Contacts and leasing

Lease versus purchase?

You can get ICT equipment for your service by either leasing or purchasing.

Purchasing

Purchasing equipment will mean a one off initial cost to your centre. There can be a desire to keep this at the centre for longer that it’s useful life.

Leasing

When equipment is leased this ensures the technology is updated regularly with modern up-to-date equipment. This helps reduce the amount of obsolete equipment being retained and the cost of software licensing required. Leasing also spreads the cost out for your service instead of bulk up-front payments.

A number of companies provide leasing facilities, it is recommended ECE services research the options and source a number of quotes. Not all ECE organisations may meet the leasing company’s criteria to be able to hold a line of credit, this can be confirmed upon application to the various companies.

Most leases are either lease to return or lease to own. Where IT equipment is leased to return it is recommended that the equipment selected is supplied with a warranty that lasts for at least the term of the lease. Leasing companies also require the equipment to be insured, many do offer this as part of the leasing arrangement but this should be confirmed when taking on the contract.

Equico Ltd is the sole appointed finance provider for the Ministry of Education TELA and LEADSPACE laptop programmes. Equico already successfully runs a number of leasing programmes for regional kindergarten associations.

Key points to review when looking at quotes are:

• How long is the term for? Is this a realistic period given the life expectancy of the equipment?
• What condition is the equipment due back in? Is original packaging required? Who arranges the return?
• Who arranges insurance? How long is the warranty cover?
• At the end of the lease period is notification required to terminate the lease, or does it continue indefinitely?
• Can equipment be upgraded during the lease period?

Laptops for Teachers Scheme (TELA)

The Ministry of Education has the Laptops for Teachers Scheme (TELA) laptop models are available to ECE services at negotiated education rates, although ECE services are unable to access the extra Ministry subsidy which is available to eligible schools.

Laptop Models

The TELA scheme has opted for laptops designed for use in large organisations rather than those in the consumer range to ensure better build quality, reliability and longevity. These do have a higher cost than basic retail models but are substantially discounted through the Ministry’s contracts. All models are tested and evaluated against set build criteria to assess their suitability for the scheme.

The scheme requests suppliers propose only models that are expected to be available for at least 12 months. During this time these models may undergo changes such as processor and hard drive but remain consistent in terms of software compatibility and overall capability.

Contacts

To enquire about purchasing TELA laptops, models and specifications available please contact the respective companies below:

Apple
Renaissance Education Division
Ph: (09) 968 4520
Fax: (09) 968 3650
eMail: red@red.co.nz

HP
New Era IT Ltd
The Laptop Company
Edtech Ltd
Ph: 0800 HPTELA (478352)

Toshiba
Auckland – New Era IT Ltd – 09 523 8436
Wellington – The Laptop Company - 04 499 2353
Christchurch – The Laptop Company SI - 03 3667647

For any general queries around the Laptops for Teachers Scheme please contact the Ministry of Education TELA Project team at info.tela@minedu.govt.nz.