This page contains resources for students who are looking to secure a laptop for use for Respondus-enabled exams.

Laptop Recommendations for Students

SAS Computing recommends laptops over tablets or other mobile devices for access to Canvas. In some instances, your professor may require you to take an in-person exam in Canvas via Respondus Lockdown Browser. In such cases, students must install Respondus Lockdown Browser on their laptops and take a short, no-credit practice exam (provided in the professor's course) prior to the actual exam to ensure that their laptops are configured correctly for any exam using Respondus Lockdown Browser.

The requirements for Respondus Lockdown Browser are here. Please note that minimum requirements do not equal optimum requirements for best user experience. Typically, the more recent your computing hardware and operating system, the better your user experience. We do not recommend Microsoft Surface as we've seen user experience issues with Canvas. To see the latest Penn laptop recommendations, click here.

Laptop Resources

In the event that you may need to borrow a laptop for a Respondus exam, this table lists possible places you may acquire one, but please note that supplies are limited, so it is always best to use your own laptop for a Respondus exam:

Resources	Laptops Available	Loan Duration	Borrower	Contact	Additional Details
Van Pelt Library	3	short-term (2 hours)	student	Nicole Goeway, nrobby@upenn.edu	Nicole will let a student borrow a laptop for a couple of hours for a Respondus exam, but a faculty member must initiate the reservation.
Wharton	5	short-term (3 hours)	student	support@wharton.upenn.edu	For students with hardware problems with their personal laptop or if a new purchase is delayed.
Student Intervention Services	unknown	long-term	student	vpul-sisteam@pobox.upenn.edu / 215 898 6081	Typically always booked up.

 

Links

• Penn Notebook (Laptop) Purchasing Guide: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/notebook-purchasing-guide
• Penn Computer Connection to purchase new Apple or Windows laptops: https://www.business-services.upenn.edu/access-savings-technology
• Current Supported Computing Products (Software): https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/current-supported-computing-products
• SAS Computing resource page for Respondus Lockdown Browser: https://computing.sas.upenn.edu/teaching_resources/respondus
• Respondus Lockdown Browser company page: https://web.respondus.com/he/lockdownbrowser/ and link to download the free software: https://download.respondus.com/lockdown/download.php?id=424638276

Updated January 4, 2023