Here's where the T4200 shows what it's made off, and it has nothing to be ashamed off. In most benchmarks it can easily keep up with a 65nm Core 2 Duo on the same clock, and in some tests it even beats it, although by a tight margin. We're comparing it to the recently tested Dell Vostro powered by a T5870.

Cinebench



In Cinebench it can keep up with the Core 2 Duo in the single core test, but it doesn't seem to scale as well, so it's left behind in the dual core bench.

SiSoft Sandra



In Sandra, the T4200 beats the T5870, but with a negligible margin.



Futuremark 3Dmark 06



The CPU score in 3D mark 06 is about 4 percent lower compared to the T5870.

HD Tune



The 250GB HDD is rather fast, although the CPU utilization is a tad higher than expected.

Conclusion

So how is Acer's revival of eMachines going? Not bad actually, although there are a few kinks to address. The E725 is a pretty decent piece of kit and it performs admirably in all benchmarks. Build quality could have been better. The shell shocked battery just ruins the general impression, and the keyboard print job could have been a bit better too. The rest of the chassis feels quite sturdy, and it's no worse than low-end Acers or models from other vendors for that matter. It looks a lot better than previous eMachines models, and if Acer decides to keep this value brand alive, future models should be even better.

We loved the T4200 CPU. It's surprisingly fast, and if you're shopping for a cheap Intel laptop, it's probably the best CPU you can get at the moment. Avoid the T2xx0 and T3xx0 parts, as they're Merom based and you won't even save much money if you go for them. It is as good as any T5xxx Core 2 Duo, but it's a 45nm part, and it's cheaper, too. There is really no reason to insist on a Core 2 Duo in this market segment, and unless you're willing to go for a proper 45nm Core 2 Duo, you can stick with the T4200 and future Penryn based Pentiums.

This E725 SKU appeared in March, and it's not widely available in many markets, and it seems Acer is focusing a bit more attention on emerging markets. A slightly better spec'd SKU, with 4GB of memory, a slightly faster 2.16GHz CPU and 320GB of storage, and Vista Home Premium costs €479, in Germany. This is a pretty good offer, and it's main competition comes from Acer, which sells a similarly spec'd 15.4-inch Extensa SKU for €450. Basically, if you want the numeric keypad and 16:9 screen, go for the eMachines E725. If you prefer a classic keyboard layout and 16:10 screen, go for the Acer.

Either is a pretty good choice, they're affordable and thanks to Intel's latest Penryn based Pentium, performance is impressive for this price point.