Did you even know it's possible to rent a laptop? Many people don't. But you can!

There are many reasons business and individuals might chose to rent over the more costly, but permanent, option of purchasing.

A few common reasons for a laptop rental include: A short term project, such as an event or a large training class. Adding temporary office staff. Or even an out of town business demo. Individuals may even sometimes need a laptop rental for special occasions to perhaps run a slide show at a wedding or retirement party. 

In today's market there is no shortage of laptop rental suppliers to chose from. Some companies tout their large variety of leading brands and a turnkey solution designed for any size business need. Other companies focus more on their low rates and target the consumer market with promises of instant credit approval.

For help choosing the right laptop rental company for you, see our summary of the nations leading laptop rental suppliers below:

Rentacomputer.com is one of the nation's largest computer rental companies. They offer large quantity orders for laptop rentals. If you have a training session or a corporate event that requires several employees to have mobile devices to track information and be connected, then large quantity rentals make perfect sense. They can handle all your temporary laptop rental needs to fit any duration. Their rental rates are tailored to the period of time you need, whether you need it for a day, a week, or months at a time. They have all the major brands available in 1500 cities worldwide!

RentOurLaptops.com has a variety of laptops from powerful mobile workstations to ultra-light netbooks. They also offer rugged laptop rentals for demanding environments. Whether you need 2 GB or 16 GB of RAM, each laptop rental can be custom configured with the exact hardware you need. You pay for only the specifications you need.

Aria Technology Solutions is focused on providing Mobile Technology Rentals for companies nationwide.  With thousands of products in stock ready for same day shipping, they can supply rental companies with the quantity of laptops they need. Consistently competitive prices, breadth of inventory and equipment quality are just a few of the reasons their customers turn to Aria Technology Solutions for all their laptop rental needs.

Rent-A-Center provides more than furniture and household appliances rentals. They provide a decent selection of laptops, and are located in most cities across the nation. If you are looking for an average laptop for personal needs Rent a center is the way to go.

Aaron’s is a national leader in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories. They offer a handful of laptops at more than 1,800 Company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada.

Laptop rentals have their advantages. Are you trying to fill a business need or has something come up on short notice? You can rent a laptop to get the job done. If you are interested in purchasing a laptop but are unable to decide what you want, you can rent one short term to see if it what you want.

Executive Summary:

The spirit of American entrepreneurship is alive and well. It is that spirit that is the drive and determination of these visionaries who are responsible for some of the most successful and ubiquitous products on the market today. Case histories abound with stories of vast technology companies who had their beginnings in garages; of two or three individuals collaborating on the next breakthrough in medicine; of small companies working with other small companies to bring the next innovation in video entertainment to the market place - even a worldwide social network begun in a university dorm room.  While these stories are, for the most part, more accurate than allegorical, the products themselves did not come to market overnight. 

In fact, through trial and error, the process of attaining commercial viability can be a long process and can be a discouraging one – and it can prove to be expensive. It need not be. A solid manufacturing partner with a track record of working with small and start-up companies, as well as with individual entrepreneurs, can help make that journey from concept to marketplace a reality, with fewer stumbling blocks along the way. Small businesses are no exception and should be even more concerned about working with a good manufacturing partner.

Collaboration from the Start

It is important to develop a relationship with a manufacturing company that believes in conceptual collaboration. Working together, designers, engineers and visionaries can utilize that manufacturer’s expertise and industry contacts. From the very first steps, they can collaborate to ensure that all phases of product design, development and manufacture -- even marketing in some cases -- work together. Sometimes called “concurrent engineering ”, it’s an uncomplicated concept that reaps large benefits. Teaming with a company that has those capabilities as well as years of technical know-how, a dedicated staff who will work with you to find the right answers to the challenges along the way, and with a global presence, can make the trip from idea to commercial product as efficient and cost-effective as possible.

Occam’s Razor Meets the Conveyor Belt

The strategy behind conceptual collaboration is simple. The principle of Occam’s Razor states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum necessary to achieve the correct results. Well, in conceptual collaboration, one should not make any more product design adjustments during the manufacturing process than necessary. First, it is critical to find a manufacturing outlet that  is not only willing to work with you or your designing/engineering team, but also has the experience, expertise and industry connections to guide you at each step of the way.

At each stage of your product’s development, it is important that a team of experienced technicians be available to make sure that each phase of the process is on track and in sync with all the other phases. Multidisciplinary teams should work in parallel from the start of the project to test and  make sure every detail in every phase is correct before moving on to the next. This saves unnecessary revisions and duplications in the process, cutting down on not only the time to market, but the expense of multiple design revisions. Initial input needs to be obtained from as many sources as will be involved in the project for the duration. Joining forces early in the workflow means that any necessary compromises can be made in areas such as design and incorporation of all features, availability of product, assembly requirements, material needs, and cost and time considerations. If potential pitfalls are recognized early, design and manufacturing reconciliations can be made with little workflow interruption. It is generally accepted that conceptual collaboration, or sequential development, can result in anywhere from 30 – 40 percent savings in overall project time and cost.

Go From “Can We Do It?” to “We CAN Do It!”

