PC Service Center - Supported Equipment

Our mission is to provide the best possible hardware service while upholding the campus’ goal of fiscal responsibility.

Any equipment brought in for service MUST bear a University Asset tag proving University ownership (UA barcode, GOLD, UA Research bar code, SILVER or UA Foundation). If it does not have a tag, the equipment cannot be accepted until the Office of Equipment Management has tagged it

At the PC Service Center equipment support is based on both the availability of parts and the ratio of device’s value to the repair cost. We routinely monitor parts availability in order to keep our hardware repair matrix up-to-date.

Our unit can generally provide major computer repairs for 4-5 years and minor repairs (CD-DVD drive, video card, power supply units) for 6-7 years before it becomes more fiscally responsible to replace equipment than repair it.

The PC Service Center generally stocks the most common components needed to repair the equipment found on the PC Quote page (www.albany.edu/its/pc_quote.htm). This means our turnaround time is faster for equipment purchased utilizing the quotes and the quotes we provide are based on the NYS Aggregate pricing structure negotiated for Dell computers and Hewlett Packard printers.

Please review our current support matrix below to determine whether your hardware can be repaired or if it would be more fiscally responsible to replace the unit.

The PC Service Center is not in a position to repair the items listed below as manufacturers do not make parts and service documentation available for field service:

· AIO (All in One or combination units) – printer/fax/copier combination units.

Most of these devices only carry a 1 year warranty and usually need to be returned to a depot or the manufacturer for service. We strongly recommend that an extended warranty be purchased through the manufacturer.

The computers quoted on the PC Quote Page come with a 5 year warranty from Dell which extends the usable life of the equipment and helps to keep your repair costs down. Laptop computers also come with a 5 year warranty plus accidental damage protection as well.

HP printers that we directly support are found at the same location and we strongly urge you to look at the purchase as a 5 to 10 year investment. The very inexpensive or low end printers are there for departments that budget does not allow for a larger capital investment. The thing to remember is that these low cost printers can be serviced but generally a major repair will exceed 50% of the replacement price which deems it not cost effective to repair.

Supported*

Unsupported

Computers/Processors

Dell Workstation
Dell Desktop
Dell Notebooks
Intel based Macs

Monitors

Flat panel (LCD) displays that are IN warranty

Printers

HP Laserjets
HP Network Laserjets
HP Color Laserjets
Lexmark laser printers

* Please note that if the equipment is out of manufacturer warranty we will supply labor and or shipping to have the unit serviced, but the department is responsible for the parts cost to repair the equipment.

Computers/Processors

Processors slower than an Intel on the Macintosh platform (pre-2006)
Processors slower than P4 on the Intel platform.

Monitors

CRT or Flat panel (LCD) displays that are OUT of warranty

Printers

Commercial grade printing equipment such as high-speed line printers
Dot Matrix printers
Inkjets and Multi function devices (scanner/fax/copiers combo)
Non - Hewlett Packard or Lexmark laser printers or equivalents
HP Laserjet II/III series, 4p/4l

Scanners/Readers

Scanners/transparency adapters/document feeders
Bar code readers/Scanning wands

Other Equipment

Office equipment
Portable computing devices of any kind
SUN Equipment

All Equipment

Any device that has been misused, dismantled, dropped, damaged by accident or incident
Any device not bearing a State University/Research Foundation or UAlbany Foundation property tag