[BigScreenAl]

With all the problems people seem to have with their sets why don't more people rent?

1. If anything goes wrong with the set the rental company will exchange it a.s.a.p. Should be true of purchased sets but not always that simple.
2. The other big plus to renting is that when you want a new model, you don't have to sell your old one for a huge loss.
3. It doesn't cost that much if you change the set every 18 months - 2 years. I can rent my TV for 18 months and only cost me £990, it would cost a lot more to buy. After 18 months I get a new model. It isn't dead money either as if I had purchased and regularly changed sets it would cost me a lot more.

If you are the type of person who keeps their set for 5 years then I would agree that purchasing it is fine, but for a couple of years, renting is a great option and especially relevant to the type of people using these forums, who are enthusiastic about their kit, and having the latest model is all part of that.

Any thoughts?

[afleming]

I wasnt aware that you could rent good quality sets. I have always been in to see the rental shops and have only seen normal tvs. Obviously judging by the fact you have 36 sony that is not the case.

[BigScreenAl]

In Derby there is a retailer I always use for my electronics (fridge freezers, dyson, VCR etc. etc) they are a member of the EURONICS group and they will, as far as I am aware, rent any TV that they sell.
They even re-rent ex-rental sets. I am trading in my currently rented Panasonic TX36PB50 for the Sony.

[Bogside]

I'll second afleming's point - I thought that these companies only rented out dated models/ old stock that other retailers were struggling to sell and which therefore could be bought cheaply and rented out at a profit.

How can they make money on the FS76. If as you say they rent out for £990 for 18 months this will give them a break even point for rentals of 27 months or so. This doesn't seem to be worth their effort.

If you can rent plasmas on a similar kind of deal it could be something worth looking at.

[steev]

We used to rent a TV and VCR from Granada (now Box Clever) as my partner worked there and got a discount. Later, after she left I wanted a widescreen. We were still getting our discount, but would lose it if we changed sets. We checked their range and a 32" was going to be about £40. We then went to a local shop and they had an older Hitachi for just £25 so we went for that.

The local shop closed down a while later and their rental business was taken over by.... Box Clever! Luckily we still get to pay the same rate. The Hitachi went wrong and was eventually replaced by a very nice new Philips, still at £25.

We've been a bit lucky, but generally I'd say check out the smaller dealers and you may get a better deal.

I use to rent the Hitachi 36" from Granada approx 2-1/2yrs ago for £60 month, then went to Martin Dawes for the Sony 36" (FS70), paid a fair bit more for this as it was a £2500+ set when it first came out, but got them to throw in a 14" portable and a video.

Wanted a bigger screen and couldn't find anyone that would rent out RP sets, so canceled my account and purchased the Toshiba 56" I have now.

If you tend to change your set every 12/18 months then renting is the better way to go IMO.