eMachines El1310-01 Slim Desktop PC

Sep 23 2009 - The eMachines EL1310-01 is certainly an extremely affordable slim desktop system at only $330. It should be noted that with such a low price tag, it also does not have a high level of performance. It is much more in competition with even smaller nettop systems than desktops. Still, for its price tag, the system provides a very affordable means of general purpose computing. Just be warned that there is little that one can really do to upgrade the system compared to larger and more expensive slim desktop systems.

Sep 22 2009 - The eMachines EL1310-01 is not the most powerful slim desktop on the market, but that isn't its goal. Instead, low cost is the name of the game and with a $330 price tag, it certainly is very low. In fact, it is only slightly more expensive than the new category of nettop computers but has so much more to offer.

Powering the system is a modest AMD Athlon LE-1640 processor. This is a single core processor that will struggle to keep up with certain applications but is certainly fine for the person who doesn't multitask and is using it for general purpose tasks such as web browsing, productivity software and basic media playback. It certainly is far more powerful than the Intel Atom in nettops but falls well behind the dual core Pentium and Core 2 Duos.

Even with its low price, eMachines didn't skimp on the features of the EL1310-01. They including some of the latest technology connectors including HDMI for use with digital monitors and HDTVs and eSATA for use with high speed external storage. It also features a full sized desktop DVD burner that far outperforms any slim drives found in similarly priced nettop boxes.

The big area of concern with the EL1310-01 is upgrading. The system does have a half-height PCI-Express graphics slot available, but only the most basic graphics cards can be installed due to no power cables available to supplement power and the limited space. There is also no room for a secondary hard drive and only two memory slots stashed underneath the DVD drive.

Still, if you need a small, low powered desktop for general purpose use and don't want to spend much, the eMachines EL1310-01 may very well fit that need.