Ever Consider PC Workstation Rental?

[customcomputerexpert]

Just to get the ball rolling here's a idea I had a minute ago...

I was thinking of putting together a small mini-itx build with the following:

core i-7 860
8 gigs of ram
nvidia 220 low profile
120 gig ssd
dfi mini itx mobo

and wrap it up in a small itx case, throw it in a usps flat rate priority box for cheap shipping and send it to a grateful startup/student for acouple bones weekly rent.

Something along those lines to help out. I'm not talking a 10 grand multi cpu render monster. LOL

Anyways, whatcha think?

[olson]

There are workstation rental services out there, quite a few actually. Even Dell and HP have leasing options for workstations. There are also smaller local shops depending on where you are like these folks, American Computers & Engineers (http://www.aceca.com/html/rent_workstations.html).

For getting by in delivery mode its worth it in a studio environment because not delivering a project is much worse than spending a few grand to get by. Though I can't imagine students who'd be willing to pay that kind of money semester after semester when they don't have to. Rental for a single semester would be enough to build or buy a decent quad core machine which is more than sufficient for student work. Also most schools have workstations available to students for no additional charge (part of the tuition anyway).

In other words, I think its a bad idea to try and run a business that rents workstations to students. :curious:

[meleseDESIGN]

I would rather to buy a new machine then renting it.
After it isn't needed anymore I would just re-selling it.
If I need them just as rendernode I prefer to use a comercial renderfarm instead of buying or renting those rendernodes.

I don't see a need for studends to rent or buy a high end workstation neither.
But I'm sure there're a few ppl out there who prefer to rent high-end workstations if needed, instead of buying and re-selling them.

But of course, it also depends on the price, specs and service to rent a high-end workstaion.
Maybe you can try to rent middle class PC's for far less as a high-end workstion to studends?!
Make some Flyer with a phone number on it and spread them in schools and see the re-action!

;)

[olson]

Just to get the ball rolling here's a idea I had a minute ago...

I was thinking of putting together a small mini-itx build with the following:

core i-7 860
8 gigs of ram
nvidia 220 low profile
120 gig ssd
dfi mini itx mobo

and wrap it up in a small itx case, throw it in a usps flat rate priority box for cheap shipping and send it to a grateful startup/student for acouple bones weekly rent.

Something along those lines to help out. I'm not talking a 10 grand multi cpu render monster. LOL

Anyways, whatcha think?

Why would anyone want to rent that over buying for example, a Dell Studio XPS 8100 with similar specifications. From Dell its $1050 and has a better video card and 1TB disk drive (though its not SSD). They also offer financing on it for around 15-20% APR so a student could easily handle the monthly payments over a three year period.

I'm not saying there's no market for something like what you're talking about. Just saying I don't think it could be competitive with what's already out there since there's no specific reason why its better. If it came with software like the current versions of Adobe Creative Suite and Maya installed then it might be more appealing. Know what I mean?

[Szos]

Also keep in mind that students have this idea that they need some enormously fast machine for school. That's mostly BS - any school worth it's salt should* have a render farm available to it's students.
I would say that most students can get by with a $1000 machine.


*not saying that they all have a render-farm, but they should if they expect any type of work that needs a ton of CPU-power.

[meleseDESIGN]

I wonder what's the price to rent them and how's the conditions?
You must have a lot of those machines if you like to make a living out of this.
I was talking to a friend a second ago (she's a studend) and she would spend max. 100€ pro semester.

You have to explain why it would be better to rent your machine instead of buying them.
You know, there're a few good reasons, right? But I can't get them from what I have read in your post till yet.

;)


Just to get the ball rolling here's a idea I had a minute ago...

I was thinking of putting together a small mini-itx build with the following:

core i-7 860
8 gigs of ram
nvidia 220 low profile
120 gig ssd
dfi mini itx mobo

and wrap it up in a small itx case, throw it in a usps flat rate priority box for cheap shipping and send it to a grateful startup/student for acouple bones weekly rent.

Something along those lines to help out. I'm not talking a 10 grand multi cpu render monster. LOL

Anyways, whatcha think?

[olson]

Just throwing something out there for consideration. Send a me a few of these (http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/system/1U/1042/AS-1042G-TF.cfm) in one of these (http://www.skbcases.com/industrial/products/prod-detail.php?d=c3&id=530&s=p) and you might have something people would be champing at the bit for. To sweeten the deal they could come with a small switch and software already installed. A 192 core render farm that ships right to your door. :thumbsup:

[Redkatt]

If renting could be a way of making more high-end stuff affordable, i'd be all over it - IF it's coupled with good support. If it's just low- to mid-end stuff i'd rather just buy it.

The reason is that most hardware is already pretty affordable, and actually owning it gives you alot more freedom. Looking outside the normal consumer market however, the pricing gets a little nastier. Bridging that gap could be of great value.

I don't think that's very likely to happen though.

[CKPinson]

It'd only be worth it to students to rent the software, granted their school doesn't provide it, they don't want to use Learning Editions, and They don't buy the temp license for the semester. This coupled with top shelf hardware would be a good option and like Olson said, rental render farms with preinstalled satelites would be GREAT- You also have to consider what peripherals you are going to include: Tablet, mouse, 3d spaceball, keyboard, Pro Monitor (calibrated per system)... UGH, No one would want to invest in a lease only to find they've spent the majority of the time tweaking system settings and fiddling with software plugs etc. Most ppl that have their own system don't even realize how many small apps and plugs they have that streamline their personal pipeline until they have to do a fresh install or build (at least that's me)- heck I even remove things I think are obsolete to find out they could still come in handy for a particular small repetitious task.

Dunno, think it's a very bad idea now, it'd have to be Ultra-affordable (especially for students) and Ultra-Streamlined (especially for anyone who charishes their time and money) otherwise it'll never take off.

[jipe]

Agree with the rest of the posts here; I'm two years out of school and my refurb HP workstation lasted 4 years; I believe is was a bit over $1k (maybe $1200?). My school did not have a farm, but we were able to render on a number of machines in the labs. Perhaps the most important thing is that I worked primarily in the labs versus on my own PC. It was nice to have one for rainy or snowy days (or just for dedicated rendering), but I didn't use it every day.

I just put together my own build to replace the HP and spent just under $800. Spread over 4 years, that evens out to $16-17/month. Obviously renting would enable users to upgrade to faster hardware, but otherwise it doesn't seem cost effective if it's significantly more than $20/month.

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