Month: January 2014

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Why Should Schools Lease?

Why should schools lease?
Schools will lease for a number of reasons. The main two are to update equipment regularly and to assist with cash flow. For example, yearly budgets may not be sufficient to purchase equipment outright.

What options can you offer my School?
We currently deal with 2 enquiries and as Apple iPad specialist, they mainly revolve around two scenarios.

The first is where the school pays for the lease and they are looking to equip a mobile classroom.  A typical example would be us supplying 30 or so Apple iPads, complete with a syncing trolley, a Mac Mini to configure the iPads plus a GEEX specialist to train your ICT technician. This is then put on a operating lease with a 3 year warranty and insurance for around £375 + vat per month for the package.

The second is where schools can provide iPads for all utilising a parental contribution.  We offer an iPad for Student scheme, which is cost neutral to the school, light on administration but allows you to put a brand new iPad Air in a student’s hand for only £13 a month.

Is it more than buying?
NO. An operating lease offers better value and a cheaper repayment by up to 20% than purchasing directly from a supplier.

What sort of lease should I have?
There are now some very clear guidelines on this. You may be offered two types of leases, GEEX only offer a legally compliant Operating Lease. As part of this the school rents the equipment and has no ownership rights at the end. DfE guidelines state:

“An Operating Lease is the only type of lease a School should enter into. These leases involve the School paying a rental fee for the hire of an asset for a period of time, and similar to a rental agreement. No other types of lease, such as a Finance lease or Hire purchase, may be entered into by the School as this is a form of borrowing” (Buy Goods Service section of Departments website).

However some lease companies and other computer suppliers may offer you a finance lease. These are illegal for a school to commit to, the current DfE guideline states:

“All LA-maintained schools are expressly forbidden from entering into any form of Finance Lease without approval of the Secretary of State for Education. This constitutes borrowing and is prohibited under section 3.9 of the LA Scheme for Financing Schools (June 2009).” (Leicester Country Council)

“Finance leases are borrowing, which is therefore illegal unless the Secretary of State has given written permission.” (Hertfordshire County Council)

What if I drop it?
We include insurance in our leases covering against accidental damage, loss or theft. In these instances we may require an explanation and picture but a machine is normally repaired or replaced within 48 hours. Please check your quote to ensure insurance is included.

What happens at the end of the agreement?
Your school has the option to either return the equipment at the end of the lease term or if you are still using the equipment you can opt to extend the rental period by up to 12 months at a reduced rental cost. Remember under DfE guides you are in an Operating leases which acts as a pure rental not a loan.

On the 1:1 Parental Contribution Scheme the school can take ownership of the iPad. The School will make a payment on their behalf, at fair market value, and transfer ownership to them.

Key Benefits

  1. Offer better value for money than Local Government funding rates or other borrowings, as less than 90% of the equipment cost is financed
  2. Match lease term to use of the equipment, i.e. no long-term loans to pay for equipment used over the short term
  3. Allow the user to create leasing profiles matched to budgets i.e. annual, quarterly, monthly or by term
  4. Comply, where applicable, with Local Education Authority guidelines on lease tests
  5. Encourage the discipline of keeping a modern ICT infrastructure to ensure your school keeps pace with continuing technological advancements
  6. Aid Schools in acquiring the ICT they need as opposed to ICT they can afford
  7. Maintains your devolved formula capital as the monthly payments can be treated

For more information about leasing for your school, give our schools specialist, James, a call at GEEX on 0121 285 0098 or email, james@GEEX.co.uk

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The 4K Revolution

Last month we touched on the subject of 4K displays and with Apple launching the new Mac Pro we are seeing 3rd party manufactures releasing their own 4K displays.

Interestingly, and despite all the rumours, it looks as if Apple won’t be producing their own 4K display. On their website and Mac Pro imagery they are using a Sharp IGZO 4k display and we will discuss this more shortly.

With the capability of running 3, simultaneous 4K displays, Apple claim that the new Mac Pro will allow you to work pixel-for-pixel in 4K without slowing down. This is down to its combination of AMD FirePro workstation-class graphics and the latest Xeon E5 processors.

