DSA Laptop Struggles
I got a DSA laptop for my BA in 2023.
I upgraded it and paid about £ 1,000 for a laptop with 16GB of RAM and a Ryzen 9 processor.
I really invested in this because the recommended WKH Laptop they would give me wasn't going to run any of the software they gave me, and when I showed them a task manager screenshot of a similar WKH spec laptop running the software with 99%cpu and 90% memory they refused to accept it and said it was using (19 instances of Chrome, this is because chrome uses a multi-process architecture. Each open tab, extension, plugin, and internal engine) even though a majority of my software was web based. I wanted it to last, but I got tired of arguing.
To date, my upgraded laptop has issues (still getting repair quotes, but it isn't looking like a fixable issue), and I'm now on an MA course.
It's been a nightmare. First, they wouldn't fund another one because it's under 5 years old, then they told me to contact my supplier to use the warranty & insurance. The Supplier said the warranty and insurance had expired and that I should go back to my needs assessor. Eventually, they agreed I needed a replacement, originally saying I'd need to contribute the £200 again ( Hot Tip- look at your DSA Guidelines for your year), but due to a few lines in the guidelines, it looks like I shouldn't need to pay the 200 contribution.
Now here's my problem!
They are only requesting funding for another WHK laptop. I argued that there are several issues with this to me:
1. The laptop recommended isn't going to be able to run my software
2. It seems it should have been under warranty/insurance and should have lasted me at least 5 years. But since it isn't and hasn't i need a new one.
But it doesn't seem right for them to replace the laptop with a lower-spec laptop that isn't suitable, when the reason for the replacement is their lapsed warranty.
The WHK laptop won't be able to run the software reliably. But they just keep saying DSA can't fund high-cost computers; they seem to refuse to acknowledge that the recommendation can't support them, even though much of the software is browser-based, even though browser-based software can be demanding.
And I'm going to need to run this software while my lecture is running, and whatever class program I need.
Any ideas on how to get these points across or what the next steps are? I've already said all this and more but they just say it's not within guidelines, but not that i think i've seen the guidelines, i strongly feel their wrong.
Feels like they just keep saying no, hoping I'll give up, regardless of whether I'm entitled to it.
I upgraded it and paid about £ 1,000 for a laptop with 16GB of RAM and a Ryzen 9 processor.
I really invested in this because the recommended WKH Laptop they would give me wasn't going to run any of the software they gave me, and when I showed them a task manager screenshot of a similar WKH spec laptop running the software with 99%cpu and 90% memory they refused to accept it and said it was using (19 instances of Chrome, this is because chrome uses a multi-process architecture. Each open tab, extension, plugin, and internal engine) even though a majority of my software was web based. I wanted it to last, but I got tired of arguing.
To date, my upgraded laptop has issues (still getting repair quotes, but it isn't looking like a fixable issue), and I'm now on an MA course.
It's been a nightmare. First, they wouldn't fund another one because it's under 5 years old, then they told me to contact my supplier to use the warranty & insurance. The Supplier said the warranty and insurance had expired and that I should go back to my needs assessor. Eventually, they agreed I needed a replacement, originally saying I'd need to contribute the £200 again ( Hot Tip- look at your DSA Guidelines for your year), but due to a few lines in the guidelines, it looks like I shouldn't need to pay the 200 contribution.
Now here's my problem!
They are only requesting funding for another WHK laptop. I argued that there are several issues with this to me:
1. The laptop recommended isn't going to be able to run my software
2. It seems it should have been under warranty/insurance and should have lasted me at least 5 years. But since it isn't and hasn't i need a new one.
But it doesn't seem right for them to replace the laptop with a lower-spec laptop that isn't suitable, when the reason for the replacement is their lapsed warranty.
The WHK laptop won't be able to run the software reliably. But they just keep saying DSA can't fund high-cost computers; they seem to refuse to acknowledge that the recommendation can't support them, even though much of the software is browser-based, even though browser-based software can be demanding.
And I'm going to need to run this software while my lecture is running, and whatever class program I need.
Any ideas on how to get these points across or what the next steps are? I've already said all this and more but they just say it's not within guidelines, but not that i think i've seen the guidelines, i strongly feel their wrong.
Feels like they just keep saying no, hoping I'll give up, regardless of whether I'm entitled to it.
Reply 1
Which company are you speaking to? Capita or studytech?
Reply 2
2
Original post
by Lumiere36Which company are you speaking to? Capita or studytech?
Capita
Reply 3
You shouldn’t need to pay £200 again regardless of any upgrade. The original warranty and insurance would have been calculated on your BA course length- this is standard.
Dsa will only find the WKH spec (assuming you didn’t need a VI/lightweight spec). Any upgrade costs will fall to you unfortunately
Dsa assessment centres have to follow the department for education guidelines. The computer spec matrix is set by them. So even if they did ‘recommend’ the higher spec it I’ll be refused by SFE.
Your complaint would be best placed with SFE rather than capita.
Dsa will only find the WKH spec (assuming you didn’t need a VI/lightweight spec). Any upgrade costs will fall to you unfortunately
Dsa assessment centres have to follow the department for education guidelines. The computer spec matrix is set by them. So even if they did ‘recommend’ the higher spec it I’ll be refused by SFE.
Your complaint would be best placed with SFE rather than capita.
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