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Buying laptop before DSA2 letter

Has anyone ever done this?
How does it work? I had my assessment remotely on the day of the Queen's funeral bank holiday (the 19th). I was told I'd get the report within approx 10 working days/2 weeks inc weekends (ie today). I didn't realise til today that it can actually take SFE up to 10-15 working days to choose what to fund. I thought it was all done on the same day ie I'd get a copy of the report then hear back from DSA telling me what they'd fund on the same day.

I'm slightly anxious; I'm not sure my laptop will hold up til then (between the 18th and 25th October).

One of the huge issues I've had is my laptop (2016 MacBook Pro w Touch Bar) was affected by Flex-gate when I was working on my A Level English Literature Personal Investigation coursework.
Basically, when you open and shut the laptop too much, the cable in the lid frays, eventually causing a black screen/unusable (although not bricked) laptop. I had to have the Genius Bar people plug it into a PC monitor and back it up to a hard drive (which I bought) and pay to repair it (although now they run a free program to fix it).

I actually have my first essay due in 3 days after the 10-15day period is up. If there's any sort of delay with SFE funding stuff (which I've also read about in threads here today) and my laptop breaks again (I've had a few close scares which luckily have come back on after rebooting the laptop) while I'm writing the essay and I don't have access to it to submit online, I'm screwed. Especially as I've only ever used a Windows laptop (the ones my uni library loans. Also they only loan them for 4 hours. Not enough time to write an essay!) In my GCSE and A Level exams and did not get on with the software at all, as I've been using Macs probably since Yr 7.

Luckily, right now, my family are in a situation where we can afford to replace the Mac ( with the 10% student discount, the up to £160 discount for trading in my old Mac, and the £120 discount from the Back to School event, which ends on the 20th October). But I'd be lying if I said my family wasn't affected by the cost of living crisis, and it would be financially helpful if I was able to get partial reimbursement from SFE/DSA.

Since my report has already been written, and probably going to SFE tomorrow, who do I contact if I do decide to sort out the computer soon? I'm in a foundation yr so only go in Wed-Fri mornings for now, so am considering/planning to sort it out this week.

Do I contact SFE/DSA and say something like 'I recently found out after my DSA assessment letter was sent to you that you take up to 10-15 working days to discuss what to reimburse/fund and have considerable anxiety that my laptop might not last until then (and give examples of issues like FlexGate as above, it getting very hot very quick,a delay with typed sentences- not helpful for an essay -, sticky keys, slow to record/type notes/have my web-based note taking software recommended by DSA - I have a free trial - etc) would you still consider reimbursing me if I sort it out now so I can be sure I'm able to write and submit my first essay which is due 3 days after your decision'
Or do I say something like 'I was anxious about my laptop not working and breaking before you make your decision about what to fund, especially as I have an essay due 3 days after and had to have my laptop repaired after it broke during me writing my A Level coursework and I didn't want that happening again so I've gone ahead and purchased it from Apple already. Please disregard any funding for a laptop as I now have one that meets the specs'

I'm just really not sure what to do; some advice would be great.

Reply 1

Stud148213

I am waiting to know what my funding will cover, but from my research It is not much (between 100-300£) so if you really need the laptop now I would recommend buying it, specially if it has a strong capacity ( I dont know much about computers) to support the software you might be provided with depending on your disability. It can be speech to text software or stuff like that, so it’s important to be good like that and no more than 5 years old I believe. The only other option would be to wait until they give you your laptop options and ask for an upgrade to a MacBook. That would means that you will have to wait a few weeks and pay the difference, that can be around £800 or higher . From the reviews here, the laptops provided for free are ok but cheap and slow But don’t take my word for it,I think the assessment centre might be able to help you with the minimum spec for your laptop. Look for Barry bennet MacBook upgrade options too.