- Power AMD Athlon Processor
- Excellent Storage Capabilities
- AGP Expansion Slot
- Uses PC2700 DDR Memory
- Lacks FireWire Ports
- AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Processor
- 512MB PC2700 DDR Memory
- 160GB 7,200rpm Hard Drive
- 8x DVD+/-R Multiformat Optical Drive
- nForce2 Audio (AC'97) and Stereo Speakers
- nVidia GeForce 4MX Integrated Graphics with 64MB Shared Memory
- v.92 56Kbps Modem and 10/100 Ethernet
- Five USB 2.0 Ports and 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
- Windows XP Home, MS Works 7, Money 2004, Nero 6 Suite, PowerDVD and Norton Anti-Virus
10/5/04 - EMachines has a very strong reputation for building budget computer systems. Much of this has been the result of their use of the AMD product line of processor. The T3256 is their current top of the line desktop computer that has a tremendous amount of features for the price.
Unlike most budget desktops, the T3256 is powered by an AMD Athlon 3200+ processor. This gives the T3256 a lot of power for such a low price. Matched to this is 512MB of PC2700 DDR memory. While PC3200 DDR would have given the system a better memory bandwidth, the PC2700 should still work well for most users.
Storage is phenomenal on the T3256. The hard drive space is double what most budget systems offer with a total of 160GB of space. In addition to this, the system also comes equipped with a multiformat 8x DVD burner. Those looking for a low cost video editing system could do well with the T3256, although it does lack FireWire ports.
Graphics is the weak spot for the T3256 as it is for most budget systems. The system comes with the nVidia GeForce 4MX integrated chipset that offers better performance than the Extreme 2, but still not up to date with current levels. Thankfully, the T3256 also has an 8x AGP expansion slow to allow for graphics upgrades.
With all of these great features, it is hard not to recommend the eMachines T3256. It provides an excellent all around system that has potential for future upgrades.
