The U-M Computer Rip-off

by Benjamin Rousch

I first discovered the U­M Computer Showcase when I was building my PC last fall. I had scoured the web, computing magazines, and local dealers in search of the lowest prices on various components. As I exited the Michigan Union, I noticed the little shop near the back door. Various posters and advertisements proclaimed "Computers and peripherals at educationally discounted prices!" It seemed that my dreams had come true, and that students were finally getting a financial break from someone. I bolted inside to behold the wonders of educational discounts. What I found were the most expensive prices of any source I had investigated on virtually every piece of hardware (for the technically impaired, hardware is the stuff you can touch, such as the monitor, keyboard, hard disk, and motherboard) in the store. Some educational discount. This obvious deception prompted me to investigate the Showcase further, and ultimately expose it for what it really is: another tool for sucking money out of unsuspecting students.

I recently went to several local retail stores (Best Buy, Office Max, Computer Renaissance, Office Depot, and ABC Warehouse) which sell computers to compare the market prices to those at the Computer Showcase. I also visited a the web sites of Egghead Computers (an internet store), Gateway Computers (Mooooo), and Dell (more on this later). After viewing a total of about 200 computers, I had found a grand total of 2 computers which were more expensive (for a comparable system) than the Showcase's. What I discovered astonished me. A typical desktop computer equivalent to those sold at the Showcase was up to $800 cheaper (that's 40% cheaper) at retail stores. A top­of­the­line desktop PC similar to those available through the Showcase was also available for $800 (or 25%) less outside of the University. Notebooks better than those sold for $3450+ were available in retail stores for $2000. There is clearly something wrong here.

Before I continue, I should state a few things. This article would have been very long and boring had I compared the prices on Macintoshes, Laptops, and Palmtops, so I restricted my scope mostly to desktop PCs. Most people who will be buying a computer will be buying a desktop PC, so this is rational. For further price information, visit the Michigan Review's web page at http://www.umich.edu/~mrev/ and follow the link relevant to this article. It will contain the price, CPU, RAM, hard disk size, CD­ROM speed, modem, and brand name of the Computer Showcase's computers along with systems I found locally. for the tech­heads: AMD­K6 is considered on par with Pentium IIs of the same CPU speed. My arguments for this are on the web page. Now, on with the article.

I was quite distraught by what I discovered at the Showcase, and since I'm a fair person I decided to let the people who work at the Showcase defend their prices. I asked an employee why I should shop here (at the Showcase) rather than at a retail store. After a few moments of stunned stammering he explained that every item in the store was educationally discounted by 5% to 20%, and that they test all the modems/ethernet cards for compatibility with the U­M network. I pointed to one of the featured items and told him that I could get an equivalent (in fact better) system at Best Buy for several hundred dollars less than they (the Showcase) charge. He asked me what I meant by an equivalent system, and I rattled off a few brand names (Compaq, Hewlett Packard, and Packard Bell) and mentioned that they have the same vital statistics. He told me that since the computers I listed were not Dell brand computers, that they were not equivalent systems (the Showcase sells only Dell desktops). Now, I may not be an employee of Intel or Microsoft, but I am a Senior majoring in Computer Science, read several computer magazines religiously, and have built my own PC; I know a load of computer crap when I hear it. This man looked me straight in the face and told me a lie. Dell is not the end­all of computers; don't let anyone tell you any single brand is. It's just like Ford, Chevy, and GM; they're all good and they're all bad, but no one brand is inherently better than the others. Before I go off on a complete tirade, I'll suffice to say that the man did not know what he was talking about. Not only did the Computer Showcase want to sell me over­priced systems, but they also were giving me misinformation.

After storming around the Union for a few minutes, I went home and got on the information super­highway. I had a suspicion that I could get the exact same system through Dell's web site for a lower price than the "educationally discounted" computers offered by the Computer Showcase. I was right. The exact same make and model of Dell computers were available for $150 to $550 less. There is no educational discount. Either the people who run the U­M Computer Showcase do not check the prices, or they are outright liars. Either way, their prices are exorbitant, and their service is horrible. The moral of this story is simple: do not buy a computer at the U­M Computer Showcase. MR

This article was published in the 11 February 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 16, Number 7).
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