Discounts!
Being a student has its advantages. Even when the student in question is distance learning. Apart from the obvious - free love, lager and Pot Noodle dinners (;-)) - there is the considerable matter of student discounts. These can make a heck of a difference when it comes to the cost of study - but many mature and part-time students may feel that such discounts are the preserve of the young, full-time and fashionable campus hound. How wrong they are! Open University study does entitle you to many discounts - and this page gives some links to where you can go to enjoy them. Most particularly, there are great savings to be made in the area of computer hardware and software, which is a must for any modern student.But wait a minute... I'm a Mac user, and the OU is notoriously Windows-only. What do I want with a few bargains on PCs and Windows software, when what I need is Apple kit?
Well, in case you didn't know, being an OU student can also get you bargains on Mac stuff! You just have to know where to go. What follows is a quick collection of links to places where the Mac-using OU student can get discounted gear. Additions to the collection are most welcome (see Contact Us!)
Apple Store for Higher Education
I begin with the best. This - for any OU Mac student - is the first port of call, and absolute gold. But of course, Apple being Apple, it's hardly the most well-publicised scheme in the world!
Here are the facts:- being an Open University student entitles you to savings on Apple hardware and software purchased from the online Apple Store, as well as from the retail stores dotted about the UK. These discounts are variable, but can be anything from 5 to 17 percent for hardware, and a stonking 40 percent or more for software!
Where it is and how to get it
Online
This is the easiest way to get it, but first a warning. Apple runs a very nice AppleStore for Education online, where eligible users can get pretty good discounts on Mac stuff - usually between 5 and 10 percent. Nice - but you are entitled to more than this! What you want is the higher education store, but unfortunately you cannot access this directly online as the OU isn't affiliated as an institution. However you are still eligible. What you have to do instead is :-- Call 0800 039 1010
- Tell the nice Apple staff member that you wish to register for the Higher Education discount.
- He/she will ask you for some verifying documentation to prove
you're at the OU. A copy of your course acceptance letter will be fine
- e.g. something with your personal identifier and home address. You
can fax it to them, or send it as a scan via email.
- After that, you're ready to go! If you know what you want, you can order there and then - if you don't, just go and browse the normal store and then phone up your contact when you need a quote. The Apple staff member you spoke to originally will generally be your personal point of contact for discounts.
- Remember to HAGGLE! Prices aren't set in stone, and there's nothing to be lost by chancing your arm. OU Mac users have gained some pretty good discounts this way. Here's a general guide to some bargains:-
- A copy of Mac OS X should cost between a half and two thirds of the full price.
- A MacBook or MacBook Pro can be sold at anything from 12 to 17 percent discount from the prices quoted here.
- Cheaper kit like the Mac Mini will get you less of a discount.
- Non-Apple goods (i.e. third Party software and hardware) is unlikely to command much, if any, discount at the store.
- Apple do lots of software - Final Cut Pro, iLife, etc. All are eligible. Also hardware like Airport network routers.
- AppleCare support warranties are also offered with purchased hardware at very low prices, which many OU students take advantage of. Ask your rep about these.
Via Apple Retail Stores
If you feel like getting your hands on the merchandise before you buy, or don't fancy doing the whole thing over the phone, then you can also get a discount at the many bricks and mortar apple stores in the UK. Take along your OU identification and tell them you want the HE discount. I can't guarantee they'll all be up to speed in each store as to the details of the HE scheme, but many Mac General users have received their discounts this way, so give it a try. You can try out the latest stuff while you're there!
