Im in the market for 350 new machines

[zachj]

I agree with whoever suggested asking Microsoft. I'm sure they've been asked a hundred times, and it would be silly of them not to have some sort of suggestion, even if it doesn't work out. I gather that hand building each machine is out of the question? You might be able to get it all up and running for that price if you did. Might need a few more (read a whole helluva lot) hands . . . I was also going to suggest Dell. My school has gotten Dells for the last couple of years. Good support (I believe), but for that amount of time, I doubt that really matters. Perhaps you can get on down to Rent-A-Center (or whatever the he** they call that place), or something like it, and rent them from them. You might have to sign up to pay for all of it, but all you have to do is pay one month, use them, then stop paying the bill. They'll repo them, but then, what the he** do you care? Probably not as right as I think it is, but still. They might be able to swing that many. And they may let you rent one as long as you like without having to buy it . . .

Z

 

[esau]

as i recall, microsoft gave us $400,000 for this. which is more than enough to buy 350 brand new machines. the question was just where from? the reason i posted was just to see if anyone might be in the industry, or if someone had experience with this and knew of a sweet deal. Of course we were planning on checking all the givens (Dell, gateway, compaq, etc.....) in due time. Again, thanks for the suggestions. I will let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[zachj]

Just curious, but what sort of tax write-off do you think Microsoft will get for that? Do they get to write off the whole bit, or just a percentage of it? Microsoft (and most corporations, for that matter) are extremely generous with their money. I won't guess on their motivation. Even if some companies (and I'm not pointing my finger at anybody in particular) are charitable just for the image, for the tax write-off, or just simply because it's cheaper to give it away than to pay taxes on keeping it, that money is necessary and useful and it has to come from somewhere.

Z