actually, if you can get a working system it'll
probably last for a year or two.... which is about what you paid for.
Not much longer than that, though.

Anyways, good luck....
ECM
 
J

John

If TigerDirect won't refund your money, then at least insist on a
working system - make a real pest of yourself - phone them daily,
insist on talking to the supervisor, be firm but not obnoxious. Get to
know them all by name (ie. keep detailed notes of who you talked to
and what was said). Actually, if you can get a working system it'll
probably last for a year or two.... which is about what you paid for.
Not much longer than that, though.

Anyways, good luck....
ECM

I didnt know this but I just read a blurb about emachines , they were
taken over by Gateway. Maybe thats old news to everyone but I didnt
know this. I thought they were still owned by some Korean company or
something. Also Gateway they said got a new CEO and they had some big
plans and suggested they were heading toward profitability maybe in
the next qtr but investors were skeptical because they had been saying
that for a while now and had a long string of losing qtrs. Supposedly
they were going to go back to the core business (PCs) cut overheard
massively though they were brining their call center back to the US
and aiming toward pretty huge growth in revenues. One idea was getting
more corporate sales.
 

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