Don't have a computer? Jusy buy one on the internet!

The PSU computer store recently changed the way they do business on campus. The store closed its physical location on Merrill St. in favor of direct online sales.

On May 1, the Computer Store on Merrill St. was revamped to house solely repairs and computer maintenance.

"This Computer Repair Center will continue to service all hardware repair requests on campus," a press release from Information Technologies Services said.

ITS hopes this will better streamline the repair process when it comes to Dell computers offered through the school.

"This move [consolidation of repairs to one central location] combines the hardware and software support services into one location, which in turn should mean faster, more consistent service for the PSU community," the press release said.

Computer repair personnel will remain on campus, but they will be stationed at the repair office. "The ITS Desktop Support Team will also operate out of this location," the release said.

Dell computers sold to students in past years will still be covered by previous warranties, "For PSU machines that are still under warranty, the repair technicians worked directly with Dell to procure and install replacement parts," The press release said.

The decision to relocate the central operations of computer sales from a physical building, to online sales, came up due to the evolving buying habits of PSU students.

"For the past several years the Computer Store has been seeing a decline in the number of new purchases," the press release said.

Joanne Guilmett, from Internal Institutional Sales at the newly reorganized store offered insight into the lack of sales through the University Computer Store, "A lot of students end up getting deals on computers through their parents," Guilmett said.

ITS has traditionally offered special discounts and packages for faculty staff and students through Dell, "Students, faculty and staff will have the ability to purchase a machine customized for their needs directly through Dell at a discounted price," the release said.

This is a change from the previous system where PSU students, faculty and staff had the ability to buy Dell computers through the University itself. Many incoming first year students have opted on bringing their own computers from home, as opposed to buying computers from the on campus store.

ITS has recognized the different operating systems prevalent on campus, and hopes to adapt their service methods to better serve students with different technological needs.

"ITS is also in the process of negotiating a similar deal with Apple and will hopefully have Macs discounts available for personnel, faculty, staff and students purchases by mid to late May," the press release said.

"We see an up tick in Macs coming to campus. Those Mac-PC commercials seem to have struck a chord with many, not to mention many of us have apple Ipods in our pockets. ITS is working to bolster its support for students who bring Macs to campus," Dwight Fischer, Director of ITS said.

Guilmett warned that the school would not be turning its back on Dell computers as a means for classroom resources. "We're not going to go away from Dell for institutional purchases," Guilmett said. Amy Berg, Chief Security Officer for ITS worked with Guilmett with the reconfiguration of the Computer Store. "I think in the end, it [the organization of the computer store] will be better for the institution," Guilmett said, "We haven't been selling many computers." Guilmett also touched upon the different preferences of students and PSU's struggles to appease a diverse group. "Folks have different preference with what they want," Guilmett said.

ITS has also announced that computers ordered online through the Computer Store will now be able to be sent to student's homes over the summer.

"We know how students are-they order the computers and they don't want to wait. They want to have the computer and play with it and download pictures of their friends on them right away," Guilmett said.

Computers were mailed to PSU in the past, making students wait for the duration of the summer before finally receiving their computers.

"The computers would be shipped to the University and we would hold onto them in the store through the summer," Guilmett said.

ITS hopes that the new computer store will be favored by students and serve their needs on a more individualized basis, "The ultimate goal is to provide better service and options to the PSU community at large," the ITS press release said.