Which Laptop Models Could DepEd Have Purchased with PHP 58,000 Budget Per Unit?

I guess, at point, all of you are already familiar with the controversial entry-level Intel Celeron-powered laptops that the Department of Education allegedly purchased in bulk for around PHP 58,300 each with PS-DBM as the procuring entity.

I'm not an expert as regards government spending or the processes involved in it so I won't talk about that aspect of this entire issue. I'll let political experts handle that.

TechPinas, however, is all about sharing specs and beyond to help build a Tech-Informed, Tech-Empowered Nation so I believe it's but right that I talk about some laptop models that I think DepEd could have gotten with a budget of around PHP 58,000 per unit.

Here are some of them (based on their suggested retail prices as of August 18, 2022):

1. Apple Macbook Air M1

Price: PHP 57,990

Key Specs:

Apple M1 Chip with 8 CPU Cores and 7 GPU Cores

16-Core Neural Engine

13.3-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS Display

macOS Big Sur

8GB Unified memory

256GB SSD

Up to 15 hours Wireless Web 

802.11ax W-Fi 6

2. ASUS TUF Dash F15 FX516PM-HN097T

Price: PHP 57,995

Key Specs:

Intel Core i5-11300H 3.1 GHz Processor

Windows 10

8GB DDR4 3200 On-Board Memory

512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD

15.6-inch FHD 1920x1080 IPS 144Hz Display

NVIDIA GeForce RTX3060 6GB GDDR6 VRAM

802.11AX WiFi + 

Bluetooth

HDMI 2.0b Port

USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port

Windows 10 Operating System

3. Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ACH6 82K20038PH

Price: PHP 57,995

Key Specs:

AMD Ryzen 7 5800H

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4GB GDDR6

8GB SO-DIMM DDR4-3200

512GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0x4 NVMe

15.6-inch FHD 1920x1080 IPS

Wi-Fi 6 11ax

Bluetooth 5.0

Windows 11 Operating System

4. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Pro 14ACH5 82N5001HPH

Price: PHP 57,995

Key Specs:

AMD Ryzen 7 5800H

14-inch 2.8K (2880x1800) OLED

Dolby Vision

16GB Soldered DDR4-3200

512GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0x4 NVMe

Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics

Windows 10 Operating System

5. Dell Vostro 5515

Price: PHP 57,990

Key Specs:

AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

15.6-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 Non-Touch Narrow Border WVA Display

8GB DDR4

512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

AMD Radeon Graphics

Windows 10 Professional

If you were the one calling the shots at DepEd and you had this list of laptops to choose from, which of them would you pick and why?

Tough call, right? I mean, Apple Macbook M1 is probably the most popular and most "desired" of the bunch but the ASUS and Lenovo models also have a lot going for them.

ASUS' TUF series is known for durability, which many educators who are often out in the field or teaching on-ground will surely appreciate.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Pro's very high resolution 2.7K display and 16GB RAM are also huge treats at this price point. Usually, these features are only available on laptops priced at around PHP 70,000 up.

To wrap up, let me say that I value education highly. If ever I was able to get my family out of extreme poverty, it was because of education. As such, I think that we as a nation should prioritize our teachers and students. When it comes to gadgets and teaching materials, I hope our government would give our public schools and educators the absolute best that can be acquired given its limited budget.