The eMachines T5062 isn't their lowest cost system, but it offers more in terms of power and performance than its cheaper counterparts. These systems are geared towards home users who want decent performance but don't want to spend a lot to get it.

The T5062 is built around an AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor. This 2.4GHz CPU isn't a dual-core processor, but it still offers fast 64-bit performance for the latest operating systems and applications--including the Home Premium edition of Windows Vista that's included with the package, giving you all the multimedia tools that Windows XP Media Center edition had available.

And eMachines provides a healthy 1GB of fast 667MHz DDR2 memory with these systems, so there's enough RAM to handle Vista effectively. They'll support up to 2GB of RAM, but there aren't any open DIMMs--meaning you'll have to replace some of the current memory to add more memory later.

Storage space starts out at a respectable 160GB with a 7,200rpm drive, providing a decent amount of room to store audio and video files and install large applications. But we like the optical drive even better: It's a SuperMulti DVD writer that supports a wide range of formats. You can write to traditional CDs and DVDs as well as the high-capacity Dual Layer disks (with 8.5GB of storage on a single disk). And this drive even handles DVD-RAM disks that can be rewritten to up to 100,000 times, making them excellent media for regularly scheduled data backups.

This desktop also features an unusually robust media card reader that we don't see that often even on higher-end systems. The 15-in-1 reader can handle pretty much every media card format under the sun, including common formats such as CompactFlash, MMC, Secure Digital, and all types of Memory Stick as well as less common cards like Mini SD, Mobile MMC, and xD Picture Cards.

Graphics are integrated, which isn't that unusual at this low price point. But they're NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE, so performance will be better on 3D games than with typical integrated graphics. There's also a PCI-Express slot on these systems, so you can add a dedicated graphics card to your T5062 if you want better 3D gaming performance.

Audio is integrated, but you get eight channels of high-definition sound. To take advantage of that, you'll probably want to hook up your own surround sound speaker system. The amplified stereo USB speakers that ship with these desktop computers aren't bad, but they're not that impressive for gaming or watching DVD movies.

The T5062 has both modem and network interface, so you can connect to the Internet via both dial-up and broadband service providers. The front of these well-designed black and silver mid-sized towers includes two USB ports (with four more around back) for easy connection of high-speed peripherals and headphone and microphone jacks for hooking up a headset for online chatting.

The input devices are rather unimpressive: you get a standard two-button PS/2 mouse and a keyboard that offers just a few hotkeys for multimedia controls. The T5062 includes a one-year warranty in the event of any problems, about the standard length you'll see from any consumer desktop computer vendor.

The software bundle includes the basic Microsoft Works 8.5 and the BigFix troubleshooting application, but most of the other programs are trial versions. That means if you want to use them for longer than a month or two, you'll have to pay for the full versions.

The eMachines T5062 home desktop offers a good combination of price and performance, offering components that aren't completely budget-end at a price that definitely is. If you're looking for a desktop computer that delivers decent performance without having to shell out more than $500, the T5062 series fits that bill and even includes some nice surprises.


Pro: Great price, solid performance, 15-in-1 media card reader
Con: Integrated graphics, no display included

Warranty
1-year limited