Every year Apple offers students a free iPod with the purchase of any of their Mac computers. Well, Microsoft is upping the ante. Instead of giving away a free mp3 player, they're offering students a free 4GB Xbox 360 console with the purchase of a Windows 7 PC over $699.
Microsoft isn't restricting which Windows 7 PC you can buy to get this deal but they are recommending the HP DM4, Samsung Series 9, and the Dell Inspiron 14r as suitable machines for students. This deal works out equivalent to the most recent Apple deal with the Xbox being valued at $199. The cost of a Windows 7 PC, however, is definitely well under that of a brand new Mac of any variety.
If you want to take advantage of this deal there are two ways to go about it. Students with a .edu email address can purchase their shiny new PC through one of the participating online retailers (which include HP and Dell). The other option is to bring your student ID to a Best Buy or Microsoft store to get in on the deal. It's worth noting that High School students as well as College students can participate, provided they either have a student ID or a .edu email address.
But before you jump out of your couch and rush out to the store, you should know that the deal will start on May 22nd in the United States, with similar deals coming to Canada and France. Microsoft hasn't specified an end date for the promotion, instead stating the duration of the promotion will vary by retailer. The one piece of information left out is exactly how the consumer will get the bonus Xbox 360. It's not clear if the game console is given out at the time of purchase, mailed after the fact, or if some sort of credit is sent to the consumer to be used towards the purchase of the console.
It's likely that Microsoft's choice in start date for this promotion was chosen specifically to beat Apple out of the gate. In 2010, Apple's back to school promotion provided a $199 credit towards the purchase of an iPod touch, which started on May 25th. In 2009, Apple went with a May 27th date for the beginning of a similar promotion.
It will be interesting to see which back to school promotion does the best this year. Previously Apple hasn't had any specific competition for their deal in this time period. The other obvious question here is does Sony do anything similar to promote their Vaio line and get people back onto the PS3 bandwagon after the nightmare PSN hacking situation that has been developing over the last month.
