The government has revealed offers to buy laptops for students. We check if the cheapest is the best

The government has just revealed the details of the tender for the purchase of laptops for fourth grade primary school students. 14 proposals were received under it, and the cheapest – from the x-kom store chain) amounts to a total of PLN 1.164 billion. The company. This is a typical business model, the heart of which is the 12th generation Intel Core i7 processor with integrated Iris Xe graphics card, 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. In addition, there is a 15.6-inch Full HD display, Windows 11 and a 42 Wh battery. The laptop also has a three-year warranty and a whole set of ports – from USB type C and mini jack, to USB type A and RJ45 (for connecting a LAN cable). In total, 394,346 computers are to be purchased.

We know the specifications of the computers from the tender

14 companies took part in the tender, but only six different devices competed (some models were repeated). The offer statement provided includes data such as the make and model of the laptop, the price per unit, and basic data on the specifications. And so, the best offer in terms of price (PLN 2,952) was the proposal of the x-kom store chain (Asus ExpertBook B1502CBA). The same model was proposed by MDP Polska ITS, but in its case the price of one copy was slightly higher – PLN 2,998.74. The other offers were already for amounts significantly exceeding 3,000. PLN, and four of them amounted to 4 thousand. PLN – the highest was PLN 4,378.80 for each laptop. Interestingly, in the case of one of the companies (Euvic Solutions SA), all computer data was classified as a “trade secret”. Only the price is known – PLN 4343.5 gross. Therefore, we do not know what computer was proposed, what specification it has and whether it meets the requirements of the tender.

The specifications of all other computers are very similar. The precondition for participating in the tender was obtaining at least 1100 points in the CrossMark benchmark (testing device performance). All the submitted models met this requirement, but one (HP ProBook 440 G9) scored exactly 1100 points. By far the best result (1470 points) was obtained by the Asus ExpertBook B1502CBA, i.e. the laptop model proposed by x-kom. Another requirement was to offer 8 GB of RAM, expandable to 16 GB. The vast majority of companies offered this option. In the case of two laptops – the HP ProBook 440 G9 and the Dell Latitude3540 – the memory can be expanded to 32 and 64 GB respectively. The space for data (on the SSD) of each computer has 256 GB – this was the minimum value required.

The tender requirements also specified that the displays must have a Full HD resolution, a brightness of 220 cd/m2 (candelas per square meter) and a diagonal of at least 13 inches. In terms of resolution, there are no differences – each company proposed a device with a Full HD display. In terms of brightness, there were two values ​​- 220 or 250 cd/m2 – and the diagonals were 14 or 15.6 inches. Other parameters, i.e. dimensions, weight and battery capacity, strictly depend on the diagonal of the screen of a particular laptop. The tender only specified that the computer must weigh no more than 2.5 kg, and the minimum battery capacity is 37 Wh – both requirements are met by each laptop from the tender.

The government is looking for a laptop for students. Could you have chosen a better one?

The offer presented by x-kom actually seems very attractive, especially considering the much lower price for each computer than the other offers. What’s more, it was the Asus ExpertBook B1502CBA that scored the highest number of points in the CrossMark test, which means that – at least theoretically – it should be the most efficient. Of course, however, you can find laptops both lighter (and smaller) and with a more capacious battery. However, the choice depends on what priorities will be adopted at the stage of analyzing offers. The main criterion – as announced – is to be the price of the device. As we can read on the Digitization website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, only the two cheapest offers would allow closing the budget provided for the order. However, the amounts in the offer are maximum prices and the government expects them to be lower in the execution order. Now, the Government Administration Service Center is to check whether the offers meet all the requirements set out in the tender documentation and invite companies to submit offers in executive orders.