Bringing a Computer to College

Many students and their parents seek advice when deciding what to do about bringing a computer to college. We hope the information in these pages helps you with your decision.

• Should you bring a computer to campus?
• What to buy
• Allegheny Recommended Laptops
• Why buy an Allegheny Recommended Laptop?
• What students are saying

Should you bring a computer to campus?

Allegheny students are not required to bring a computer to campus. The college provides over 200 public access computers spread across campus.

However, most students do choose to bring their own computer to campus and increasingly the computer they are bringing is a laptop. With wireless internet access available in Pelletier Library and the Campus Center, as well as several lounge areas in the residence halls and outdoor areas around campus, a laptop will give you the freedom to study in many convenient locations.

What to buy

Our public labs and faculty computers run the Windows operating system and the Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access). We recommend that computers being brought to campus run Windows XP Pro, SP2 or Windows Vista. We also recommend purchasing MS Office Pro 2003 or 2007 for ease of file exchange with professors.

Do NOT buy antivirus software before coming to Allegheny. You will be required to uninstall any antivirus software on your computer when you get to campus and install Allegheny's antivirus software, which is available for free download once you are on campus.

If purchasing a laptop keep in mind that they are more costly to repair than desktop computers. Also, their portablility puts them in harms way more often than a desktop computer and makes them more susceptible to accidents. Because of this, we strongly recommend that every laptop brought to campus have 4 years parts and labor warranty and 4 years of accidental damage insurance. While these will add to the initial cost of the laptop, they will pay off in the long run. Accidents involving laptop computers are very common on a college campus-a spilled drink on keyboard, a book dropped on a laptop, someone stepping on a laptop left of a floor, or sitting on one left on a bed. An accidental damage policy will cover the repair of the laptop in any of these situations.

The laptop pictured here belongs to an Allegheny student who did not purchase accidental damage insurance. He's hoping his tape "repair" will last through the rest of his college career. Don't let the life span of your laptop depend on your skills with duct tape - buy accidental damage insurance!

Allegheny Recommended Laptops

Allegheny has partnered with Computer Showcase to make two recommended Dell laptop configurations available for purchase. Each recommended laptop includes 4 years warranty and accidental damage protection, as well as MS Office Pro 2007. The laptops also come preconfigured to work on Allegheny's network. More details are available here.

When comparison shopping for a laptop to bring to school, please remember to include 4 years of warranty and accidental damage insurance. Over 10% of the students who purchased laptops from Computer Showcase last fall took advantage of their accidental damage insurance to get free repairs that would not have been covered under a standard warranty. In many cases, had the student been liable for the repair cost it would have been nearly equal to the cost of a new laptop!

Why buy an Allegheny Recommended Laptop from Computer Showcase?

• 4 years parts and labor warranty included
• 4 years accidental damage warranty included
• Microsoft Office Pro included
• pre-configured for Allegheny network, including Allegheny's antivirus software
• Computer Showcase on-campus repair center - no need to wait on hold with Dell!

What students who bought Allegheny Recommended laptops from Computer Showcase are saying:

• "I had water spilled underneath my laptop...the computer would not start again. I took it to Murray Hall on Tuesday, October 11 and the man from [Computer Showcase] fixed everything. He was extremely helpful, and explained how to get the computer set up again after the repair. I thought my experience was going to be a nightmare, but everything went great. Thanks for the great service."
• "Very helpful! I really enjoyed buying a laptop that was approved of by the college, and it came preconfigured with software and network connections. It made the process of searching for an appropriate laptop very easy and a lot less stressful."
• "am very happy with my laptop. The process went well. I would suggest it to all incoming students."
• "I really liked this process, because it was so much easier to have all of the software I needed installed right onto my computer for me. I knew I was getting everything I would have to use throughout college."
• "I would definitely recommend it to future Allegheny students. The pre-configured Allegheny programs on the laptop were awesome, as well, because I didn't have to worry about downloading anything incorrectly - and the virus protection has been excellent; some of my friends have gotten viruses that didn't buy a computer through the college, but my Allegheny-bought laptop has been virus-free."
• "I really love my laptop. It was nice how the computer center loaded all of the items we needed for Allegheny on to it over the summer. It saved me time."

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