eMachines EL1600-01 Nettop Desktop PC

Oct 1 2009 - For those just needing a computer to access basic tasks such as web browsing, email and maybe some word processing, the eMachines EL1600-01 is an extremely affordable option. It does all of these tasks very well along with some basic DVD playback and CD recording without any issues. The $220 price tag is certainly one of the best available on the market. It would have been nice to see the system be placed in a smaller package or have a faster Atom processor, but one must consider its extremely low price tag.

Oct 1 2009 - At $220, the eMachines EL1600-01 is probably one of the least expensive desktops available. With a low cost monitor, speakers and printer, it is possible to build a complete system for under $400. Of course, one shouldn't expect it compare to most desktops since it is based on the nettop platform.

Powering the EL1600-01 is the Intel Atom N230 single core mobile processor. This is the lowest speed version of the processor and uses very little power. This combined with the 1GB of memory will limit what the system can do, but it will be just fine for web browsing, email or word processing. It can even handle basic video playback from DVD or video streams.

One of the big advantages that the EL1600-01 has is the full desktop sized DVD burner. Most nettops either do not have an optical drive or use a slower speed laptop drive to conserve on space. This means that the EL1600-01 can playback and record to DVD and CD media faster than other nettops. It is also surprising to see such a drive when nettops roughly $100 more don't even have such a drive.

Of course, the reason the EL1600-01 has the DVD drive is that it uses a larger slim desktop case design that is much larger than the more traditional nettop platform. This has the advantage of providing more space for things like USB ports but it takes up more space than is really needed for the internal components.

One reason the EL1600-01 is probably so affordable is due to the large number of trialware applications that are loaded on the system. All of these programs take up precious storage space and processing time that will degrade the overall performance of the system. Users should expect to take some time to remove unwanted applications to help speed up the system and free up some space for more important programs and files.