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eMachines T5254 Budget Desktop Personal Computer

About.com Rating 3

By Mark Kyrnin, About.com

eMachines T5254

eMachines T5254

©eMachines
The Bottom Line
The eMachines T5254 is one of the least expensive desktop systems available on the market with a dual core processor. It is very energy efficient yet still does alright for general purpose computing. The downside is that the T5254 has limited memory upgrade potential and lacks a FireWire port used for most digital video with camcorders.
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Pros
  • Very Inexpensive
  • Low Power Consumption Processor
Cons
  • Only Two Memory Slots Limiting RAM Upgrades
  • Slower Athlon Processor
  • Lacks FireWire Port
Description
  • AMD Athlon BE-2350 Dual Core Processor
  • 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
  • 320GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
  • 16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
  • NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Integrated Graphics
  • AC'97 Audio with Stereo Speakers
  • v.92 56kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet
  • Six USB 2.0 Ports
  • Vista Home Premium, MS Works, Power2Go, Norton Internet Security
Guide Review - eMachines T5254 Budget Desktop Personal Computer

5/1/08 – The eMachines T5254 is a very unique low cost desktop offering. It is based upon the AMD Athlon BE-2350 dual core processor. This was a special processor designed by AMD to be very energy efficient. In fact, it is probably one of the lowest power consumption processors on the market. The downside to this is that the BE-2350 is not one of the faster dual-core processors on the market.

Even with its very low price tag, eMachines manages to put two gigabytes of memory into the T5254. This lets it run without any issues including with the Vista operating system. The downside to this is that the motherboard only has two memory slots. This makes upgrading the memory for the T5254 a bit more difficult as the existing memory has to be removed to put in large modules.

Storage wise, the T5254 has a pretty standard setup for a budget desktop system. The 320GB hard drive is a bit on the small size when compared to the large terabyte drives now available, but it is typical of a desktop in this price range and provides a decent amount of space. A dual layer DVD burner handles all tasks of recording and playback of CD and DVD media. Finally, a 15-in-1 card reader allows the system to use many of the popular flash memory cards used by digital peripherals.

Those looking to use the system digital video will want to be warned about the lack of a FireWire port on the T5254. FireWire is the most common method of transferring digital video between a digital camcorder and the PC. This makes the T5254 less than ideal for potential digital video editing. Even with this small oversight, the eMachines T5254 does make a decent general purpose computer for those on a tight budget.

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