{"id":11709,"date":"2012-06-13T10:48:22","date_gmt":"2012-06-13T15:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcitement.com\/?p=11709"},"modified":"2012-07-22T15:04:21","modified_gmt":"2012-07-22T20:04:21","slug":"on-the-cheap-buy-a-computer-for-college-get-a-gaming-console-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/column\/cheap\/on-the-cheap-buy-a-computer-for-college-get-a-gaming-console-for-free\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Cheap: Buy A Computer For College, Get A Gaming Console For Free"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-9940\" title=\"xbox\" src=\"https:\/\/techcitement.comadmin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/xbox-256x270-custom.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"270\" \/>June is normally the time of year when we see deals aimed at graduates. Sony and Microsoft, however, are targeting new college students. Both tech giants are offering a free game system with purchase of a new desktop or laptop with show of proof of college attendance.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft actually kicked this off in late <a href=\"http:\/\/windowsteamblog.com\/windows\/b\/windowsexperience\/archive\/2012\/05\/18\/students-buy-a-pc-get-an-xbox-360-getanxbox.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">May<\/a>. Shoppers at\u00a0Dell, Fry\u2019s, HPDirect.com, NewEgg, and Microsoft&#8217;s own stores can get a 4 GB xBox 360 with the purchase of any machine over $599. Sony, on the other hand, offers a Playstation 3 or a Playstation Vita handheld with purchase of <a href=\"http:\/\/store.sony.com\/webapp\/wcs\/stores\/servlet\/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&amp;storeId=10151&amp;langId=-1&amp;identifier=S_VAIO_Playstation_offer\" target=\"_blank\">specific systems<\/a>. Sony&#8217;s deal has a nice little addition of including the faculty in on the game console-buying initiative. However, most of the Sony systems cost a bit more than $599.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, I question the wisdom of bundling a time-sucking device with what should be a productivity tool (and is really more of a time-suck in and of itself). Your average college student, especially a freshman, has enough going on without adding the allure of a gaming system. Still, you can&#8217;t beat the price.<\/p>\n<p>To me, Microsoft&#8217;s offer is the better deal. You have access to a wider variety of systems and vendors. Furthermore, the upcoming tight integration of the xBox360, Windows Phone 8, and Windows 8 make the gaming system a better investment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>June is normally the time of year when we see deals aimed at graduates. Sony and Microsoft, however, are targeting new college students. Both tech giants are offering a free game system with purchase of a new desktop or laptop with show of proof of college attendance. Microsoft actually kicked this off in late May. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3062,512],"tags":[1411,164,9,2885,2886,568,58,994,2884,5226,1102,2883],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11709"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12503,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11709\/revisions\/12503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}