<p>I got accepted to UNC regular decision. I'm definitely going there. Should I take advantage of the CCI to get my laptop? I really wanted a Macbook for college, I thought it would be a lot easier to take care of and use, but looking at CCI, it sounds like a good decision as well. Can anyone speak from experience or shed some light on what the real value of the CCI is and what other types of computers might also work well for an average UNC student?</p>
<p>We will get the MacBook but partition the HD and put windows on. Just in case.</p>
<p>I got mine for free w/a grant, so I have my old 1-year old macbook and my CCI laptop. I normally use my CCI laptop and keep my macbook at home, but anywhere, he’s the run-down. </p>
<p>CCI Pros:
- I think with the accident warranty you can potentially get your laptop replaced for the $100 deductible if you accidentally drop it (DOUBLE CHECK ON THIS ONE, BUT IT’S A MAJOR PRO!)
- Super long battery life (4hrs) my macbook is a year and a half old, so my battery on that one is horrible (>1 hr). This is the #1 reason why I use my CCI laptop.
- Everything is all set up and ready to go (CCI Printing, wireless, etc) but you could do this on a mac
- Integrated well with the programs I need (i.e. I need to use internet explorer for one of my classes and I don’t have it on my mac)
-Huge, super heavy (You could probably smash this thing against the wall and it wouldn’t break. It’s a brick) - You can get a loaner laptop while it’s in for repairs. </p>
<p>Cons:
- HUGE. SUPER HEAVY. (relative to the macbook) This makes a big difference, imo, since I literally have to carry all my books for the day when I head up to North Campus.
- Takes FOREVER to boot up/run. I swear, this thing can take anywhere from 5-7 minutes to completely start up, which of course, sucks.
- Very persnickety. It’ll randomly shut down sometimes, which means you have to sit through the reboot time. So annoying.
- I set mine to have the fingerprint scanner every time you wake it up from sleep, so that’s a little persnickety too. Sometime it’ll take a while to get it to wake up/turn on the scanner.
- Randomly freezes.
- Will not force quit unless you go to the force quit menu.
- Mine randomly has problems with the wireless, meaning that I have to go and mess with the NAC agent. Had to go to IT once to fix it.
- Mine somehow uninstalled CCI printing (WHY?) and won’t let me re-install it, so I’m off to IT sometime this week to get it fixed.</p>
<p>If I think of anything else, I’ll add it, but that’s just for now 
Hope that helps!</p>
<p>CCI now sells Macbook Pros.</p>
<p>@blue_box, just wanted to say thanks for saying that! I am definitely getting a Macbook pro, and I thought they had some kind of care for Macs, but under products on the CCI page, they only have thinkpads so I figured they didn’t sell Macs. I guess they just haven’t updated that page because they have Macs on the order form. Just wanted to thank you for saving us some money because we were probably about to go to the apple store within the next week or so to get one.</p>
<p>Oh, you won’t save any money by buying Macs through CCI. They are waaay overpriced. Its terrible.</p>
<p>Here’s the brochure: <a href=“http://cci.unc.edu/images/stories/brochures/2011_cci_brochure.pdf[/url]”>http://cci.unc.edu/images/stories/brochures/2011_cci_brochure.pdf</a></p>
<p>I dunno, for the 13 it seems like a good deal. For an extra $400, probably covered by the laptop grant that the school appears to give to a ton of students, you get Office 2011 ($150?), iWork 2011 ($80?, or is this pre-installed on all Macs?), anti-virus ($30-40?), the security cable ($30?), Apple support ($250?) and the other insurance plan, and all the other benefits of them fixing the computer if its broken and technical support.</p>
<p>I mean, honestly, I wouldn’t buy half of that for a Mac (security cable? anti-virus? Applecare?) but that’s because it makes the purchase so much more expensive. And everyone would probably have to buy Office, unless they already have a copy or something, so really it’s only $250 extra for the other services/software/products.</p>
<p>If CCI can cut me a deal on that stuff AND help me pay for it, then count me in. =]</p>
<p>Brought to you by your friendly CCI advertisement bot (jk, haha, I’m just really excited that Carolina seems to be paying for everything xD).</p>
<p>You will get Office 11 and the Symantec antivirus for free even if you have a non-CCI.</p>
<p>Note to future students: Don’t buy Office/an antivirus/an upgraded version of Windows. You get all that for free here.</p>
<p>Sorry, its Norton for Macs. But still free. Covered in your semester IT fee.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that 4 years of service will be enough to offset the costs for my parents. My dad’s an IT guy and they’re all worried about if I have computer issues next year because he always fixes everything and he obviously won’t be there.</p>
<p>Although Apple products are overpriced to begin with…UNC isn’t really the problem here haha.</p>
<p>Think I’m gonna go with a MacBook Pro from CCI. Thanks for the tips, guys.</p>