Would you rent an Ipad for 25 USD pr. day when travelling to another country?

[Kaykaykay]

I read that the Samsung Note probably won't be sold in the U.S. Bummer. I will have to get one overseas. Looks great....

Unfortunately, the US market is dominated by cell phone carriers rather than hardware manufacturers (as it is in most of the world.) Americans are accustomed to getting heavily subsidized hardware and then paying through the nose for data and voice service that ends up costing them far more in the long run.

Since the Note is a hybrid "phone/tablet," Samsung may not release it in the US unless they can find a carrier willing to subsidize its price. And since it will be used in large part for data rather than for voice, carriers may not be willing to do so.

Agreed. I don't spend all my time in the U.S., so I'm used to paying for unsubsidized hardware. I prefer it that way.

 

[ipadbraincell]

Say you for dome reason are deprived, you have 2 x addicted IR a spotty teenager.

$25 + some popcorn and some soda is a cheap days entertainment

 

[Asharp]

That price is not competitive as many people would probably have alternative methods of accessing information, e.g., wifi hotspots for those with smartphones, Internet cafes, TVs in hotels with an Internet connection, etc.

Even if a business owner were to try rationalizing that such a price would cover a part of the expense of purchasing a new one in the event that the rented device were not returned, such a rationale would not make any sense, especially as a rental agreement would probably include the caveat that a renter would be charged for the full price of the device if it were not returned for any reason.

There just doesn't seem to be a justification for such a price apart from greed.

 

[jsh1120]

That price is not competitive as many people would probably have alternative methods of accessing information, e.g., wifi hotspots for those with smartphones, Internet cafes, TVs in hotels with an Internet connection, etc.

Even if a business owner were to try rationalizing that such a price would cover a part of the expense of purchasing a new one in the event that the rented device were not returned, such a rationale would not make any sense, especially as a rental agreement would probably include the caveat that a renter would be charged for the full price of the device if it were not returned for any reason.

There just doesn't seem to be a justification for such a price apart from greed.

And there is no justification for charging $12-$15 or more per day for wifi access in hotels. But many hotels find it quite profitable to do so. The average internet forum devotee is not the average tourist staying in a luxury hotel.

 

[dedication]

No. For me, the iPad is a personal device with all my apps and other content loaded on it. Plus, it doesn't cost $25 a day for online access anywhere if I use my own iPad.

I personally would never pay that ridiculous price. I also bereave the iPad is a very personal device. It is something you own rather than something you rent.

I agree wholeheartedly, an iPad without all your pay for apps and customisations is just not the same. You might as well just use a hotel internet computer if you are going to hire a clean iPad for a day. Plus isn't it a liability, imagine you use a rented iPad and install a twitter app and save your logins on there. That would be a nightmare when someone hijacks your account for a while.

Having said that I did rent out a batch of iPads a while ago. I used http://www.rentaltablets.co.uk to hire out 4 iPads for a presentation I had.