The Pros and Cons of Laptop Rentals
Meet Short-Term Business Computer Needs by Renting Notebooks
Aug 26, 2009
"Renting computers is a simple, easy and cost effective solution for corporate training, presentations, short-term employees and related projects," says the rental division of Canadian technology retailer FrontierPC.
The company, based in Vancouver with offices in Toronto, Calgary, and Halifax, "offers corporate businesses, education institutions and government organizations more than 65 brands of computer hardware and peripherals products," all marketed online, according to a case study of the company by Microsoft adCenter.
Benefits of Computer Rental
For the short-term, up to a year, rental offers benefits over leasing, even more over purchase. John Beagle, in his 2004 article "Why Rent a Computer? Renting vs Leasing" at rentacomputer dot com offers these factors on the pro side:
- Flexible – A rental can be extended or canceled at any time. A lease is for a fixed term
- Penalty-Free – There is no penalty for canceling a rental. Getting out of a lease comes with a penalty, and is enough of a hassle to give rise to "lease buster" companies.
- Up-to-Date Equipment – Rental companies need to provide current technology. Leave the burden of obsolescence and disposal to them.
Occasions to use Rented Computer Equipment
Here is a list, assembled from a variety of sources, of times when renting is the way to go. where quotes are given, they are from Beagle's article.
- Corporate Training - Equipping a permanent training lab is a costly proposition. As FrontierPC notes, renting laptops for a specific course makes a lot of sense. The rental company can even provide setup and takedown services, backup machines, and more. When the class ends, so does the cost of the computers.
- Presentations - Between presentations, expensive equipment sits unused (and sometimes disappears). Renting large plasma flat screens, LCD projectors, and high-end graphics computers makes sense for occasional presentations.
- Convention Displays - If the company has a "show season", it might make more sense to rent for the duration, reducing storage needs or risk of damage in the off-season. And for a once-in-a-while display, rental is definitely attractive.
- Temporary Offices - For a one-time task, such as setting up a MLM sales campaign in a new territory, rented equipment works well.
- Travel – Executives on the go don't need to lug a laptop. "Executives can have technology preconfigured and tested, waiting at their final destination!"
- Special Projects/Seasonal Business - Any endeavor that hires temporary employees will benefit from rental. "If you hire temporary employees, hire temporary technology too."
Disadvantages of Renting a Notebook Computer
What's not to like? Need a laptop, rent one, use it, finish with it, take it back.
Rental works best as a short-term solution. For longer-term needs (two to five years), leasing or purchase may be more feasible.
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