Need help - Is it possible to short term lease a PC for my visiting girlfriend?

x-st · 29 Aug 2021 at 11:24

My girlfriend, who lives in the Czech Republic, is just about starting to gain a little following on her twitch account and is very anxious about leaving her setup behind. She was planning on coming to stay with me for 3 months but getting her PC here is somewhat of a nightmare. She has a relatively modest PC, 8400 and 1060, but the case is tempered glass and we have no idea how to get it here safely (and back again) when no-one seems like they will insure it. I was looking at specialist PC couriers but she doesn't feel confident in the transport process at all. I then was trying to find a refurbished complete PC cheap for her to use when she was here with the same or slightly better specs but it seems crazy to me that everything seems to cost what she paid for her PC almost 3 years ago.

Which leads me to leasing? I can't seem to find any good options for an individual to lease an ok gaming PC which she can play and video edit on, for just over 2 months. I'm just outside of London so was hoping there were some potential options but nothing seems affordable or workable. Are there any solutions for getting her access to a PC so she won't lose all she has worked for and allow her to travel without any question marks?

Dave85 · 29 Aug 2021 at 11:43

Would it not be possible to look for a prebuilt that can be paid monthly on low to 0apr and then after 3 months sell it. Would most likely make a decent amount back making the cost low?

MagicBoy · 29 Aug 2021 at 11:50

Supply and demand. There's not enough supply for certain CPUs and GPUs so prices naturally drift upwards, and older kit has strong values.

You'd tend to get leasing deals aimed at businesses on business PCs, not something a home user would usually buy.

PC World? They used to do buy now pay later type deals.

Efour · 29 Aug 2021 at 11:56

just carry it as hand luggage is it over 10kg?

leave the tempered glass at home.

Begbie · 29 Aug 2021 at 11:57

If you have the money available, then just buy regardless the price (2nd hand) and sell in 3 months it'd be cheaper than leasing and good chance you won't lose anything at all.

LabR@t · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:01

Take parts out rebuild in cheap case on arrival

Or just don't worry about twitch :rolleyes:

MagicBoy · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:03

Buy a gaming laptop?

dowie · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:11

Sounds like the case is the issue? For the cost of leasing one surely, you could just buy an inexpensive case that doesn't use glass?

Alternatively, just buy/build another PC (perhaps second-hand) and sell it in 2 months for a small loss.

Delvis · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:27

dowie said:
Sounds like the case is the issue? For the cost of leasing one surely, you could just buy an inexpensive case that doesn't use glass?

Alternatively, just buy/build another PC (perhaps second-hand) and sell it in 2 months for a small loss.

Depends if it has a water cooling setup really, particularly if it's custom.

What on earth kind of specs do you need for twitch?

Begbie · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:29

LabR@t said:
Take parts out rebuild in cheap case on arrival

Or just don't worry about twitch

Why not worry about an income?

MagicBoy · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:31

Delvis said:
What on earth kind of specs do you need for twitch?

How long is a piece of string? Depends what you're twitch streaming. Whatever the game requires plus video encoding/OBS overheads.

MagicBoy · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:33

Begbie said:
Why not worry about an income?

Depends if it's an actual job or you're just LARPing at it.

BowdonUK · 29 Aug 2021 at 12:59

What does she do on twitch? Game or a chat/creative channel?

Haven't you got a computer? If you have, isnt there any way you can stream?

The alternative is for her to do vlogs. Doesn't twitch allow youtube style pre-recorded videos these days? She could vlog or play a game on your computer (or download a game) and record the footage and upload it to her twitch, or alternatively have her start promoting her youtube channel now etc.

I think streamers need to remember that they get viewers because people like them, at least their core fan base. The decider when I choose to follow someone is if I like or know them. So as long as she can upload some kind of content somewhere then her core fans will be still there.

Also remember that sometimes less is more. Not being always available can be a good thing too. A lot of people end up over-saturating their coverage then people get bored and the streamer gets burned out.

I think as long as she can upload something, even pre-recorded stuff, then she'll be fine. I'm sure twitch can do that. I wonder if a twitch person can timer release videos like youtubers can? If so, then maybe she can pre-record videos and set them to release over the duration of the 3 months.

HoneyBadger · 29 Aug 2021 at 13:14

Probably safest to drive it over yourself.

MagicBoy · 29 Aug 2021 at 13:17

HoneyBadger said:
Probably safest to drive it over yourself.

Only 1000 miles and a day and half driving each way, plus ferry costs. Plus COVID complications. Reckon you could do that for a tenner.

The fly the key parts over as hand luggage and stick them in a new case option would be far cheaper...

x-st · 29 Aug 2021 at 13:25

Thanks for all the advice. I had considered how hard it would be to drive to Prague, but crossing through 4 countries, with all the Covid complications (and Brexit) at the borders seemed like a massive headache.

I would love to get her to fly over the innards of her PC but she loves the thing and I don't think that she's going to be too flexible about taking it apart and then reassembling it in another case. She's kind of stressed at the moment and getting her to trust me that everything will survive the flight in her luggage is a big ask right now.

So essentially it looks like buying a prebuilt and reselling is the best option...how much am i looking at losing in the resale realistically? And any suggestions where the best place to buy something of similar specs might be? I guess I can probably convince her (hopefully) to bring her HDD and SSD.

HoneyBadger · 29 Aug 2021 at 13:28

MagicBoy said:
Only 1000 miles and a day and half driving each way, plus ferry costs. Plus COVID complications. Reckon you could do that for a tenner.

The fly the key parts over as hand luggage and stick them in a new case option would be far cheaper...

I get it. Time to hire this guy.

Mrs Seabiscuit · 29 Aug 2021 at 13:39

x-st said:
I would love to get her to fly over the innards of her PC but she loves the thing and I don't think that she's going to be too flexible about taking it apart and then reassembling it in another case. She's kind of stressed at the moment and getting her to trust me that everything will survive the flight in her luggage is a big ask right now.

Sounds way more to the story than meets the eye.

AS others have said gaming laptops that could work in short term.

x-st · 29 Aug 2021 at 13:48

Mrs Seabiscuit said:
Sounds way more to the story than meets the eye.

Honestly there's not. She just gets touchy when I suggest doing stuff that might be risky in terms of her PC. It's the one thing she has that means anything to her, she's also finishing the tenancy on her apartment right now too, so she has no real storage for things and she feels like she has to pick me or potentially doing what she loves....Lose/Lose in her words. I am also not the most technical person (I have assembled precisely one desktop in my life) and if she turns up and i can't put it together with her or we break something I know that falling into a volcanic eruption would be preferable to dealing with the aftermath.

stripey111 · 29 Aug 2021 at 14:05

Worst "I've got a girlfriend" thread ever.