# Cost of computer rental **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576 "2006-01-25T18:01:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/1 "2006-01-25T18:01:47Z")
I’ve been looking at a lot of computer rental places online, but they all want you to fill out a form with your contact information to “get a quote,” which I interpret as “allow our salesmen to harass you to no end.” I just want to get an idea of what the cost is before I think about this further, so does anyone have an idea what the rental costs are like? I’m particularly interested in mid- to high-end laptops in the Austin area, but I’ll take any info at all for some sort of guidance. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/2 "2006-01-26T07:49:29Z")
There are places that rent computers, rent television, rent furniture…almost every review of those places mentions the horrendous mark up and interest rates…I think it was some ungodly amount like 200% or even more. The only people who use those places are those who really can least afford to use them…people with really bad credit, or no credit at all. It is pretty much legal loan sharks who make good on their threats if you don’t keep up the payments. You would be far wiser to find a way to buy one outright at a reputable store, or try to find a good used or refurbished one. My vote? Very bad idea, and don’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/3 "2006-01-26T15:33:47Z")
How long do you want to rent it for? Is this for a day or two for a meeting or trade show, or a long-term rental? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/4 "2006-01-26T21:54:36Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > How long do you want to rent it for? Is this for a day or two for a meeting or trade show, or a long-term rental? Ooops…didn’t think that this might be a short one day or two rental thingie…that is a different story. I was thinking obviously more of those long term rent-to-buy rip off places. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/5 "2006-01-26T22:46:58Z")
The reason I asked is that when I’ve been involved in settting up a meeting at a convention center or hotel, and I need to rent something like an LCD projector or projection screen, I’ve found that the convention centers and hotels have an A/V company that they usually work with for this, and also have price sheets listing the cost for renting stuff from them, including notebook computers (along with LCD projectors, screens, VCRs, TVs, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/6 "2006-01-26T22:52:39Z")
Get a salesperson on the phone and tell them you won’t even consider renting from them unless you can see a _typical_ price guide. I say typical, because if your credit’s crap they can jack up the rental rates for you. Tell them you have good credit and you just want to shop around before you start filling out contract information sheets at every place you call. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/7 "2006-01-26T23:13:56Z")
This is one of the worst financial ideas that you can have. Simply don’t even thing about it. Those places don’t make money by charging small markups. It is almost always insane and predatory on the ignorant. The only people that have any business renting a computer are people and businesses with very short-term, specific needs. You can get a decent laptop for $700 and a good one for $1200. You can get decent desktops from $500 and up. Save your money and just buy a new one, buy a used one cheaper, or pay by credit card and spread out the payments (only if you must). ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/8 "2006-01-27T01:18:43Z")
It’s, uh, middle-term. Basically I would like to change the way I do some of my work by enabling me to get together and work with my partners more often, which I don’t do now partially because my current laptop is a dinosaur. This work is on the side of my real job, though, and I’m not sure I would get enough extra use out of the new laptop to justify the expense (the work is entirely speculative, so doesn’t offset the cost). So, I was thinking of trying out a rental for a month to see if it would be worth purchasing one. Sounds like everyone else has about the same (low) opinion of computer rental places, though, and it will probably be too much of a waste to rent for even that amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![broken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@broken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broken)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/9 "2006-01-27T11:58:49Z")
In theory the idea of being able to try out a new laptop instead of immediately buying one sounds great. However, as everyone else has said, rent-to-own places make money off of over-priced items. There are also companies that rent nice computer equipment, but generally that comes with a contract and has to be done in bulk. At any rate, it’s tough deciding if a particular piece of electronics is really going to fit into your workflow/lifestyle, i know I’ve purchased plenty of items that I rarely use. However, it seems like you have given this idea a lot of thought and it seems ideal to replace your current portable-saurus-rex. If your current machine is holding you back from a side-project that is either economically or personally gratifying, i think it’s time to upgrade (assuming buying a new machine fits into your budget). After all, those shiny little (light) 12" screen laptops are pretty affordable, not to mention incredibly portable. Brand recommendations are probably beyond the scope of this thread, without listing your uses and besides, no need to ignore another pc vs. apple war. Good luck with your laptop search. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/10 "2006-01-27T18:10:26Z")