However, not all 4K monitors are compatible with the Mac Pro. Eizo’s offering only supports Windows and DisplayPort. Dell however, will have two offerings lined up for the Mac Pro.  An Ultrasharp 24” (UP2414Q) and an Ultrasharp  32” (UP3214Q) model. They will be running the Ultra HD resolution 3840 x 2160 (as opposed to the Cinema 4K standard of 4096 x 2160) with the ability to connect via Mini DisplayPort or HDMI. The screens also have USB thrown in as well as a card reader on the 32” option. The 24” will cost £14.50 + VAT per week, with the 32” adding £22.90+VAT per week to a business lease.

The Sharp IGZO PN-K321H offering is again a 32” Ultra HD option is more expensive but it does include an impressive 6 hour response, three years business warranty, pricing is £31.80+VAT per week on our lease option.

The Apple Mac Pro will be available from launch starting at £21.60 plus VAT per week on a three years GEEX Flexi lease.  That lease price includes an Apple keyboard and mouse and our free 500GB Cloud Backup. Deliveries start later this month so please call 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost if you have any queries.

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500 GB Free iCloud Backup

 

Order a Mac or PC over the value of £9 + Vat per week and we will give you 500GB of Cloud Back up for free.

Livedrive enables you to back up all of your PCs and Macs to the cloud, easily share files, access data on all machines and whats more it is even easy to setup and manage. It even comes with a free App for iPhone and Android as well allowing you to view files and data when on the move.

All you need to do is simply install the Livedrive software on every computer in your business and it will automatically backup everything on that computer. The administrator can see all the backup files on all computers and you can easily restore files at anytime using the restore software.

For a small addition cost we can also provide Cloud Collaboration, Web Sharing and Cloud Sync. These options allow you to have greater flexibility when it comes to sharing and working on files internally or of you want to work remotely.

If you would like to take advantage of this great offer please call 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

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Don’t Let Money Hold Your Business Back In 2014

Need new computers but don’t have the money? Consider leasing.

Many of us return to work in the New Year, determined to make this our year. Bringing in new IT to increase efficiencies, or as a source of competitive advantage, makes perfect sense. However, finding the money to do this is something completely different. We don’t want your plans to be derailed at the first hurdle so let our equation help your business grow in 2014.

Leasing your new PCs, laptops and Apple Mac computers will instantly remove the financial burden. Regardless of whether you need new laptops, or a fully fledged network installation, our lease allows you to reap the benefits of the new equipment from day 1, without having to pay the full upfront cost. Need new iPads for your sales team? No problem they start from as little as £4 + Vat per week with an all risks insurance policy. Laptops start from as a little as £3 + Vat and desktop computers from £5 + Vat per week.

Extra piece of mind comes with the fact that all of our leases come with a full 3 years parts and labour hardware warranty, plus telephone and remote support. What’s more we will also offer you a renewal option after 2 years on our Apple leases and 18 months on our PC ones. We will give you brand new equipment, at a similar weekly price, in return for you entering a new 3 year agreement. What’s more the first lease will be settled and you get to keep the original equipment. So for a similar weekly cost your business will now have double the amount of equipment at its disposal.

So don’t let a simple thing like money prevent you from achieving your ambitions for 2014. Contact us today on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost and let us help make your plans a reality.

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Part Exchange For A Mac Pro

It’s been a little over a year since we introduced our Apple Mac part exchange programme. The scheme works exactly like part exchanging your old car at your local showroom. We will give you a price for the old machine and this directly reduces your repayments on the new one.

This month sees the Apple’s New Mac Pro arrive. This new model is proving extremely popular and we have a number of clients who have already placed orders with us.  The off the shelf packages that we offer are:

  • Quad Core 3.7GHz, Free upgrade to 16GB RAM, Dual AMD D300 2GB Graphics, 256GB Flash Storage, Apple Wired Keyboard, Magic Mouse, OS X Mavericks – £21.80 + VAT per week on a 3 year flexible lease.
  • Six Core 3.5GHz, 16GB RAM, Dual AMD D500 3GB Graphics, 256GB Flash Storage ,Apple Wired keyboard, Magic Mouse  OS X Mavericks – £28.60 + VAT per week on  3 year flexible lease.

