Oops – the one word you never want to hear directed to yourself. One syllable can convey anything from an accidental stomping of one’s foot to watching your prized Cavman fall off his mid-sized horse. A more dreaded one would probably come from seeing your roommate barge into your room knocking over everything from your opened Gatorade to your speakers duct-taped above your desk right onto your most valuable possession: your laptop. Or perhaps when you return to your unlocked room the next morning to find this most prized possession along with a few iPods gone — Oops was not the word used. But enough about my misfortunes and back to your screen-cracking, Riptide Rush-stained $1000-plus piece of hardware that now plays iTunes when you click on Word.

Unfortunately, you skipped the lecture in Computer Science 110 that taught how to rewire circuit boards after water-damage and your broken keyboard can no longer access the PowerPoint the professor uploaded on Collab. Who do you call? Who is going to be there for you when you most need them? After strangling your roommate and maybe tossing a few textbooks in the direction of his or her shiny laptop, one logically would dial straight to the Cavalier Computer Service Station: where repair is only a few steps and few hundred bucks away.

Wait — few hundred bucks? All they need to do is snap on a new screen, right? The going rate at the service department is a whopping $85.00 per hour with a minimum of a half-hour payment ($42.50 for all you Arts & Crafts kids out there). But when the miserable roommate virus is spreading through campuses like the swine flu, there is inevitably going to be a backup. A fast return may interest some students then — your marginal opportunity cost may be positive. And cost you it will. Priority repair — when these technicians work past their normal hours — comes at a mere $120.00 per hour. Don’t think the parts come too; you need to order those separately.

“Whew,” you’re telling yourself, “thank goodness for that $300 warranty I got when I special ordered my new laptop from Cavalier Computers.” Keep wiping off that sweat Dell users; Mac users, grab a bucket and take a seat: a seat that is far from your computer and in isolation from all sources of accidental breakage.

I opted out of waiting four weeks to receive a new computer and was not given the luxury of having my digital certificates downloaded for me as well as a complimentary 3-year warranty. So I had to decide. After several sales-pitches urging me to purchase this seemingly all-protecting warranty and after several anecdotes of crying students who hadn’t, I needed to hit the field and find out for myself.

A few steps down the hall and I was in front of the service desk. “So what will the warranty cover for a Mac,” I asked. “If it breaks, we’ll fix it,” was the response I got. Simple enough, I suppose; but I decided to inquire more. “What if I drop it?” “Oh, the warranty doesn’t cover any accidental damage,” the attendant responds, backing up a bit. “What if I spill something on it, my speaker falls on it, or an Armstrong wannabe biker smashes into me on McCormick?” “No, no and no.” “I must be covered, though, if my roommate does any of those, right?” A blank stare ensues.

The warranty for MacBooks, Pro or not, exists for nothing more than faulty Apple parts. Any sign of abuse — Gatorade residue, screen-cracking, or a pen halfway into your sticky ‘A’ key — will automatically make you ineligible for these free services. But Dell owners, eat your heart out — even on your computers! You can take a seat on them. Throw your Dell into the Dell. You’re covered. We’re not.

ITC reported a 925% increase in Macintosh ownership since 2002 while Windows PC’s have been falling steadily ever since — a fall potentially much more dramatic if the Engineering School didn’t require them. With this rise in usage, there needs to be a reflected rise in coverage or assistance. I contacted Virginia Tech’s computer service and found it would cost me half as much to replace my keyboard than here at the University. And if that isn’t motivation enough, I don’t know what is. Students shouldn’t have to pay as much as they paid for the computer to get it fixed. Those numbers shouldn’t add up. So lower your prices, Cavalier Computer Service Station. If not for the students, do it so Tech only embarrasses us once this fall.

Bobby Laverty is an Opinion Editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at b.laverty@cavalierdaily.com.