Here is a question-and-answer session with the Desktop Support staff about buying a desktop PC from Micron using the Lab's Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA)?

Question: What are the available choices?
Answer: At the present time we have two Pentium III-based systems suitable for administrative and lower-end computing. We recently added a recommendation for a scientific workstation using AMD's Athlon processor. All are provided by Micron. At the present time, we have a sample quote on our web site that can be used to reference when placing an order. Eventually this will be included in the same web space as the lower end systems. The August Computing News included the benchmarks for the recommended scientific workstations.

It is our goal to develop a second source of desktops from another vendor during FY02. This may be done in parallel with improvements in how we advertise and support the Dell Laptop BOA.

Q: How much do the systems cost?
A: The final price depends on several factors, including which processor and operating system you choose, whether a monitor is included and, if so, the size of the monitor. Descriptions of the various options and prices can be found on the Web page for the Lab's Micron BOA. This agreement will remain in effect for the coming fiscal year, though prices may change (they have dropped significantly over the past year).

In addition, you will be charged a BOA fee of $150, which is a $125 reduction from the FY01 fee. The change was made to accommodate customers who have limited requirements or who prefer to do additional work themselves.

Q: What does the BOA fee cover?
A: This fee supports CIS efforts to develop and test Lab standard software on our supported systems as well as the installation of operating system updates and security patches on new computers. The fee also provides support for evaluating new hardware configurations from our contractors.

The Lab's Mac/PC Support Group will also do the following:

1. Take delivery of the equipment from Micron and ensure that property management data is collected and accurate, and sent to appropriate Lab staff.
2. Reconcile inventory received with the customer order.
   
3. Verify the intended user and location of the equipment with the name on the Micron order. Also verify the system and software requirements (Win98/NT4/Win2k/Linux) with the customer.
   
4. Load the Lab standard software on the new machine's disk.
   
5. Verify the integrity of the hardware via functional diagnostics and make arrangements for warranty replacement of defective parts.
   
6. Deliver the computer to the end user.
   
7. Connect the computer to the network.
   
8. Verify system presence on the LBNL network.
   
9. Ensure that printing will work.
   
10. Send an old machine to surplus, if required.
    

Any other work will be at our normal time and material rates. This work would include:

1. Transfer of data from an old system to the new system.
   
2. Installation and testing of additional peripherals such as scanners, data acquisition, interfaces, etc.
   
3. Installation and testing of software which is not part of the Lab's standard image, such as Dreamweaver, Photoshop, LabView, Visio and MS Project.