Ordering new laptop and desktop equipment can be done one of two ways: full service and self service.
Full Service
MWS will order and setup the equipment for you. We will ship the computers directly to your home and we will assist you with enrolling the computer into Auto Pilot and join the computer to the domain. We charge a half-hour of consulting time for this service. There may be additional shipping charges to ship from UW-IT Logistics to your home.
Our consulting rates can be found on our Service Catalog page.
Tailored Computer Recommendations
Every MWS customer is entitled to a yearly meeting with the MWS team to discuss their computer needs. We will gather your computer hardware needs and provide specific recommendations for what model and configuration of computer to order. There is no additional cost to our customers for this meeting.
To schedule a time, send an e-mail to help@uw.edu and note in your request that you’d like a computer requirements meeting with the the MWS team.
We’re always happy to meet with you to provide a computer model recommendation tailored to your needs, as outlined above. However, if you’re looking for computer models to order on your own, these our hardware specification recommendations:
- Processor: Intel i5 or better
- RAM: 8GB or more
- Storage: Solid State Drive, 128GB or more
- Operating System: Windows 10 Enterprise
- Warranty: Three Year
If your monitors don’t have a DisplayPort input connection, we strongly encourage you to replace your monitor(s) when you order a new machine with one(s) that do. Otherwise, you’ll need to order an adapter to connect your machine to your monitors.
We also strongly recommend that you order business-grade computers. (e.g. HP EliteDesk/EliteBook, Dell Optiplex/Latitude, Lenovo ThinkCentre/ThinkPad) Consumer-grade computers are typically made with cheaper components and are less durable and more prone to issues than business-grade ones.
- From eProcurement, go to CDW-G’s catalog and find the desired computer or laptop and add it to your cart. Please note computers from CDW-G are no longer offered with the MWS image. You can order computers from CDW-G with Auto Pilot installed for a small fee. The instructions for ordering Auto Pilot enrolled devices from CDW-G are linked here
- For new desktop computers using old monitors: Most new computers use Display Port connections for monitors. Determine what type of video connections are on your monitor. You may need to order Display port adapter(s). You can order StarTech.com “DisplayPort to DVI adapter cable” (DP to DVI – 1920×1200; CDW Part: 2338844) to get digital video or StarTech.com “DisplayPort to VGA adapter cable” (DP to VGA cable adapter; CDW Part: 2185899) for VGA connections.
- For any questions or assistance or ordering computers, follow the link within the eProcurement site for getting help: Getting Help through eProcurement
- When done, transfer your shopping cart and submit your order in eProcurement
- When the computer arrives, and if it was enrolled in Auto Pilot when you ordered it, follow the on screen prompts and login with your UW NetID. The computer will configure itself automatically. If it wasn’t enrolled at purchase, you will need to enroll it manually following the instructions to Enrolling Existing Devices into Auto Pilot.
- After the computer has completed the Auto Pilot set up process, use our “Enable computer for Managed Workstation Services” form to have MWS create a new computer account for the computer.
- Once you have received confirmation the new computer account has been created, make sure to logon to the computer using the Temp Intune VPN or the MWS VPN to allow Group Policy settings to be applied onto the computer. Updates can take between 2-24 hours to complete, so leave the computer connected to the VPN service.
NOTE: You can work directly with CDW-G to exchange problem systems only within the first 30 days so we recommend you unbox and test upon receipt.