If you are considering renting or leasing a laptop for the first time, there are a number of factors that you will need to take into consideration. Laptop leasing can be a great idea, but not always, so you may want to think long and hard before deciding to go down this route rather than buying a laptop outright. Any agreement to rent or lease equipment brings with it a number of disadvantages that you will need to take into account and renting a laptop is no different. The biggest disadvantage of course is that regardless of how much you pay on a weekly or monthly basis, you do not own the laptop. Also, you may tie yourself into an agreement that could cost you more over time than you would have originally paid for a new or nearly-new machine. For example, say you sign a fixed-term two-year lease and then after a couple of months you discover that you can pick up a new or good quality second-hand laptop for a price within your budget. Cancelling that lease would probably incur a large fee. So you are then faced with the problem that you either have to pay the fee, or if you’re lucky you might be able to transfer the lease to someone else who wants to take it on (i.e. sub-lease).
The only time when leasing a laptop really makes sense when you only require the machine for a short period. Then you can take out a short-term rental contract that would probably cost less overall than buying a laptop. But if you are likely to require the computer for a longer period, then it almost always makes more sense to buy.
Then there is the whole issue of warranties, which is another potential minefield! If you are only renting for a short period, it’s always tempting to take out the minimum warranty cover to keep the overall cost down. The problem with this approach is that if any kind of malfunction occurs, the leasing warranty may not cover you so you will have to pay additional service fees to fix the errors.
So in conclusion, think long and hard if you are considering renting a laptop. Look at the overall charges, including warranty costs and fees for cancelling the contract early should you so need to. It may be the case that buying a laptop actually makes a lot more sense!
Related posts:
