<p>is it better to go through Duke or get my own? if I do go through Duke, is compatibility a large issue with Apple?</p>
<p>It is certainly worth investigating the Duke deals, and if you get your computer through Duke you get head-of-the-line advantages for service. No issues with Apples vs. PC's for the departments I know of.</p>
<p>I used Duke TAP, which comes with packaged computers that aren't customizable unless you do it yourself. I kind of wish I had bought my laptop through an outside vendor so I could have included a faster processor, but for most people's purposes, the TAP computers are fine.</p>
<p>I should also shoot for full disclosure here - note I said "worth investigating" :) I just bought a new tablet PC for the Fall (those of you taking EGR 53 will appreciate that my handwriting will look better in class since I will be using a 14" tablet versus a 10" tablet) - I ended up getting a better deal directly from Toshiba than I could through Duke, but that's mainly a function of vendor. Duke has better deals with Dell and Apple than with Toshiba.</p>
<p>I bought a Dell last year but not from Duke because they didn't offer the latest models. Also, I searched something like "online coupons" and found a $500 off coupon at Dell so I ended up getting what I wanted and got a bit of a deal.</p>
<p>TAP has great deals, especially through Lenovo, but you lose flexibility in what is bundled and what hardware is in the computer. The big benefit of TAP over getting it through an outside vendor for a similar price is that it comes with an extremely good warranty - not a bad idea in a dorm environment where you'll be eating, sleeping and studying right around where you're keeping your laptop.</p>
<p>I don't understand where you get these "deals" on duke laptops. When I went to the website the cheapest one I found was $1,500 and I can certaintly get one on my own for about $600 with sales...plus a free printer.</p>
<p>Well, apart from the warranty, is there really a benefit to the laptops at Duke? From what you all say they seem to not be up to date and lack some good programs...and are slower?</p>
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From what you all say they seem to not be up to date and lack some good programs...and are slower?
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<p>Er, not sure where you got that. :confused: They're up to date, and the high-performance laptops aren't slow. They're just not customizable, which is what I found most irritating.</p>
<p>"I don't understand where you get these "deals" on duke laptops. When I went to the website the cheapest one I found was $1,500 and I can certaintly get one on my own for about $600 with sales...plus a free printer."</p>
<p>Well they dont have the cheapest computers ever on there... but they are good deals for what they have.</p>
<p>You can get a lenovo with a dual core processor a gig of ram, 100gig hard drive, windows pro, and office pro for somewhere in the 1,500 range at that is a better deal than you will find anywhere else... not including the great TAP warranty program... if you want to get the cheapest computer possible that will be servicable than TAP probably isnt the right source. If you want a high quality computer that could actually last you a good while then its worth at least checking out. I mean... my guess is the 600 dollar one didnt include Office Pro considering it is normally about 400 bucks by itself.</p>
<p>bananainpyjamas, what do you mean by not customizable?</p>
<p>TAP will also provide you with a loaner laptop while yours is serviced... that's another upside to it. I came with a laptop and if I need to buy another computer I'm probably going to get a Panasonic Toughbook for reasons of my own, so I don't know too much about TAP, but its a good option for some.</p>
<p>I mean "not customizable" in that you can't fiddle with the specs of the computers you get through TAP. So in my case, I couldn't get as fast a processor as I would've preferred.</p>
<p>were we supposed to get a catalog with the laptop choices? or was there a website? could someone give that to me? thanks!</p>
<p>The computer</a> store has their deals listed. With some computer companies, you can try to haggle for customization... Toshiba - the kind I just got - is, sadly, not one of them.</p>
<p>what's the difference between buying one of the computer bundles and the customized ones (or at least dell could)?</p>
<p>I brought my laptop from dell.com directly using some 750 dollar off coupon that flows around the internet every now and then and I definitely got a better deal than some of my friends who purchased their laptops through duke. </p>
<p>The one good thing about buying through duke is their warranty. I am not too clear on it since I didn't buy mine from duke but apparantly if there is any problems, you could take it directly to OIT and cut through a lot of red tape, plus they will even give u a lender laptop while they fix yours .... If I remember correctly</p>
<p>seems like it's better to go through Duke then...</p>
<p>do the Duke notebooks have floppy disk drives? or just the generic disc-drive?</p>
<p>I don't even think the computer labs have floppy disk drives. Who uses them anymore anyway? The cheapest USB flash drives probably cost around the same as a box of floppies now...</p>