Larry C. Farmer
Marion G. Romney Professor of Law
Chair – Technology Management Committee
Phone: (801) 422-2423
Fax: (801) 422-0391
Email: farmerl@law.byu.edu
May 15, 2009
Re: Fall 2008 laptop requirement for entering and transfer students
Dear Class of 2011:
On behalf of the Technology Committee, let me again welcome you to the J. Reuben Clark Law School. As I noted in correspondence sent to you by the Admissions Office in early May, we require non-exempt first-year and transfer students to have laptop computers meeting certain specifications. These specifications have now been established for the coming year.
Approved Laptops
Approved laptops for student’s entering in the fall of 2008 are as follows:
Lenovo
Dell
The approved laptops are all configured with the Vista operating system. While the newer models from Lenovo (T400 and T500) and Dell will use the same processors as the T61, D630 & D830 models, they will be built using the newer GM45 chipset, and DDR3 ram. The Dell E series will also come with an eSATA data port and the newer Lenovo laptops will use LED backlit screens that use less battery power. LED backlit screens will be sold as an option on the Dell E series.
Lenovo is projecting that the new models will be available on August 5th, but, while they are a reliable vendor, we cannot guarantee that they will meet this projected date. Dell has not provided the law school with their availability dates. We will immediately send out a notice to entering students if/when more information becomes available. These new availability dates are due to delays in the shipment of Intel chipsets to these vendors. Studens who order one of the newer models you may not have their laptops in time for the first day of class. Generally shipping takes 3-4 weeks on the newest laptop models. If this is a concern you may want to consider the models listed above as immediately available.
From now until August 5, 2008, specifications for the T61, D630 and D830 laptops will be posted on the law school website by clicking here. After August 5, 2008 specifications for the Lenovo T400 and T500, models will be posted at the same web location. Dell has not provided the law school with the release date for the new Dell laptops.
Before choosing your laptop, we encourage you to review the posted specifications carefully to note each vendor's offerings, including service and warranty features. If you do not obtain an exemption as described in my prior correspondence, you must choose one of these models in order to satisfy the law school's laptop requirement.
Purchasing Information
You must purchase your laptop from websites set up for BYU law students by Lenovo and Dell in order to obtain the special pricing negotiated for the models noted above. Links to these websites are found on the law school laptop initiative website at the URL noted above.
If you plan to receive your laptop in time for the beginning of school, you must generally order it before August 1st. Also, you should note that many of the components offered for sale on the website are optional items (see the "Optional Accessories" section of the "Laptop Comparison Matrix" following the price information). You do not need to purchase these items in order to comply with the laptop requirement. You can decide for yourself whether to include them in your order. The additional price of each item is listed in the matrix. If you have any questions about the machines or the ordering process, you should call the Law School Help Desk at (801) 422-3884.
Financing
The cost of the laptop (roughly between $1,250 and $1,400 depending on the options you choose which can be added to your budget for purposes of computing financial aid under the guidelines of the U.S. Office of Education. Moreover, the Law School is willing to make loans up to $1,500 from the Woolley Loan Fund to assist you with your purchase. The Woolley Loan Fund is a subsidized loan fund (no interest accrues nor is any payment due until after graduation). If you decide to use the Woolley Loan Fund to purchase your laptop, you should specify on the loan application that you also want to borrow up to $1,500 for the purchase of a laptop. The Woolley Loan Funds will not be available until the first day of class on August 22rd. Therefore, if you want to use these funds to purchase your laptop, you may want to purchase the computer with a credit card toward the end of July, so the funds are available in time to pay off the card without incurring any interest charges. If you need more information on the loan fund, please contact Assistant Dean Carl Hernandez at (801) 422-6386.
Warranty and Insurance
Each machine comes with a complete 3-year, next-business-day, on-site international warranty. The machines also come with a no-fault insurance policy, which provides coverage for non-intentional damage to the machine, including accidental spills, drops, etc. This coverage accounts for the price difference for the same model laptop you may find less expensive elsewhere.
We call your attention to this warranty and insurance information because it is important to recognize that laptops are more fragile than the desktops with which you may be more familiar. In simple terms, it is unlikely that you will drop your desktop, put your desktop in your bookbag and throw it into the backseat of your car, or spill a soda into your desktop. Aside from these more catastrophic events, laptops can have more service issues simply because they are portable and thus experience more jostling and wear and tear. The Technology Committee works hard to choose reliable models. Nevertheless, we encourage you to take seriously the warranty and insurance information. In fact, if the information on the vendor web sites does not answer all your questions, please feel free to call the Law School Help Desk at (801) 422-3884 and ask about the warranty, insurance issues, service issues, and the like.
Software
We will provide most of the software you need to operate in the law school environment at no charge to you. The one exception is that you will need to have a version of Microsoft Word 2007 on your computer for your Advocacy class. As a BYU student, you can purchase the entire Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) from the BYU Bookstore for the heavily discounted price of about $75 dollars.
Exemption to Use Non-Supported Laptop
Those not planning to purchase an approved laptop may obtain an exemption which allows you to use a laptop other than those models listed above. In order to obtain an exemption, a completed exemption form must be submitted to Dean Carl Hernandez by August 1, 2008. You may request an electronic copy of the exemption form from Dean Hernandez by sending him an email at hernandezc@law.byu.edu or contacting him by telephone at (801) 422-6386.
We cannot warrant that exempted laptops will communicate properly with the law school network. In addition, those with exempted laptops will only be eligible for limited Help Desk support. When you have problems with an exempted computer, you will be limited to 10 minute consultations during which Help Desk personnel will try analyze your computer problem and provide you with repair suggestions, but you must fix the computer yourself. Except for this limited assistance, students with exempted laptops will be solely responsible for their own computer support. Students who obtain an exemption to come to law school without a laptop will be solely responsible for securing computer resources in order to complete writing and other assignments, access course materials on the law school web site, access email, etc. The law school has some public terminals in the law library that provide internet access, but there is no computer lab in the law school building.
Approved laptops have been pretested and certified to work with SoftTest, a program used by students to take examinations. Only laptops that support SoftTest may be used during examinations. Thus, students who wish to use exempted laptops to take exams must confirm that SoftTest functions properly on their computers. All students may go to the Help Desk for assistance with this task. Please note that you can obtain an exemption to use Apple Macintosh laptops to run SofTest if the Apple laptop uses Bootcamp (not Parallels or other emulation software) to run Windows XP or Vista.
We realize that for some of you computer use may be relatively new. Do not despair. We will provide training for you to make sure you feel comfortable with its use. We look forward to welcoming you as part of the law school community.
Sincerely,
Larry C. Farmer
Marion G. Romney Professor of Law
Chair - Technology Management Committee
