Please direct your media and public relations inquiries to: mediarelations@cdw.com 800-800-4CDW CDW Making It Easier To Replace Costly, Aging PCs Company Unveils Special Offers, Provides Tool to Help Tech Pros Decide When to Upgrade VERNON HILLS, Ill. - September 29, 2003 - CDW Corporation (Nasdaq: CDWC), a leading provider of technology products and services to business, government and education, is taking new steps to help its customers avoid the pitfalls of aging technology. Research indicates many I.T. professionals are concerned their PCs, many of which were purchased as part of Y2K preparations, are overdue for upgrades and replacement. CDW is addressing this issue by offering special prices on select PCs and providing an online tool that can help I.T. pros decide if and when to replace their equipment. "Investing in new PCs may not have been a top priority for many of our customers looking for ways to save money during the recent economic downturn," said Steve Schuldt, vice president, CDW. "But many are now realizing that as equipment ages, total cost of ownership (TCO) can actually increase, due to repair costs, software or operating systems that are outmoded or no longer supported, and other reasons." To make replacing old PCs more affordable, CDW is offering special deals on select products. Details on all offers are available at CDW.com/PCEvent. Highlights include: IBM ThinkCentre A50p Tower desktop PC, with a 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 128 MB of RAM, 40 GB hard drive, 10/100 Ethernet and Windows XP Professional Edition. Price: $499 after trade-in.1 HP Compaq business notebook nx9010, with a 2.4 GHz Intel Celeron processor, 30 GB hard drive, 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows XP Professional Edition and a 14.1" active matrix display. Price: $799 after trade-in.1 Sysmex America, Inc., a CDW customer based in Mundelein, Ill., recently purchased new PCs and servers for their staff of 300 on the basis of an analysis showing it was more cost effective by 51 percent than maintaining their old systems. "We factored in our current and future software growth considerations as well as total cost of ownership into the decision to upgrade," said Arthur Braune, systems administrator, Sysmex America, Inc., a leading international manufacturer of diagnostic systems for medical laboratories worldwide. "After running the numbers, we upgraded our PCs and servers as we realized it was simply a better use of our I.T. budget for the year." CDW has deployed a tool to help customers determine if it is time to replace old equipment -- the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) Calculator on CDW.com. After customers enter information about their organization, their equipment, current levels of productivity and other metrics, the TCO calculator will detail estimated productivity enhancements based on potential technology upgrades and the resulting new TCO. To access the TCO Calculator directly, go to CDW.com/TCOupgrade. According to an August 2003 report from technology analyst firm IDC, I.T. professionals say infrastructure will be their top priority in 2004, with PCs being the most neglected in terms of funding during the past 12 months.2 "As the economy picks up it will be critical for companies to upgrade their PCs and hardware infrastructure to remain competitive and serve their customers efficiently and without disruptions. New software and applications that improve productivity and the delivery of solutions to customers make PC upgrades unavoidable. The other alternative is a risky choice because over time the failure of old systems and the use of outdated legacy applications could be costly for businesses," said David Daoud, a senior analyst at IDC. About CDW CDW® (Nasdaq: CDWC), ranked No. 381 on the FORTUNE 500, is a leading provider of technology products and services for businesses, government and education. CDW is a principal source of technology including top name brands such as APC, Apple, Cisco, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Sony, Symantec, Toshiba and ViewSonic. CDW distributes contracts to end users for customized and standardized on-site services supplied directly by providers such as HP Services and Unisys and for training programs provided by firms such as KnowledgeNet and Productivity Point International. CDW was founded in 1984 as a home-based business and today employs over 3,000 coworkers whose efforts generated net sales of more than $4.2 billion in 2002. CDW's direct model offers one-on-one relationships with knowledgeable account managers; purchasing by telephone, fax, the company's award-winning CDW.com Web site or customized CDW@work™ extranets; custom configured solutions and same day shipping; and pre- and post-sales technical support, with more than 100 factory-trained and A+ certified technicians on staff. Additional information can be found by visiting CDW.com. 1Eligible processors include Intel Pentium II, III, 4 or Intel Celeron. AMD processors do not qualify. Trade-in values are estimates only - actual rebate values may vary. All products must be in good working condition and have a fair market value. Range from $25 to $500. 2IDC Executive CTA, August 2003: It's All About the Infrastructure