EducationStore.com
This is the portal to a lot
of Mac online education stores (see
here) Don't be discouraged by the hip "urban" graphics - you are
eligible as an OU student! You can click on the many individual stores
from here and sign up to their discount schemes - although prices and
interfaces seem pretty standardised. Well known Mac resellers are well
represented there - including Cancom, MacWarehouse, Jigsaw and Computer
Warehouse. An added tip is to click on each of the company logos - then
click on them again in the
top left of the screen that opens. This brings you to the respective
company site - which can often contain more individual detail about
educational products and services. Software4students
A new hit site for OU Mac students. This website has an amazing price on MS Office for Mac which just has to be mentioned. Also, there are brilliant prices for popular Windows software...Windows Software Stores
Now you might well think a category about sourcing cheap PC software is a little surplus to requirements for an OU Mac student - and certainly before early 2006 you'd be right. But not any more...For those who still don't know - the latest Macs can now run Windows as well as OS X. This is a real help to an OU Mac student facing compatibility problems - but a strange consequence of this is that now Mac users have to find a cheap supply of Windows operating systems and software to run on their Boot Camp partitions and Parallels installs. Apple have made it very clear that they don't wish to provide Windows software at their own stores, so Mac users are forced to shop elsewhere.
As Mac users are traditionally not too keen on enriching the Microsoft Corporation unnecessarily (;-)) , any bargains that can be gained whilst shopping for PC stuff is a great comfort. So below I list a few places where you can source cheap Windows OS and other software - but also look out for the odd Mac product like Office and Adobe software, which these stores can also stock.
NOTE - as of March 2008, a lot of Open University software is not yet Windows Vista compatible (see here), although Apple Boot Camp does support Vista. So be careful to make sure you're buying the right software for your needs. If in doubt, get XP.
StudentOptions
A Microsoft portal for software. An advantage here is that software can be downloaded - though the selection seems a little less than up-to-date.Pugh
A smashing little site - check out the prices for Office for Mac and Windows, and Windows XP/Vista.journeyEd.co.uk
Another place worth a browse - in particular, check out the prices on Vista.CitNexus
A variety of Mac software - (including Parallels), as well as PC.Adobe Education UK
The UK site for Adobe's own educational software - which means the incredibly important creative suite (Photoshop) and the recently purchased Macromedia titles (Dreamweaver, Flash). Adobe run some hefty discounts for students, but you do need to verify your status after purchase - which should be no problem.Comparing Prices
[by Nicola Good]If students have the time, they may find comparison shopping tools - known as shopbots - useful for researching products as well as prices.
NOTE - a hint for using these sites is to re-order results by price - as many services top their results with "pay for placement" retailers:-
Shopping.com
Formerly Dealtime. International site here.
Shopzilla
Formerly Bizrate - international site here.
Pricegrabber
Pricegrabber also includes info on shipping/ postage costs. International site here.Kelkoo
Now owned by Yahoo! International sites here.Specific Software Discounts
As well as general software stores, there are many specialist and shareware software providers in the Mac world who provide an education discount for their great apps. What follows is a list of recommendations from the good people at the Mac General conference for software which an OU student might find valuable for their courses:-Bookends
Reference management & bibliographic software. Students save about 33 percent, also sold as a bundle with Mellel for further slight discount. Available here.NovaMind
Mind mapping software. Application for 30 percent education discount coupon by email to developer. Follow the link on this page.Merlin
Project management software - a partner to NovaMind (above). Application for 30 percent education discount coupon by email to developer. Follow the link on this page.NoteTaker
A personal note and idea organizer. Discount for academic license is about 40 percent. Purchase here.[thanks to Astrid Stevens for the above]
Sente
Reference management & bibliographic software. An alternative to BookEnds (above) . 35 percent discount approx. Available here.[Thanks to Chris Chetwynd]
OmniGraffle
Stunning diagramming software. 45 percent discount for eligible education customers at the Omni store - available here.OmniOutliner
Project/document outlining software. 30 percent discount for eligible education customers at the Omni store - available here.[discounts available an all Omni products - check the store for details]
BareBones Software
This famous Mac software house gives the following educational discounts on their great titles:-BBedit
Legendary Text and HTML editor. A stonking 60 percent discount for edu users. More here.Mailsmith
Popular email software. 25 percent discount here.Yojimbo
Information organiser. 25 percent discount here.Nisus Writer Express
MS Office compatible Word Processor. Save 12 percent on the Academic version here.[thanks to Brian Millson for the above]
NoteBook
Notes and clippings project organiser. Save 40 percent on full price here.[thanks to Patience Waddilove]
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By Stephen McGann and Teresa A. Flannery March 2008