Computer Hire? - Pros and Cons of LaptopRental
Posted by Todd Gold
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What happens if your portable pal is struck by the much feared blue screen of death? No worries cobber, you are still covered for repair under warranty, you just send it back to the manufacturer - right? Say the fault takes two weeks to sort out, and you have an important trade show coming up? Do you cry into your guinness, purchase a new notebook or look at renting options? Todd Gold offers his opinion.
Have you everconsidered what would happen if your beloved notebook computerwas hit by the dreaded blue screen of death? Great your portablepal is still under warranty, you just send it back to themanufacturer for repair - right? What happens if that repairtakes 10-14 days, and you have an important meeting or conferencein Chicago, Los Angeles, London or New York coming up? Do you buya brand new pc or look at laptop rentaloptions?Oneadvantage of renting a notebook is that you can get your sweatypalms on the latest core 2 duo machine without paying out a hugewad of cash in one go. Another is that recently laptops have beenthe subject of travel restrictions by some airlines. If you don'tlike the idea of airport hassle, and you only need the computerfor a one off meeting or conference, why not rent a notebook andpick it up at your destination hotel? Better than risking itbeing banished to the hold of aplane, if strict travel guidelines are in place.
On to the negatives. A disadavantage of renting is that you mustkeep the laptop covered under your insurance policy, or take outadditional insurance with the renting company. Otherwise if youspill a toffee nut latte on your Merom hireling, or because of senses dulled by copious quantities ofsaki consumed at the trade show after party, you leave it in theback of a taxi,you will be held responsible for its repair or replacement.
Also watch out for those mounting monthly costs. If for somereason your broken notebook takes a month or longer to repair, those rental fees will add up. Anywhere from 200 dollars a month for a humble Pentium 3 to upwards of 600 dollars for thelatest core 2 duo machine. For our poor UK readers you don't justget ripped off by high petrol prices. In London it could cost you30-50 pounds a day to rent a cutting edge notebook.
If you want my opinion rentals are good to solve shortterm disasters, where you desperately need a wireless notebook for that critical presentation at a trade show orconvention center. For longer periods of time the figures justdon't add up. Why pay 300 bucks a month long term, when a brandnew entry level discount notebook can be bought outright for under $400 these days.There are even cheap dual core machines on the market for under$700, that's only two months of renting a Pentium M or Pentium 4notebook.
One last thing, folks often get leasing and renting mixed up.Rentals are usually short term agreements, leases can be spreadover a few years. A benefit of leasing is that you canusually upgrade your laptop and keep pace withchanging technology at any point during the lease term. That mayinvolve an increase in your monthly payments, but the overallcost is spread out over a longer term. Excellent news forbusinesses with cash flow problems.
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