PC through work, worth considering?

[zAndy1]

Hi all,
My employer is offering a PC leasing scheme this year, it's with Evesham. I'm kind of interested in this offer:-

Athlon 64 X2 3800+
XP Media Center Edition 2005
256MB ATI Radeon X800GT (Tv-out & DVI)
19" Viewsonic VX912 TFT monitor
Nvidia Nforce4 motherboard
1GB dual channel PC3200 DDR RAM
200GB Serial ATA HD (8MB buffer)
DVD-ROM
Multi Format Dual Layer dvd writer
Nvidia 7.1 channel surround sound (on-board)
Creative Inspire T6060 5.1 speakers
3yr onsite warranty

Cost is £26 pm for 36 months taken out of my salary, option to buy at end of leasing period for < £50 (or take another PC assuming the scheme is still going)

They are also doing the e-box with a 27" LCD (shame it's not upgradeable to the 32"!) for £27 pm over 36 months. Also several laptops available as well...

I'm kind of tempted although I didn't think I would be when I heard they were going to do this. It doesn't seem a bad deal on the face of it and the fact I can't get credit anywhere now (not that I'd want to) means that an opportunity like this is quite appealing in it's own right!

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Andy.

[Uridium]

Not bad for the price but you'll need a different Video card if you want to play any decent games at a decent level

[zAndy1]

Not bothered about games to be honest, got my 360 for that!

Cheers
Andy

[Uridium]

Not a bad deal then, the 3x365 onsite warranty is worth at least £100.

360's are cool but nothing touches a high end PC for Immersive FPS gaming! but that's going off topic and in to a long argument!

[GrandmasterMak]

Hi

I might be able to help as i sell the HCI (Home Computing Initiative) scheme that your company is doing, but with a different provider...


First and foremost its a scheme thats been around since 1999 and its to get more people online and more importantly IT literate as we (UK) are well down compaed to other countries.

Its not everyday that the government gives us the opportunity to not pay TAX, NI or VAT on anything let alone a PC so make the most of it.

as a basic rate tax payer you wll save (over 3 years) 33% and as a high rate tax payer 41%.

Whatever happens you going to save alot of money and there are no direct debits, credit checks and high finance charges like the high street - but there is a finance charge between 6 to 10% which is absorbed into the price you pay.

If you need more info let me know as i can go on for hours!!!!

[zAndy1]

It's a shame we can't chose which provider we'd like to use (my mate bought his last PC from Evesham and it was a disaster so he ended up sending it back and getting one from Mesh, took a lot of hassle and time on the phone though and I sure as hell wouldn't want to go through that if I was tied into a lease for it!). It's also a shame we can't customise them like we'd be able to if we were buying it online. Still it's not a bad deal I suppose, although the literature is very misleading, the retail price quoted is about £400 more than it comes to if you configure it online so the £600 saving is a bit exagerrated!

Oh and Uridium, do you have a 360? Immersive to me is downstairs in the lounge on a 42" plasma with DD surround sound and a wireless pad. My current PC has a 6800GT in it so I'm used to high end gaming but I've completely lost interest in the PC as a gaming platform since getting my 360.

Cheers,
Andy

[zAndy1]

Been thinking about this and the current contract I work on only has about 2 yrs to run after which anything could happen with regards my employment status (either stay with my current company on another contract or more likely leave them). Am I right in saying that if I was to leave this company after 2 years that I'd have to pay 12 months gross payments (i.e. before the tax & NI saving has been deducted) in order to keep the PC? Bit of a shame there's this question mark over what's going to happen in 2 years time, just put that doubt in my mind as to whether it would be a good idea going for this.

Andy

[Hyp3rion]

Hi zAndy1
I got a mail shot yesterday from Evesham to in conjunction with my employer (CapGemini). Quite interested in the E_Box solution myself as i already have a pretty highspec PC.
It says in the blurb at the back that if you leave the company you have to pay any outstanding amount as a lump sum, so if thats 1 year left on your lease could be upwards of £300, even if you are made redundant you are expected to follow this rule .

