Beginning this fall, students will be able to examine products before placing an order on the OU IT Store Web site.

Nicholas Key, spokesman for the IT, said the store will be where Sooner Textbooks was previously located at 1305 Jenkins Ave. Key said the store is scheduled to open sometime in August before orientation. He did not say a specific date because the building is still in the process of being brought up to code.

Key said the new location will benefit campus because of closer access it will give to students, faculty, and staff. Customers can examine products before buying them by using the demo models of laptops, desktops, MP3 players and other electronic devices available.

“We want to give availability to students on campus to look at computers and other electronics without having to go to other places like Best Buy,” Key said.

Key said the store demos will help faculty and staff who sometimes have to make their purchases in bulk.

“It’s hard for faculty to buy 10 computers for a department without even seeing them,” Key said.

Key said the store will also help students keep up with the fast past of technology.

“Technology is changing so quickly so there’s no telling if the hardware that a student originally saw online would have changed by the time the student had a chance to buy it,” Key said.

Chance Grubb, IT Store manager, said there is already an Apple demo center in the Couch Center that was established last March as a “pilot phase” for the upcoming store. The center is made up of a couple of assembled desks, shelves and chairs in front of the Couch Center computer lab.

Grubb said the new store will allow customers to shop the aisles for products and services, including both Dell and Apple computers. Some of the brands that would be sold at the new location will be Logitech, Microsoft, Adobe, and iOmega. The store will also have accessories like backpacks.

William Freeman, international area studies senior, said the new store would be a great idea. Freeman is an IT tech specialists who said he has heard even his coworkers say they wish they had a place to go browse instead of just an online Web site.

Freeman said it makes more sense to be able to go someplace on campus as opposed to going somewhere else.

“There’s a lot more people that are hands on,” Freeman said. “They don’t want to just see it online, or talk to people on the phone.”

Key said students will still be able to take advantage of discounts and can purchase with cash, credit or charge bills to their bursar accounts. Key said purchasing with Sooner Sense might also be a feature possibility.

“The only challenge is to find a cash register system that will accommodate the Sooner Sense,” Key said.

Faculty and staff will be able to make personal purchases. They will be able to use their department account for departmental purchases.

Freeman said if you are experiencing problems with your computer call 325-HELP.