Renting TV

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I'm new here, but I already had a quick look around. No-one really mentions about renting tv's instead of buying them. Is it worth doing? I'm in the UK and it seems to be hard to find a lot of information on companies that does this. Years ago, my parents used to rent tv and upgrade every year, but ended up buying one in the end.

I would love to get a full HD, 32 inch LCD, especially for my xbox 360 and my huge collection of HD-DVD's (and in future blue-ray). My old 19" does allow HD, but its just too small.

Anyone got ideas?

 

[John Duncan]

Primarily because TVs are so cheap nowadays that renting is an expensive alternative - a year of renting a 32" telly will cost you about 360 quid, for which you could buy a (fairly reasonable) 32" telly and have a new one next year (and the year after, and the year after that.....)

Googling "tv rental" pays dividends though.

 

[tvmog]

I rented my previous Panasonic 32 inch widescreen CRT in 1996. Then it was a good idea because they were very expensive (£2000) and the technology was new. The main attractions of renting were that it made the TV affordable and there was the promise of a same day replacement if it went wrong. I don't think either of these things are as relevant now. In the end it lasted 12 years without a fault and I probably paid for it a couple of times over. By the time I decided it had outlived its usefulness and needed replacing the company I rented it from had changed owners and tried to make me wait (and pay for) an addtional 6 weeks before they had a slot available to collect it.

 

[mjs]

Which reminds me of a lovely story..
Some years ago when TV rental was still an option,we were in the local tv shop buying a new colour TV,when an old lady approached the counter to ask about renting a `black and white` tv, only to be told that as everybody was migrating to colour they didn`t have any sets available. To which she quickly reposted," Well my neighbour Mr xxxx rents a black and white set from you, and he died yesterday, so can I have his???"

 

[chebby]

I have not rented a TV since some time back in the 1980s.

Modern televisions are so reliable and cheap it makes a nonsense of the whole proposition.

When Nicam VHS recorders first came out they were about £800 for a good one with TV tuner built in and decent stereo output. (£800 was a big deal in the 1980s) and a decent TV was also very expensive. Add on a 5 year cover at 1980s prices and rental was good economics in comparison, especially if you upgraded regularly. And yes the repair guy would come out the next day for free.

Nowadays you can get a Premium brand DVD/HDD recorder with built-in Freeview tuner and HDMI for £250 and a 32" inch LCD TV for not a lot more and free 3 year cover from stores like John Lewis (who actually honour their agreements) and be 99.99 perecent sure the gear will last as long as you will ever need it to without going 'out of whack' or blowing a valve

We have had Panasonic VHS and DVD player/recorders for the last 20 years and Toshiba then Samsung TVs for the same period. We have not needed a repair all that time. (Touches wood.)

 

[John Duncan]

Furthermore, you may end up with the TV that I sent back to the rental shop following the infamous "cat with giardia" incident.

 

[pioneer7]

Here you go

http://www.forbesdirect.tv/indexb.asp

 

[Anonymous]

pioneer7:
Here you go

http://www.forbesdirect.tv/indexb.asp



Looks ok, that the kinda thing I'm looking at. I see why people don't rent them, it costs not much different to buying it on a monthly deal.