<p>I was looking around on our Class of 2009 website, made by a current student, and I saw that we could order our computers for next year through store.cornell.edu. I thought this would be of assistance financially due to the agreements that Cornell has signed with these businesses. I am def getting a laptop, and either a Dell Latitude D610 or an IBM. As I was looking, both computers are awesome, but you can customize the Dell, but you can't with the IBM. If you guys have looked at the three IBMs being sold, which one do you think would be the best if we were only going to use to it for word-processing, surfing the web, etc. Or should I go with the customized dell.</p>
<p>It can actually be more expensive to order through the campus store.</p>
<p>Because I live in NYS and they have to add 8% sales tax and shipping. . . .computers from the campus store are more expensive for me than just buying them off the manufacturer's website, especially since many offer free shipping.</p>
<p>The IBMs through campus are a pretty good deal if you live out of state and don't have to pay tax. From what I see the Dells through Cornell are often more expensive than the sale prices on the Dell website.</p>
<p>Cornell also offers "Red Barn" computers. . . .but I'm uncomfortable buying something that wasn't build by a well-known company. Replacement parts could be an issue.</p>
<p>yeah sometimes there are just better deals from the companies due to discounts. the ibm thinkpad name has been bought by a company "lenovo" and while the quality is still good (and the price is still high), i don't know what that will do for their service. quality is pretty comperable across the industry, as the parts all come from the same few factories. HP machines are actually assembled by UPS guys at some ups distribuion center, isn't that cool?</p>
<p>anyway. search <a href="http://www.dealsea.com%5B/url%5D">www.dealsea.com</a> for "dell" and you can find awesome coupon codes. then buy direct from dell, you'll get a better deal than through the dell store for higher education via cornell.</p>