Views on 'Rentsmart'

[Campus Dweller]

Thinking about getting a laptop (never had one) and wondering whether to use the Rentsmart option rather than buying it outright.:shrug:

Can anyone with any previous experience of Rentsmart give me their views.
:help:

Cheers
Drew

[dmizen]

i havent used them directly but have used another similar service with no dramas but it was more expensive in the long run than outright purchase (my estimate add 1/4 to oughtright purchase price) also look at break cost (early termination fees) at the time i was just out of uni on minimal wage and need ed some gear - at the time the arrangement worked for me but as above you pay a lot more in the long run.

do you realy need a brand new unit? i bought a perfectly useable (for me - but sound card is dead) p4 based dell lappie with windows xps2 at the beining of the year for my celestron web cam for a couple of hundred dollars from my local it auctioners - runs registacks and all my other junk no dramas

david

[Campus Dweller]

Thanks David.
I really do have to work out exactly what I need - it's never an easy choice these days!:shrug:

[ving]

add up the dollars... i did this once when considering rent smart and the end result was going to be me paying roughly 200% of the original price by the end of it...

pass!

[mlcolbert]

Ok here goes,

we rented our first mac laptop (17" Powerbook G4) when we needed a computer to get the company functioning as well as for Net connection etc.(wife being in contact with family in Russia)
We have since purchased (outright)a second one for the business as well as a G5 Desktop. The first laptop is now with the daughter doing HSC. We are still paying it off through rentals.

The BUT is this, I knew that it was going to be expensive that way but we had to have a mac and that for me was reliable compared with the windows dominated crap out there (sorry guys, I've had both and used mainframes and prefer the mac). I was willing to pay for it BUT it was the company I run which is paying for it AND using it as a tax deduction. That for me is the key component. If you can use it like that, I would say go for it! If not, then like others suggest, be wary owing to the costs as they mount up.

hope this helps,


michael

[Campus Dweller]

It certainly does!
Thanks for your advice all.

PS I lament the dominance of windows over mac's, too, Michael.

[White Rabbit]

18/24 Interest free if need, be but don't rent. At least it's yours and if it makes you nervous spend the money you save on an extended warranty.

[joe_smith]

Have you looked at dell? they are very good (i got 5 of them) and they have a pay off option as well, and they are pretty cheap for the gear they have :thumbsup: