What is Projekt Neptun?


We are committed to providing students with the best possible device to ensure that the laptop is a helpful tool over a long period of time - preferably throughout their entire studies. It is also important to us to support our customers beyond the purchase in order to be able to provide fast, inexpensive and effective help should problems with a Neptun laptop occur.

The story behind


Projekt Neptun was launched in 2001 at ETH Zurich as part of the ETH World Initiative with the aforementioned goal: To provide ETHZ students with mobile computers of the highest quality at a price that is affordable for students. For this purpose, an evaluation and test procedure was developed, which examined in detail both the hardware and the support and warranty services of the manufacturers.

After successful establishment within ETH Zurich, the project was successively opened to all universities in Switzerland between 2005 and 2007. The offer was adapted in such a way that, as far as possible, students from all courses of study, including non-technical ones, could find a device that met their requirements.

Since the opening of sales to all universities meant that distribution by ETH Zurich was no longer justifiable, a spin-off took place in 2011. With VSETH in league, Dominik Candreia and Lisa von Boehmer, both long-time project collaborators, founded Stonepine Labs GmbH. The non-profit commitment was maintained despite the founding of the GmbH, and the project was continued with a handful of employees to cover costs for the benefit of the students. In May 2016, Projekt Neptun was finally integrated into the non-profit foundation "Stiftung Studenten-Discount" (SSD).

The concept


The recommended hardware can be ordered during two sales periods, so called "Waves" a year, which open for four weeks each at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters. In 2021, the two Waves, which are based on the semester dates of the universities, were supplemented by a third BYOD Wave. This is aimed exclusively at upper secondary school students and allows them to purchase a laptop or tablet in June/July, in time for the start of the new school year.

The sale takes place exclusively online, against prepayment. Due to the restriction to time-limited sales periods, we are able to achieve very high discounts on the offered hardware. Also, the availability of the offered models in the corresponding configuration is guaranteed - something that is usually not feasible with year-round sales. Windows devices can optionally be ordered with a US keyboard. Where available, we offer a Linux version, or devices without a pre-installed operating system (DOS).

Since the recommended devices can only be ordered online, our team visits a large number of universities throughout Switzerland during the sales Waves. On our Demo Day tour, the devices are presented and students have the opportunity to ask questions or get advice. We also operate a showroom at the ETHZ Campus Hönggerberg. If both are too far away for you, you can use our online consultation options.

Differences to other student offers


In contrast to other offers for students, our focus is on the most comprehensive service possible, which, in addition to the selection of high-quality equipment and direct price negotiations with manufacturers, includes advice before the purchase, satisfactory processing of the order by our sales partners, but also support for hardware problems after the purchase. 

If possible, a laptop should not have to be replaced several times during your studies. This is easier on the wallet and ultimately benefits the environment. The laptops on offer are therefore mostly from the manufacturers' business range and are often not available at all in the specially assembled configurations on the open market, or at least not at comparable conditions for end customers.

In order to meet the quality requirements, we still carry out a large evaluation of laptop manufacturers every three years. For this purpose, all hardware manufacturers located in Switzerland are invited to submit offers according to a predefined list of criteria. Laptops and the support and warranty services offered by the manufacturer are put through several tests. Criteria such as robustness or battery life, which are of particular interest in everyday student life, will be looked at very carefully during the evaluation. The evaluation committee, which consists of IT experts and student representatives from various educational institutions, finally selects the laptop models that receive the best overall score after a multi-stage evaluation process. We enter into a collaboration partnership with the manufacturers concerned for a period of three years.

We only offer laptops from manufacturers that have passed our evaluation process. Thus, we offer high-quality models that are suitable for mobile school and study routines and are configured sensibly and with foresight. Unless otherwise stated, the international warranty of 3 years, which is valid internationally or at least throughout Europe and includes the battery, is included in the price.

Since it is not our goal to simply sell laptops and leave students to their own devices in case of problems, we offer technical support at the Neptun Help Points at ETH Zurich, the University of Basel, the Hochschulzentrum vonRoll in Berne and the University of Lucerne. If our Help Points are too far away, you can contact us via email to get remote support.

If a Neptun laptop needs to be repaired, we provide students with a support laptop free of charge for the duration of the repair. Employees and alumni pay a handling fee of CHF 50. In case of theft or irreparable defect, a laptop can be rented at student-friendly conditions to bridge the time until a new one can be purchased.

All Neptun customers receive a code after the purchase of their laptop, with which they can obtain a reliable backup solution free of charge. More information can be found on our software service page.

More great offers:

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The brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ and S10 Ultra are now available to pre-order with a 20% discount including book cover and pen.

Order Information

You can track the order status of your laptop in our distribution partner's customer account. You can find information on this in the FAQ.

Help Point : Please book an appointment

Our support staff at the Help Points ETHZ, Bern vonRoll, UNIBAS and UNILU are there for you. If you need technical support, contact us via email to make an appointment.

More great offers:

yallo: Sensational discounts and free activation

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ & S10 Ultra available to pre-order

The brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ and S10 Ultra are now available to pre-order with a 20% discount including book cover and pen.

Order Information

You can track the order status of your laptop in our distribution partner's customer account. You can find information on this in the FAQ.

Help Point : Please book an appointment

Our support staff at the Help Points ETHZ, Bern vonRoll, UNIBAS and UNILU are there for you. If you need technical support, contact us via email to make an appointment.

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