Four Higher Education Institutions Tap CDW-G to Provide Laptops for Incoming Students; Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Marist College, Purdue University and Virginia Tech Select CDW-G as Preferred Technology Provider for 1:1 Computing on Campus

Business Wire, Sept 20, 2006

VERNON HILLS, Ill. -- CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a wholly owned subsidiary of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC) and leading source of Information Technology (IT) solutions to governments and educators, today announced that it will provide technology for 1:1 computing initiatives at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Marist College, Purdue University and Virginia Tech. These programs promote campus-wide technology standardization, improve efficiency of on-campus support and enhance students' learning environment.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Located in Geneva, N.Y., Hobart and William Smith Colleges has a student population of 1,900 and is composed of two liberal arts colleges - Hobart College for men and William Smith College for women. With more than 90 percent of incoming students bringing their own computers to school, the colleges' IT Services had difficulty connecting every student at the beginning of the school year because many students brought equipment that did not meet the colleges' recommended guidelines. In order to standardize technology campus-wide and improve support to students, Hobart and William Smith Colleges selected CDW-G to provide Lenovo ThinkPad T60 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z61m notebook PCs; Lenovo ThinkPad X41 tablet PCs; and accessories including Kingston USB flash drives, Samsung digital player/voice recorders and HP printers. Students and parents can contact CDW-G directly with questions and concerns, reducing phone calls to the colleges' IT staff. In addition, CDW-G loads Hobart and William Smith's image - including Symantec and Microsoft software - onto each machine, standardizing and accelerating the network registration process. CDW-G delivers the machines directly to the colleges, allowing the IT Services staff to have them ready to connect immediately when the students arrive for orientation. Hobart and William Smith Colleges are an authorized service provider, offering students on-site repair covering their four-year equipment warranty.

"Prior to the program starting, we had so many troubleshooting calls, it took several weeks to get all students connected at the beginning of the semester," said Beverly Ilacqua, director of program management, Hobart and William Smith Colleges. "By standardizing technology and working with CDW-G, we are able to provide excellent technology options to our students and improve support."

Marist College

Marist College is an independent, coeducational liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with 3,000 undergraduate students. It has been hailed by Forbes and The Princeton Review as one of the 25 "most connected campuses" in America. Marist College adopted a 1:1 computing model to standardize technology campus-wide, selecting CDW-G as its technology partner to implement the program and offer Lenovo ThinkPad R60, T60 and Z Series laptops to incoming students. CDW-G will load each computer with a customized Marist image including software from McAfee and Microsoft, as well as unique Marist College settings. This image standardizes the network registration process, enabling students to connect to the network more quickly. It also enhances security for student computers and campus network resources.

Marist now is able to offer warranty services on site due to the standardization of computers on campus. IT staff members are certified to make repairs for students participating in the 1:1 program, minimizing the time students will spend without their computers. CDW-G and Lenovo also worked with Marist to provide loaner laptops as needed.

"We chose CDW-G for our 1:1 program because of the company's responsiveness to our needs," said Jeanne DeLongis, Marist College PC technologies manager. "CDW-G takes the time to talk to students and parents when they have questions. Many parents have noted that CDW-G helped ease the transition process for their children as they began college. That is a significant service to us."

Purdue University

Located in West Lafayette, Ind., Purdue University has 38,712 students on its main campus. The statewide university system includes five campuses and numerous teaching and research sites with a total enrollment of 69,098 students.

"As laptop computers become more ubiquitous on higher education campuses, Purdue University is working with CDW-G to ease the decision-making process for incoming students and provide three computer options at a discounted price, including a four-year warranty," said Byron Reed, Purdue University interim director of learning spaces for Information Technology.

Students can purchase HP Compaq nc6320 notebook PCs and HP Compaq tc4200 tablet PCs, as well as a series of accessories - including bags, external keyboards, monitors, travel batteries, docking stations and printers - from CDW-G. CDW-G also will load each computer with Purdue's custom image, allowing students to use their new laptops right out of the box. The comprehensive service component is another important part of the 1:1 program. AME, a leading information technology service provider local to Indiana, maintains a location on the West Lafayette campus with staff available to help students with warranty problems and fix laptops onsite. Absolute Software, a leader in PC theft recovery located in Vancouver, British Columbia, will provide security and tracking software, in order to deter laptop theft and recover stolen computers.