Today I learned computer renting is a thing

[Smartea]

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This is technological anti consumer sodomy.

Holly molly peanut and guacamole.

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[Mendalla]

Not sure if it has been in the consumer world, but businesses have been leasing gear as long as I have been in IT. Basically instead of buying a pile of boxes as a capital expense and depreciating them over three years (at least that's how the accountants I work with amortize it), you lease your fleet for, say, three years and then turn it all over at the end of the lease. We never did it where I am because there are issues (e.g. imaging and rolling out a completely new fleet every three years in a company with 28 or so mostly small offices scattered over a wide area).

But would I rent a PC for private use? I kind of doubt it, really. Haven't watched the video but as a computer owner (vs. managing my employer's devices), I prefer something that I own and can do what I wish with. And the headline on that video suggests that even if I did rent one, it would not be from this outfit.

 

[Forsaken]

This service is mainly built for people who cannot afford a PC completely upfront (eg people who buy on credit or Affirm), and the price is not much more than it would be using those services for the base offering.

It is also a better price than the old RentACenter etc companies, who charged almost as much 20-30 years ago.

It's obviously cheaper to buy upfront or build yourself, but calling it a scam is just to get headlines which is a lot of what Gamer Nexus has become .

 

[TLDR]

We lease all our company stuff from Apple, and it's also viable for a customer. However, they are a little (by which I mean "a lot") more transparent about pricing. You order the same you would if you'd pay upfront, and the monthly rate is the price in your shopping cart divided by how long you want to lease (24 or 36 months). At the end, you can return the stuff, and it's done, or the bank makes you an offer to buy it eventually, which is roughly 2-3 monthly rates. (And since Apple stuff doesn't depreciate quite as much, it is a great deal because then you own it, and thus could sell it for much more even).

With that said, I used to watch gamers nexus because it was quite interesting here and there. But their "investigative journalism" seems a little biased to me.

Also, I can't stand their reviews anymore. The host is blasting all the numbers from the graphs at you, and in many cases you can even hear how he's getting out of breath while reading.