These are the two that I am looking at.

EMachines

Key Features and Benefits:

    Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5800 processor
    3.2Hz, 2MB Cache

    3GB of DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable to 4GB)
    Give you the comfort for multimedia videos and images, video conferencing, basic gaming and all the other simple duties

    1TB SATA hard drive
    Store 666,000 photos, 285,000 songs or 526 hours of HD video and more

    16x SuperMulti DVD Burner
    Watch movies, and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats

    10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
    Connect to a broadband modem or wired broadband router with wired Ethernet

    Widescreen 20" LCD monitor
    Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD

Additional Home Computer Features:

    6-in-1 memory card reader
    4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x VGA port, 2 x PS/2 ports, 1 x headphone jack, 1 x microphone jack, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port, 3 x audio ports
    1 x PCI Express (x1) slot, 1 x PCI Express (x16) slot, 1 x 5.25" bay, 1 x 3.5" bay

Or a HP Computer

HP

Key Features and Benefits:

    AMD Dual-Core E-300 accelerated processor
    1.30GHz, 512KB x 2 L2 Cache

    4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable to 8GB)
    Gives you the power to handle most power-hungry applications and tons of multimedia work

    500GB SATA hard drive
    Store 333,000 photos, 142,000 songs or 263 hours of HD video and more

    SuperMulti DVD Burner
    Watch movies, and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats

    10/100Base-T Ethernet
    Connect to a broadband modem or wired broadband router with wired Ethernet

    20" LCD monitor
    AMD Radeon HD 6310 integrated graphics with up to 1974MB total available graphics memory



Additional Features:

    6 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x headphone jack, 1 x microphone jack, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port, 1 x microphone/line-in/line-out
    1 x external 5.25" bay


Basically this is what I need a computer for.
Surf the internet.
DVD Profiler (of course)
Digital Camera (which I have yet to buy)
Perhaps burn/copy some movies/video tapes or internet movies.

I don't need anything for gaming.

Which one, based upon those specs is the better one?
And which brand is better?

Had horrid luck with HP laptops, but no clue of their desktops.
Did have an eMachines desktop that was great for 2 years, then instantly turned to crap after that. It's like it was waiting for the warrenty to expire, and within a week of that happening, it quit working.

I would prefer HP or Gateway or even Asus over eMachines based on my experience. But the HP configuration you listed, as has been mentioned, is a bit underpowered (CPU, small hard drive and only 100Mbit LAN).

I would pick the eMachine.  The desktop is under powered for ripping/burning/copying dvds

Good luck.

Cubby  I would buy either the HP or a dell. Have used and provided dell for many  heard, so my personal choice would be dell but HP is right there.

I would purchase a Dell or HP. Have had both and no problems.

I had a HP desktop with Windows 98 on it, that worked perfectly, I never had an issue with it, but when I got a new computer (after windows 98 becoming obsolete) gave the HP to my father and he still has it working!!

Do you have to buy in store? Dell.com usually has pretty good deals online. For $500 you can get a decent machine with a monitor.