Looking for a laptop for school, but your budget can’t make it work? With so many forms of learning moving to online platforms, it’s hard to keep up with affordable technology. Laptop rentals are a service many people use to get their education taken care of without completely breaking the bank. A good laptop can be incredibly expensive to buy brand new. Here are some ways to get the best laptop rentals during your schooling.
Pro Tip: Many laptop rental companies only offer business-to-business services, meaning they won’t sell you anything if you’re not a company renting in bulk. Online vendors make it much more expensive for smaller orders because shipping in bulk is much more cost-effective. Try creating a joint order with other students who need to save on laptop expenses. Doing this usually drops the cost of the services significantly.
Local Vendors
Since the options for online vendors are slim, you may have more luck with local stores. However, these come with more policy quirks, so you may want to ask some questions before committing to one.
Checklist Before Commitment
When you rent laptops, you should find the best company you know you rely on. To limit the hassle of finding the right fit for you, here are some things to possibly call the company about or make sure you prepare for an order:
Renewal Plan- You probably want to rent multiple months in a row once you find the right place. Check if the company you choose has any deals for multiple-month packages or memberships. Ask about whether you’ll be able to keep the same laptop as you renew.
Return Policy- If the company has a quality return policy, you may have a better experience if something goes wrong. You don’t want to have an accident happen mid-project and then have to deal with unhelpful customer service.
Product Condition– It’s important to know the condition of each company’s hardware. When you’re borrowing from a rental company, multiple people have previously used the laptops they have in stock. Make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck by receiving a high-quality product.
Online Reviews– Be careful when you’re reading online reviews. Some companies will plant good reviews that aren’t real. On the other hand, you want to skim through unhelpful reviews that don’t address a practical problem. This way, you can hopefully get a good idea of whether people are satisfied with a rental company’s services.
Rent to Own
In 2022 the average rate for online laptop rentals seems to be about $100/week for a simple Dell computer. This kind of price would suck up a lot of money in a short amount of time. Instead of high-cost rentals, many companies offer a rent-to-own system instead.
Rent-to-Own is a way of purchasing an item by renting it over a long period of time.
Going the rent-to-own route with a monthly payment is much cheaper than the rates of renting laptops. Not only can you pay at your own pace, but you get to keep the computer at the end of it all. Look for a rent-to-own company that applies the above checklist to find the best results for you as you navigate getting your schoolwork done for an affordable price.
Pro-Tip: Be sure to purchase a flash drive. This is a really helpful tool. Especially when using a laptop you don’t yet own. Flash drives can be pretty cheap if you just store papers or presentations. You can get a flash drive for anywhere between $5-15 that will do the job just fine.
While using that laptop for studying also consider our article Study Space: Organized and Productive for tips on making a study space that aids productivity.