Whilst our equation makes this new model more affordable than ever, we wanted to extend our part exchange programme to include previous generations of the Mac Pro.

For example, a Quad Core, 3.0GHz, original Mac Pro from August 2006, can be traded in and take off £1.95 of the weekly lease cost of the brand new Apple Mac Pro. If you have a newer model, for example, Six Core 3.33Ghz from July 2010 then you can send it back to us, take a new lease on the new 2013 Apple Mac Pro and reduce the weekly lease cost by £4.50 per week. In total that is £702 plus VAT (£842.40 inc VAT).

We appreciate that your old Mac may be a few years old and that it may have general wear and tear. However, as long as it is in working condition, we can accept it no problem at all

So, if you have an old Apple Mac, sitting in the corner, collecting dust, please contact us on 0121 285 0098 or email birmingham@GEEX.co.uk and let us make that new Mac more affordable than ever.

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Lease Now, Pay April 2014!

Christmas maybe over but here at GEEX we want to extend the festive spirit and therefore, we are offering customers the opportunity to defer their first lease payment, on any new deal, until 1st April 2014!

So how does it work?  You simply choose the computers that you wish to lease and we will deliver them as soon as possible. However, instead of making an immediate payment you don’t start paying until April 2014. The only requirement is that you make quarterly repayments throughout the lease rather than our traditional monthly repayment. This means just 4 payments per year, in return for having a 3 month window before you have to start paying.

Even if you defer your payments you can still take full advantage of our flexi-lease benefits. After two years, or 8 quarterly payments, you will be given the option to renew the lease. We will offer you brand new equipment (does not have to be like-for-like) and give you the option to RETURN or RETAIN your existing equipment. All lease agreements are subject to a simple credit check. To undertake the Lease now, pay April offer your business must have been trading for a minimum of 2 years and all offers are subject to status.

Give us a call here at GEEX on 0121 285 0098 for information on lease now, pay April.

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2014 iPad Rumours

We are huge fans of the new iPad Air but if we are to believe the latest rumours it seems as if Apple are already working on two successors. Nicknamed the iPad Pro and the iPad Maxi both will come with super high resolution displays.

The latest rumour suggest that Apple is working on a 12.9” iPad and that these will have either 2K or 4K resolutions. The introduction of a 4K resolution would put Apple way out in front of its competitors and would help to reinstate the wow factor that we first associated with iPad launches.

It is thought that the iPad Maxi would be 2K, or 1440 x 2560 resolution and will deliver 228 dpi. The iPad Pro would have an amazing 3840 x 2160 resolution, meaning 342dpi. It is thought that the Maxi could be with us by early April, will the 4K iPad Pro is expected around October 2014.

We are really excited about this rumour and would love to use a 4K iPad. If however, you cannot wait until October why not talk to us about the current iPad Air. Prices start from as little as £3.99 + VAT per week and include a full 3 years parts and labour hardware warranty plus telephone and remote support. Call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost.

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New Years Resolution To Be Green? So Is Apples…

Earlier this month Apple released the environmental report for the new Mac Pro and it shows some impressive efficiency gains. At idle the new machine uses 68% less power than the previous model, using just 43w at 100v compared to 133.7w.

The real savings also appear when looking at the materials that are used. The new version uses 74% less aluminium and consumes 82% less volume and weighs 84% less than its predecessor meaning that 3 times more units can be fitted onto an airline shipping container.

As with all of Apple’s current Macs the new Mac Pro earns a gold rating from EPEAT for its environmental performance. So if you do lease a new Mac Pro not only will you get amazing performance but you will be able to tell your colleagues just how sustainable you are to.

For any enquiries on the new Mac Pro please call 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost.