<p>I'd appreciate any information you have on purchasing computers through the school and what the tech support is like. Currently, my daughter has a laptop bought through her high school laptop program and all the support, including loaners and replacements, is executed through the tech office. Is there something similar at UMich?</p>
<p>High School laptop program? Fancy</p>
<p>Anyway there is a computer showcase catalog online that shows what you can buy through the university. The best deals are on software and the computer selection was limited. I was able to find a better deal on my own through sales and online coupons.</p>
<p>My son purchased his mac powerbook pro through the U. which includes free apple care and was price competitive to our business vendor. (Not sure the same holds true for pcs in terms of price or selection, as MLDWoody suggested – believe MLD is an engineering student and suspect they’re more likely to use a pc.) The showcase techs are generally good and more importantly, geographically convenient, but when he did have a major issue after dropping it we found it was a little bit quicker to just take it down to the AppleStore at Briarwood and have them send it out. Even with the shipping involved, he got it back quicker than the compu center’s estimate due to their high volume at that particular time. Sometimes the U. gets backed up on the front end of diagnostics – eg. it might take them a week at peak volume to run the diagnostic, while Apple generally can get it out and back (fixed) in the same time.</p>
<p>If you’re mac shopping, you can and do get UMich’s pricing online at the applestore as well if you want to buy direct. I think the benefit of showcase might be the free applecare – not sure.</p>
<p>PS -Depending on some variables such as FA status, scholarships, tax, etc., it is possible (also depending on major – eg. if required) to include the acquisition of a notebook comp in your COA. From a tax perspective, you will then be able to write that off against any taxable scholarship overages, etc. to reduce possible tax liability on scholarship income. Just fyi.</p>
<p>I found the PC selection limited so had better deals outside of the school. With that being said, I wouldn’t purchase any software except a basic OS as the deals from the university cannot be beat. My daughter upgraded her OS to Vista Ultimate 64 bit for like $20. Also, Office Professional was similarly priced.</p>
<p>I too had a laptop computer program through my school district. There is nothing that beats that type of technical support. If you are looking for the convenience of using the showcase as your repair vendor, I suggest the following. If you do not buy the computer from the showcase, I suggest buying a model that they sell.</p>