The other problem with low end machines is that they may be inherently
unstable, i.e. prone to unexplained freeze-ups and spontaneous reboots,
sometimes causing loss of data. They can also screw up your operating
system files. If your machine has been reasonably stable for a few months
or years then you have probably got a good one that will be good for many
years to come. That is a big "if" however and you will need to decide what
to do.

However, my limited experience with eMachines owned by a friend and a
service client was this. One was just fine from the beginning and continued
that way. The other was a pack of trouble. I set up Windows, probably '95,
and several apps but in a few days they weren't working. After several
tries I told the customer that it wasn't going to be useful and he should
try and return it. He was disappointed but had bought it on a "Dollar a
day" special. I knew that company would never agree to take it back, even
though clearly defective, which proved to be the case. I never heard from
him again and suspect he just gave up on computers until he had more money.