Save Hundreds on Top Brands at Duke Technology Center

Employees like Danny Williford turn to Duke's education pricing to get the best tech at the best value

Duke Technology Center Manager Grant Martin holds two laptops
Duke Technology Center Manager Grant Martin says Duke partners with top brands to offer the best pricing on technology. Photo by Travis Stanley

Danny Williford is the father of five kids ranging in age from 11 to 27, which naturally means he has a lot of technology needs. Williford is also the Director of IT for Duke School of Medicine’s Office of Academic Solutions and Information Systems (OASIS), which means he’s very picky about his personal technology.

To know that he’s purchased four computers from the Duke Technology Center (DTC) for his family’s use over the past eight years is meaningful.

“All of them work flawlessly. I cannot complain,” he said. “They don’t break. They don’t give me trouble. And the discount is fabulous.”

Williford has used Duke’s Education Discount Price on Apple products, available to all Duke staff, faculty, alumni and students year-round, to purchase MacBooks for three of his children and his wife, so far. Education discounts also are provided on desktops, laptops and tablets from Dell, Lenovo and Microsoft.

"Duke partners with brand-leading manufacturers to offer the best-possible pricing on the most current models,” said Grant Martin, Manager for the Duke Technology Center. “Purchasing through the Duke Technology Center allows you to have the options of extended warranties to protect your devices from whatever can happen and offer peace of mind.”

Indeed, a major selling point for Williford’s purchase was the option to add a bundled deal of three years of AppleCare+ with an additional one-year Safeware wrap-around bundle.

Duke Technology Center
Duke Technology Center offers a discount to staff, faculty, alumni and students. Photo by Travis Stanley

That’s four years of not worrying whether his 17-year-old daughter who “can break anything” will somehow find a way to render her new computer unusable.

“If you want peace of mind, buy the MacBook at the Duke Technology Center and get the AppleCare,” Williford said. “Then, if you encounter a hardware issue from accidental damage you can get a prorated repair, typically $99."

Dell and Lenovo products in DTC’s Back-to-School or Standards program also come with four-year warranties that cover accidental damage.

Duke Technology Center, located on the lower level of Duke Stores in the Bryan Center, partners with Duke Credit Union to offer a payroll deduction option for financing of $600 to $3,000 with personal loan approval.

“A MacBook is an investment, right?” Williford said. “When I buy a MacBook, I buy the best one they offer, knowing that it’s not a one-year investment. This is guaranteed to work for four years.

“I’ve worked in tech for years and this is really the best of the best when it comes to bang for your buck.”

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