The Scholars Workstation

It’s pretty hit or miss with the salespeople here. They are very friendly, but the two that I worked with were not able to answer any of my questions about which Mac was right for me without just referencing the sheet they have comparing the options. I went two times with the intention of buying a computer and walked away confused and empty-​handed. I ended up going to the Emeryville store (which honored the student discount!?) and the salesperson there was able to answer all my questions and made me feel completely confident in my choice.

It’s a gamble when you come here. I’ve gotten perfect advice here from the staff and completeley lied to when I bought one of their products. I guess it’s up to yourself to do proper research on a product before coming here and buying it. I wouldn’t rely on the staff help.

I bought a MacBook Pro here during the «sales tax-​free» promotion a while back. The service was alright but we did not receive the free printer even though it was part of the package. As a customer service representative, it would be wise to give some sort of voucher to redeem the printer when it comes back in stock. The printer didn’t get discontinued so that is my complaint. It’s pretty quiet here since it’s not a everyday where students purchase a personal computer, notebook, or accessories. I’m glad that the UCB campus has this retail resource since the nearest Apple Store is at Bay Street in Emeryville but the prices are pretty much the same if not a few cents or dollars less.

This is the on-​campus store for all of your Cal computing needs… or something. The building is a bunch of sheet metal welded together with large bolts and you have to follow a maze of signs to find it… kinda reminds me of Disney Land. …but hey, I’m from SoCal, I like Disney Land.
The people I dealt with there were marginally competent with computers. They told some poor guy that the only ways to recover his hard drive data were to A. set it up as an external drive or B. pay somebody to recover the data. Lame! All you have to do is slap that baby in another (functional) computer!!!
They said that if he had a mac he would have had a 30% chance of recovering the data from the original machine but with a Dell it would be 0. WTF? Seriously, based on what I overheard, they are hardly qualified to make that assessment.
The three stars are all for the software discounts I get there. Oh… btw…it’s the HS portable looking building on the Bancroft side of Barrows hall.
PS…if you want more than one license for your lab you have to go through your department. PIA!!!

Great computing store on Cal’s campus. They have lots of demo computers for you to test out what you’re buying before you plunk down the cash. Also, the staff is really friendly and helpful, and in my experience, they are not pushing the sale. The guy helping me found a way better deal on line and was like — get out of here and go order that! Love the honesty.
They have lots of accessories and ipods and other electronics, not just computers.