Worst Desktop?!

PC Magazine has labeled Apple's eMac as the worst desktop of the year. I'm writing this on an eMac, albeit several years old, and I have a new eMac sitting on my desk at work (networked with a Windows Exchange Server and Windows Server 2003). I'm biased in a different direction than PC Magazine. So, in an effort to figure out what is so bad about my computer (which is the bottom of Apple's food chain), I thought I'd go over to Dell and pull up their $750-800 desktop and compare them, after all, Dell is the recommended choice in the eMac bashing mini-article. Dell's home offering in this price is the Dimension 4700C priced at $749.

eMac has: Radeon 9200 Graphics Card, PC Mag rips this as not up to gaming
Dell has: Integrated Graphics, which is far worse than any separate graphics card
eMac Wins

eMac has: 256 mb RAM
Dell has: Free upgrade to 512 mb RAM
Dell Wins

eMac has: 17" CRT monitor
Dell has: 17" CRT monitor
TIE (assuming the monitors have same quality)

eMac has: Firewire, USB 2, USB 1, Audio In, Audio Out, 10/100 Ethernet, built-in modem, Video out Ports
Dell has: "Multiple I/O ports for peripherals" It does not have Firewire, it does have 5.1 Channel Audio
Winner is based on needs. For me, eMac wins as I have a digital camcorder and need Firewire and I don't have/need external speakers.

eMac has: Combo drive. PC Mag rags on eMac for not having a DVD burner for backing up huge amounts of data.
Dell has: CD-Rom drive. Um, that means you can't back up even small amounts of data to CD.
eMac Wins

eMac has: All-in-One Design. This limits expandibility to RAM and Wireless cards (though USB 2 and Firewire allow for an endless supply of external add-ons).
Dell has: Small Form Factor. Expandibility is possible, but the cards necessary for expansion are hard to find. Lack of Firewire cuts back slightly on external peripheral choices. Dell has a floppy disk drive, if anyone still uses those.
eMac Wins due to virtually limitless external expansion options, neither is convincing on internal expansion options at the base price.

eMac sits on my desk and takes up no more space than a 17" CRT monitor. All ports are within easy reach, and two USB 1.1 ports are on my keyboard, making it simple to plug in a digital camera, printer, etc.
Dell sits on the floor where my long legs and big feet can kick it, plus it has a 17" CRT on my desk. Anytime I want to plug in a peripheral, I have to get on my arthritic knees and search for the port I need.
eMac Wins

Overall winner? eMac beats Dells $750-800 option, not convincingly, but it does beat it.

So, is the eMac the worst desktop available? Certainly not! Not only does eMac have a slight edge over a comparably priced Dell, Dell has WORSE offerings than this. Certainly this is not Dell's worst computer, so to name the eMac as the worst out there is a joke.

Now granted, this is simply a hardware comparison on two un-customized computers. If we were to compare software, I'm sure the eMac would blow the Dell out of the water. Windows computers are known for being stripped of software options, or coming with options that are hardly usable. Mac, on the other hand, are known for shipping with great software. Dell's XP Home Edition means that you are limited to being a one-computer home. Home Edition is not designed for networking. All Macs ship with the same system, and all are designed to be networked. As I mentioned, my eMac at work, the one PC Mag labels as the worst desktop available, is networked to a Windows Server system and Exchange Server system. There is no way you could do that with the Dell I compared it to, I've tried.

Why would PC Magazine label the eMac as the worst desktop computer out there? I'm guessing that they completed their list and realized that Apple wasn't on it, so they decided to add Apple, and this is Apple's weakest product. It is really difficult to find any other way to read this. I'm not saying Dell computers are terrible, simply that there are MUCH worse options than the eMac.

Now that I've finished, I've got to go clear the spyware off my brother's Dell, after which, we'll get on the internet and find an eMac for his family. They've already been sold after seeing my computer. My sister-in-law was telling me that her friends are already telling her to quit talking about how great my eMac is. Weird, PC Mag doesn't agree with those of us who use them.