Why are 12 computer science students raising some funding for two Laptops? Would a build machine (and a collaboration server) not make more sense? If no build is needed , then i do not see the need for even one dedicated laptop. this will probably be a huge organisation mess. ( who keeps it, what happens on it , who had it last time, who installed that virus? ) you guys even have a mining rig,come on.
just program away, you don't need any money... no obstacles here.
It's part of the assignment. Our team has to solicit and receive funding from an outside party or group of individuals. We thought approaching the Bitcoin community itself would be a win-win for all involved; funders get interest paid on their loans, and we fulfill the requirement.
We figured using two project-dedicated laptops would be the best route, seeing as we can just return them back to BestBuy at the end of development and redistribute the loaned money (with interest of course!). It's easy for both parties and extremely low risk; I don't foresee BestBuy going out of business within the next month or two.
We're trying to highlight the benefits of Bitcoin in our presentation at the end, and receiving individual loans for a group-source project is the best way to really drive home the point that Bitcoin and online currencies in general offer incredible benefits.