Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2.2 GHz)
Clock speed:
2.2 GHz
RAM installed:
1 GB DDR SDRAM
Hard drive:
200 GB Standard
OS provided:
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
System type:
Media center
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by:
Asa Somers
Edited by:
Rich Brown
Reviewed on 10/20/05
Release date: 9/23/05
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 $600 (after $50 mail-in rebate; monitor costs extra) eMachines T6524 Media Center PC.
The T6524 we evaluated is actually the highest-end model in eMachines' current five-model fall lineup--indicating just how deep into budget country we've ventured. Like its brothers, the T6524 is available only through retail chains such as Circuit City and Best Buy, and in only one fixed configuration. All five 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 2.2GHz Athlon 64 3500+ processor, the eMachines T6524 Media Center PC delivers impressive application performance for this class of system. Although the 3500+ is 200MHz slower than the 3400+ chip found on last quarter's eMachines T6520, the 3500+ is based on a newer chipset that allowed the nearly identical T6524 to edge out the T6520 on CNET Labs' SysMark 2004 application benchmark. Compared with its Intel competition, the eMachines T6524 turned in a score similar to that of the HP z555, which uses a low-end Pentium 4 500-series chip, while trailing the Sony VAIO RB44G, with its midrange Pentium 4 600-series chip. Aiding both Intel-based systems was their use of dedicated graphics cards with 128MB of graphics memory.
Like the T6520 that preceded it, the eMachines T6524 relies on integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics that shares main system memory for graphics chores. You'll be able to play only older games on the T6524 at moderate resolutions. 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. Two of the four DIMM slots are filled, allowing you to expand the system's already ample 1GB of 400MHz memory to 4GB.
On the outside of the T6524, 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 T6524 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).
As its name implies, the eMachines T6524 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 T6524 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 T6524's aesthetically pleasing image. We grew to quickly hate the rollerball mouse; anything less than an optical mouse is unacceptable these days, even among budget PCs.
eMachines recently added a 17-inch LCD to its display lineup and included it with our T6524 evaluation unit. The two items are sold separately; adding the $270 (after $50 mail-in rebate) E17T4 LCD to the T6524 brings the total system price to a reasonable $869. The E17T4 isn't terribly bright and DVDs looked grainy on our tests, but overall it provides an acceptable image for the price.
eMachines includes the Microsoft Works 8.0 productivity suite, Microsoft Money 2005 accounting software, BigFix diagnostic 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. Calls to tech support after the warranty expires cost $20 per incident. Support hours run from 5 a.m. to midnight PT, seven days a week. You can also e-mail tech support or try out the live chat, which is available daily from 3 a.m. to 12 midnight PT.
Application performance(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | |
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SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | |
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SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating | |
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:
eMachines T6520
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
eMachines T6524
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+; ATI Radeon RS482 chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; WDC WD2000BB-22GUC0 200GB 7,200rpm ATA/100
HP Digital Entertainment Center z555
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.0GHz Intel P4 530; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB Nvidia GeForce 6600 (PCIe); Maxtor 6B250S0 250GB 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[TK]; Western Digital WD1600JD-98HBB0 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Sony VAIO VCG-RB44G
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.2GHz Intel P4 640; Intel 915G chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB ATI Radeon X300 (PCIe); WDC WD2500JD-98HBB0 250GB, 7,200rpm Serial ATA
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