If your DC has a computer under DSA can I ask what model it is?

[user4750]

We are currently waiting for DSs DSA assessment but he starts his lessons next week and so I probably need to bite the billet and just buy him a laptop. Can I ask what the laptop awarded is so that we can make a decision. If it’s a really basic one anyway which only costs a couple of hundred then it might not be worth the wait (given the £200 parental contribution)

thank you!

I haven't had an award for 8 years but yes it was a bloody awful cheap laptop BUT you had the option to upgrade to a better model (which I did)

Just trying to assess whether it’s worth waiting for. Anyone else had one this year?

https://www.accessforstudents.co.uk/what-will-dsa-pay-for/

you can choose the laptop if you don’t like the recommended one but your contribution will increase

I'm studying with the OU and have DSA. I paid £275 (so £75 extra) and got a Dell latest model. Its 2 years old now and still works as new.

We paid to upgrade. What was worth it was the insurance that came with it and lasted the whole time they are at uni.

DS got his DLA laptop in 2014, and it was a poor experience. Initally he got a Fujitsu and he had the first problem with it in the first fortnight. He had no end of problems with repares and poor communication. At the end of Y1 I spoke to one of our local computer shops and bought a better laptop and paid about £800 for the software as he was going on a semester overseas. The fujitsu broke when he was away, but he had the replacement available. We bought the fujitsu back when we went to visit, I got involved and they finally agreed to replace it, we paid extra for an Asus , the same model as the one I had purchased for him.
He was never offered the option to trade up initially but I think it might be different now. Its the software that is the killer expense but gosh it was worth it. Both the Asus are still going strong but getting a bit creaky.

The spec is here, it can vary depending on what they are getting the laptop for:

https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1915/slc-spec-matrix-2021.pdf

If you choose to get your own laptop, ds already had a very good one, then DSA will fund the cost of an extended warranty if you don’t have one. We just did this on his existing Dell, bought a new full warranty to cover 3 more years and DSA repaid us for it in under 2 weeks. The assessment we had included it as part of the recommendations.

I think we’ve decided to wait and see. He is going to use my old laptop temporarily and pray that the appointment comes through quickly

DD is at work. I'll let you know later. It has been excellent for her.

They couldn't tell me exactly what the basic one would be (what ever basic was in stock) so I paid extra (a total of £280) for a Lenovo which would have been £500 in store.