<p>My daughter will be an incoming engineering freshman at Pitt in the Fall. I'm having trouble finding clear information on their laptop program. At my other daughter's college, if you purchase your laptop through the college and pay for the warranty, the help desk will handle all problems for four years at no extra cost (viruses, software issues, hardware issues, loaners if needed while the laptop is being repaired, etc....). Since my daughter at Pitt will be far from home, I'd love to pay for the same type of program so she has full-time support for any laptop-related issues. Does anyone know if such a program exists at the school? Thanks!</p>
<p>I remember when I visited PITT our tour guide talked about technical support they had. She said she had plenty of computers problems because she was very technical or anything and they came right up to her dorm and fixed all her laptop problems. I couldn’t remember if it was for a small fee or free. Thats what I remember.</p>
<p>Tech support is available and it is included in one of the fees you pay on your semester bill. I don’t know if they will fix any hardware issues but they do take care of the software issues.</p>
<p>MTnest: Do you know if Tech Support will come to your dorm room and fix your computer no matter whether or not it was purchased through Pitt or not? And also, will they fix it for free or is there a charge? From what I can tell, we’ll probably end up buying a Lenovo for my daughter, but I still need to price it buying it through Pitt or just heading out to our local Best Buy.</p>
<p>Yes, they will come to your room but I don’t think they will fix any “hardware” issues. Son had a problem with connecting to the internet due to software issues and they came to his room to fix it. We did not buy the laptop through Pitt. It was free (but you paid for it via the fee charged with your tuition payment).</p>
<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>I’m a current student at Pitt, and I’ve had a few significant troubles with my laptop. In my experience, Pitt’s technical support is great, both the over the phone services and the hands-on services. They were able to save my computer at one point when it looked like it was ruined. I’ve been very grateful of their services. </p>
<p>As the previous posters said, all of the services are free to students, and the computer does not need to be purchased through Pitt to receive the services.</p>
<p>PittPeerAdvisor2: Thanks for answering! Question for you…does the tech support include hardware issues as well as software issues? In other words, if my daughter goes to turn her laptop on and it doesn’t work, can she just dial the Pitt technical support office and arrange for someone to come to her room and fix it? Looks like we’ll be buying the Lenovo using the school’s discount service. Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi again, </p>
<p>Tech support can help with software installation and upgrades, networking assistance, data backup and recovery, virus and spyware removal, and general software troubleshooting. Your daughter can arrange for a consultant to come to her dorm room and try to fix her computer, BUT hardware repair services are not provided. If the tech consultant determines that the issue is with the computer’s hardware they can only recommend third party solutions.</p>
<p>Ok, that’s what I thought. We’re going to pay the extra $$$ to have the Lenovo warranty with next day repair service in her room so that should cover any hardware issues. We got burned with my other daughter’s college computer (named “Lemon”) and were really, really grateful to have the hardware repair service. </p>
<p>Another question for you…as far as the software goes, I believe I heard that she gets all of that at Pittstart. Does that include the Office package (Word, Excel, etc…), virus protection, and whatever is needed for Pitt? I know that we can order the Lenovo to be preloaded with software, but I’m thinking that it will be cheaper to purchase it at Pittstart and install it ourselves. Is that what most students do? </p>
<p>Thanks again for your help!</p>
<p>Your daughter doesn’t have to pick up her software at PittStart, but she can. As soon as she has her student ID card she can pick it up. I’d say most students get there software at Pitt since it is pretty expensive in stores. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to the list of software that is available to students…</p>
<p>[For</a> Students | Computing Services and Systems Development | University of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://technology.pitt.edu/software/for-students-software.html]For”>http://technology.pitt.edu/software/for-students-software.html)</p>
<p>Well, we’re going to go ahead and order her laptop in the next couple of weeks, but since we live about nine hours away from Pitt, she won’t make it back to Pittsburgh until her Pittstart session in the summer. Are we able to order the software online or by phone and have it sent to us now? That would be great, if that’s possible… As usual, thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the software can only be picked up on campus. This is because they need your daughter’s student ID card and signature to complete the transaction. Your daughter will be able to obtain her ID card at PittStart, and then she can pick up the software she needs.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks for the info - it has been very useful.</p>