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Ask Slashdot: Is Leasing a Smartphone Better Than Buying One? (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what-to-do dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The biggest benefit with a lease program is you have the option of upgrading to a newer phone model, usually after just a year. You don't get that option when you buy. But with a lease program, although it may be cheaper, you have to return the phone at the end of the agreement or when you upgrade -- meaning you can't pass it off to your child or sell it. So rather than leasing, buying may be a better option. But a New York Times column makes case for why leasing is the right way to go about it. I wanted to check with Slashdot readers, what do you prefer and why?

4 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I almost always lease... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I look at it this way: Apple gives you a 2 year, 0% loan on a phone.

    How sweetly naive. They're not giving you a 0% loan, silly, the interest is incorporated into the exorbitant price in order to make you think that you're getting a free loan.

  2. Re:I almost always lease... by bobbied · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seriously?

    If it's cheaper to buy over the life of the item you use than to rent, BUY. Appreciating Asset or not.

    I would think better advice is thus:

    1. Don't ever borrow to secure items that cannot secure the loan used to buy them. (I.E. Only buy real property on time.)

    2. Never owe more on an item than it's worth.

    Followed up by:

    NEVER charge to unsecured debt if you cannot pay it off at the end of the month (i.e. pay cash).. And, if you don't want to live in fear all your life, always put aside money for saving every month so you can deal with the unexpected when it comes, because it will.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  3. Re:Never a borrower nor a lender be. by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nope. That scheme requires that you take out Applecare+ insurance. That's where you are paying extra.

  4. Re:I almost always lease... by Wycliffe · · Score: 3, Informative

    Does everyone else abuse their phones so badly that it requires annual replacement?

    Even if they do, that's still a point in favor of buying. Most lease programs and tradeup programs I've seen require the phone to be defect free. If you have a phone with a small crack, you can still use it, hand it down, or sell it. If you are in a lease program, you're likely going to be forced to pay to have it repaired.