[zAndy1]

Hi,
I'm with Capgemini too and got the same mailshot. I just wasn't sure how the outstanding amount is calculated. Take the example option 2, basic rate tax payer (well it is Capgemini after all). Cost through PC leasing £953.64, £39.54 monthly flex charge, £26.49 monthly take home reduction (due to tax/NI savings), equivalent package cost through retail outlet £1614.63. Let's say you make 24 payments = £635.76. At that point if you leave the company or are made redundant what would you have to pay? Would it be a)12 x £26.49 = £317.88 or b) 12 x £39.54 = £474.48 or c) £1614.63 - £635.76 = £978.87

My guess is it would be option b, the best answer would be option a of course

As for the e-box, heard a lot of horror stories about that, especially regarding the noise it makes, maybe they've improved it in that respect, if it had come with the 32" LCD I'd probably have gone for that option myself to be honest though.

Cheers,
Andy.

[Hyp3rion]

Yeah its a good question, as you would no longer be an employee you wouldn't have the flex uplift to fall back on. Its something i'm going to have a look at tommorrow on flex choices, there may be further info there.
As for the ebox as long as its not too noisy its ok as it is for a second room...it cant be any noisier than my xbox 360.

[guv69]

The company I work for also have this scheme - but with Dell Computers. Unfortunately it is via a third party, who have inflated the prices to the point that the tax savings are eaten away.

Their prices advertised seem to be about 40% higher than you can buy direct from Dell. Total con and a pity they have chosen to promote a scheme that is deceptive.

[zAndy1]

Well it seems to be the same with the Capgemini scheme. If you price up that system online it doesn't come to anywhere near £1614, more like £1100 I think it was. So the saving isn't £600 but more like £200. Still a useful saving and the main attraction for me is that it's a relatively small monthly amount that I'll only spend on crap if I don't spend it on this! I think I will have a word with them though about the misleading advertising...

The good thing about the 3800+ Athlon that comes with the system I'm interested in is that it's a bloody good overclocker, not that I'm going to overclock it of course.....

[BryanKitts]

A quick warning...

My employer has a similar 'flex' scheme (with Dell). In our case, the prices seem close to the website ones (although there's usually some 'limited offer' on the website that obviously isn't included).

However, reading the small print of the contract:

1. My employer does not guarantee to offer the PC for purchase at the end of the period. It says it will normally do so, which is not quite the same thing.
2. The final purchase is for a "small" additional fee, but there's no stated limit on how big this could be. I got the impression it might be £50, but maybe they'll decide to charge an extra £300 at the end (it was the first year of the scheme, so there's no historical precedent).
3. If you leave the company or if the company makes you redundant, you have to pay all the rest of the payments immediately, in full (i.e. no tax breaks), and the company may still decide not to offer you the option of buying this PC that you've just paid for. I quote: "In addition, you must if so requested return the PC Package to us (or to a third party designated by us) by courier, at your own risk and expense."

It put me right off the idea, tax break or no. I have no idea if these are common clauses in HCI contracts or specific to my employer's, but make sure you read yours first...

[BryanKitts]

Oh, I forgot some other gems from the contract:

4. No right to return to original salary
Please note that by choosing this benefit, you will not necessarily have the automatic right to return to your original salary at the end of the Hire Period.

...

6. Dealing with the PC Package at the end of the Hire Period
At the end of the Hire Period, we may request that you return the PC Package to us (or to a third party designated by us). If so requested, you must return the PC Package by courier, at your own risk and expense, and in substantially the same working order and condition as when we provided it to you (save for fair wear and tear). In addition, we may require you to pay a charge to cover our reasonable costs in disposing of the PC Package.

So after you've paid for the PC, not only can they demand that the PC is returned to them at your expense, but they can charge you for scrapping it!

[clockworks]

My employer (Siemens) was offering Fujitsu-Siemens PCs under this scheme at the end of last year. I decided to buy an ultra portable laptop.

They were offering the normal staff discount (which actually brings the price down to the best mail order price), then the tax/NI savings off the discounted price. There was no interest or charges for credit. I just pay the discount price/36, less the tax/NI saving.

The final payment was quoted in the agreement - about £60, IIRC. There is an option to send the PC if you didn't want to pay the final payment. I think this final payment or return option has to be in the contract, because it is a lease agreement, not an outright credit purchase plan.

The only negative is the fact that I have to pay the balance if I leave the company, losing the tax savings on the outstanding payments.

It seems to me that there are two types of scheme:

those operated by large companies, which are totally above board.
those operated by outside agents for smaller companies, where the figures are massaged to make a profit for the outside agency.