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STP – technology made accessible to students

Friday, August 30th, 2013

Over the past year a new technology initiative aimed mainly at students, has slowly, but surely spread across campuses nationwide.

STP, or the Student Technology Programme‘s objective is to offer affordable tablets and laptops for purchase to all students of public universities across South Africa.

The programme was negotiated with various technology vendors by the Association of South African University Directors of Information Technology (ASAUDIT) and the purchasing consortium (PURCO) for South African higher education institutions.

This national initiative currently offers affordable deals on tablets and laptops to staff and students from public universities in South Africa who have agreed to participate in the STP. Further deals will be negotiated and added to the product offerings from time to time.

The current participants of the STP project are Acer Education, selling Acer laptops, and Pinnacle selling Lenovo laptops. Each dealer has made up to 4 models laptops available, ranging from a basic entry level to a high end laptop.  Acer, Dell, Proline and Samsung are also offering Android and Windows tablets ranging from smaller 7 inch to top-range 10.1 inch models.

Use the central web portal ( www.stp.ac.za) to compare and choose the product that best suits you. Once you have registered on the website you will be able to place and pay for your order and arrange for delivery with the vendor.

 

Laptops now more affordable for students

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Students gain access to the campus network and It systems via approximately 2500 computers in RGA’s. In addition to this access the aim is to encourage students to increasingly use their own laptops or tablets.  In line with this initiative competitive prices for laptops were negotiated by means of a country-wide student laptop project. The computers have been tested and approved by the IT-department of the SU and are therefore being recommended to students.

The products are well priced with a considerable discount on the fixed price list of some of the models. All models come standard with Windows 7 and Office 10 Pro – another saving of R1200-00.

Models ranging from entry-level to advanced – four each from both Acer and Lenovo – have been chosen. The specifications are equivalent per category and you can therefore easily choose the brand that suits your needs best.

You can order your laptop online directly from the manufacturers by following the links below:

DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: PURCO, on behalf of the South African universities, negotiated prices with specific suppliers for specific laptops that are now being offered to qualifying students. All transactions relating to the procurement of the laptops will be between the computer supplier and the end-user. Neither PURCO nor the universities are in a position to guarantee the quality of the product or related services.

important infoYou have to be a prospective or current student with a student number to qualify. If you need any information or additional assistance, please contact us at laptop@sun.ac.za or 021 808 9111.

Warning for 3G users: Risk of overspending on data accounts

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Users are warned to practice caution when using certain providers’ 3G bundles on laptops. Some of these do not protect the user against overspending.

The risk of overspending occurs when users are under the false impression that their 3G package is safe to use until the package runs out. This is not necessarily the case. Higher costs can occur when the initial bundle’s capacity is exceeded and a much higher tariff kicks in. The user will then, without knowing, pay the higher tariff.

The risk of overspending is increased by software updating automatically and therefore generating more traffic. To avoid overspending ensure that the settings of your software updates are set to manual.

Another risk 3G users need to be aware of is the excessive cost of data overseas. Wireless in hotels is usually much more affordable than the local service provider’s roaming data options.

Users are strongly advised to limit the amount they want to spend or traffic they want to allow. (All this information can be found on your service provider’s website.) Also activate sms and email notifications when your data bundle is close to its limit. In this instance prepaid data is a considerably safer option.

3G users are encouraged to monitor their traffic and data usage on the 3G control programme, as well as the service provider’s website. Preferably switch off the 3G facility when it’s not being used.

 

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