I dunno about rental companies, but many companies to those who can’t afford a product’s full price up front are complete rip-offs. A little while ago, i was watching afternoon television and a commercial came on for a company that sold itself as a solution for people who wanted a computer but couldn’t get credit. They said that they had good systems at excellent prices, and that no-one would be refused credit. They called themselves “PCs For All.” Well, i decided to get on their website and see exactly how much they charged. And it was fucking astronomical. Check out [this package](http://www.pcsforall.com/Portal/productDetails.aspx?pid=6): > [@](#): > > - Intel® Celeron® DELL 2.6 GHz Processor > - 15" Flat Panel Monitor > - 512 MB RAM > - 80 GB Hard Drive > - DVD Burner > - Stereo Speakers > - 56.6K Modem > - Keyboard and Mouse > - Microsoft Windows XP Home > - Word Perfect Productivity Pack 12 > - 1 Year In home Full Service Warranty > - 2 year extended parts and labor warranty > > Price: As low as $43.99/wk for 12 months. $43.99 a week, for 12 months? That’s over $2,200 for a fucking Celeron computer with a relatively small hard drive, not very much RAM, and a small flat panel monitor. The computer is a Dell. On the Dell website, without even doing any real shopping around, i found an XPS400 with the following specs: > [@](#): > > - Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB) > - Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition > - 128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory > - 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2DIMMs > - 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache > - Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive > - 19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel > > Price: $969 A much better computer, at less than half the price. And if you shop around at Dell, you can actually get a pretty decent Pentium desktop for about $500-600. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/11 "2006-01-27T18:13:28Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I dunno about rental companies, but many companies to those who can’t afford a product’s full price up front are complete rip-offs. That should, of course, read: I dunno about rental companies, but many companies **who advertise** to those who can’t afford a product’s full price up front are complete rip-offs. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/12 "2006-01-30T17:29:14Z")
In general, laptop computers are terrible things to rent, even for ‘legitimate’ rental operators who help out with trade shows and so on. Think about it - laptops are:[ul][li]Subject to appalling depreciation[/li][li]Relatively fragile and subject to wear[/li][li]Moved around a lot, dropped, sploshed with coffee etc.[/li][li]Expensive to fix if they go wrong[/li][li]Not that much in demand[/li][li]Available in a scary variety of options, many of which do not substitute easily[/li][/ul] There’s just no way you can build a business model around renting laptops that isn’t going to be either very expensive or very inconvenient. Hence renting them sucks ass unless you REALLY need them for something like a demo or a tradeshow. I second the suggestion that you buy a middling-spec one or buy a known-quantity one from an upgrading technofiend. In general I find second-hand PCs terrible value unless they are from a friend. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/13 "2006-01-30T19:17:40Z")
I forgot to mention - add this website to your favorites list: [TechBargains.com](http://techbargains.com/). It is a great website - they don’t really sell anything, but they link to all the best deals of the day (they actually update daily) at most of the major electronics stores, as well as other places. They have occasional deals that are amazing - so check in often and scroll down the page. They also have all of the “secret” discount codes, so you can sometimes get deals you wouldn’t even get if you went into the store! Good luck! I bought a Fujitsu 17" laptop (a bit heavy for lots of travel) and got rid of my PC over a year ago and haven’t looked back. I think a good (cheap) laptop might be exactly what you need, but be sure to always back up regularly on discs or an external drive - just in case the laptop crashes, or you drop if from the balcony, or it gets stolen or something…back up, back up and back up again. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/14 "2006-01-31T00:10:33Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I forgot to mention - add this website to your favorites list: [TechBargains.com](http://techbargains.com/). Thanks for the tip. I looked through their entries today and found the Acer AS3003WLCi for $540 from NewEgg (with rebate). It’s light on memory, so I also ordered another 1GB of memory for $100. Not a great machine, but should be plenty adequate for my needs and a pretty good bargain to boot. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![jdc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@jdc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdc)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/15 "2006-01-31T02:55:43Z")
If you spec a system at Dell, they seem to always give you a lease price also. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-computer-rental/341576/16 "2006-01-31T07:27:38Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > Thanks for the tip. I looked through their entries today and found the Acer AS3003WLCi for $540 from NewEgg (with rebate). It’s light on memory, so I also ordered another 1GB of memory for $100. Not a great machine, but should be plenty adequate for my needs and a pretty good bargain to boot. > > Thanks again. Yeah, I saw that deal today. Congrats…looks like a nice laptop, especially for the price! Has some pretty good features that come standard, so I think you did good, dude!