Early collaboration with a company is only part of the equation. Just as important is who that company is. A company with a successful track record in collaboration through to finished product is of prime importance. As an example, FLEXcon has worked successfully with a number of innovative engineers, designers and scientists in developing commercially viable products for a variety of industries. Most recently, an innovative surface application film was developed that decreases the need for bactericide in health care settings. 

This film, called Sharklet®, inhibits the growth of bacteria by not allowing it to grow on a specially designed surface similar to a shark’s skin. In collaboration with University of Florida’s Dr. Anthony Brennan, FLEXcon was chosen for this project because it is the only manufacturing company with the know-how and capability to transfer, microscopically, that pattern of shark skin design to a wide-web construction, allowing it to be commercially viable. The material is currently in use and being studied at the University of Colorado Hospital.

The progress in this field of microstructure research has shown that, with the appropriate collaboration and the experienced technical specialists, commercially viable products can be developed and brought to the marketplace in a timely manner. Constant communication and input is not only functional but feasible.

Other researchers and designer have contacted FLEXcon and our experts are working closely with them on products and designs such as the mapping of the topography of a moth’s eye in an effort to determine its effectiveness in an application for photovoltaic use. A moth’s eye has an unusual property: the surfaces are covered with a natural nano-structured film which eliminates reflections.

While also acting in that protective capacity as a natural defense, this lack of reflectivity also allows for greater light absorption. If successful, the application of this technology will increase the light-gathering capabilities of standard photovoltaic cells by some 15 to 20 percent, thus increasing their efficiency in gathering available light, and also amplifying their storage capacity.  This will potentially create a much more efficient solar cell, enhance the potential use of this alternative energy source and,   hopefully, decrease our dependence of fossil fuels.

Other capabilities include film casting, the production of very thin layers of polymeric films that can be used in a variety of unique applications in the aerospace and medical industries. Making use of the readily available expertise of polymer developers, FLEXcon is able to use its manufacturing assets and wide web roll to roll processing capabilities to create these unique film functions.

One of the stumbling blocks to exciting and innovative products has, in the past, been either the inability of companies to conceptually collaborate with those in the research fields, or the fact that many companies just don’t have the capabilities to carry projects through from start to finish. FLEXcon, which  has decades of experience, is a company that can offer a wide choice of options to meet whatever needs you may have during the production process.

Developing Now and for the Future

From the beginning, designers and engineers need to work closely with manufacturers in their efforts to bring a commercially viable product to market. It is expertise, curiosity and experience that have brought many of the concepts once relegated to academia, research labs or other ‘idea incubators’ to the manufacturing floor and, eventually, to commercialization. Requests range from the esoteric to the everyday. But regardless of the designs and engineering challenges,

conceptual collaboration works in all instances. During all phases of manufacture, it is imperative to involve cross-functional teams, from technical to quality assurance, purchasing, marketing and a large list of suppliers and service representatives.  Work with companies that provide a vast range of technical knowledge. At FLEXcon you can tap into our process engineers who understand our process capabilities to develop the product you need to create.

Summary

In today’s market, it is not necessarily those who build a better mousetrap, but those who can get it to market quickly who will reap the rewards. Concurrent engineering, conceptual collaboration, integrated product development – call it what you will, its benefits to designers, manufacturers and the marketplace in general, can be substantial. In addition to the project cost and time savings, working together with a company who has the technical know-how, a variety of ancillary products, solid relationships with suppliers and a  global presence can assure future products will be of the same quality and consistency as any prototype developed together.  Knowing that collaboration with a company you can trust and can rely on to provide the same type of service for any of your future projects is a relationship well worth cultivating.

William Sullivan is Vice President, Performance Products for Spencer, MA-based FLEXcon, Inc., and oversees a department responsible for, among other things, the development, marketing and commercialization of high performance adhesives, functional coatings, film castings and the creation of functional microstructures. Author of published articles primarily on FLEXcon’s success in helping in the creation of Sharklet, a functional microstructure which prevents the growth of bacteria through its microscopic design capabilities, his expertise is in assisting start-up companies and enterprises with bringing their concepts and ideas to commercial reality.

About FLEXcon

FLEXcon is an innovator in adhesive coating, laminating and finishing of durable materials used in graphics applications, electronics and new products.  Through a culture of curiosity, flexibility and a drive for excellence, FLEXcon is the trusted partner to a wide range of companies from printers and fabricators to engineers and designers developing products for existing and emerging markets. Headquartered in Spencer, MA the company has operations throughout North America and Europe with distribution worldwide. For more information, visit www.FLEXcon.com or call 1-508-885-8200. Follow us on Twitter @FLEXcon. 

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By Ari Rabban, CEO, Phone.com

Small and medium-sized business (SMB) spending on cloud solutions will grow almost 20 percent annually through 2018, IDC predicts. If your business doesn’t use hosted communications and IT services, here are five reasons why it should:

1 - Significantly lower costs compared to on-premise systems. The initial savings are in the form of CapEx because hosted services free businesses from the five-, six- or seven-figure upfront cost of hardware and software. The long-term savings are in the form of OpEx because small businesses don’t have to dedicate staff to managing that infrastructure. Another bottom-line benefit is that their staff now can focus on both their company’s core competencies and revenue-generating tasks.

Low or no upfront costs also enable small businesses to take advantage of telecom and IT solutions that they otherwise couldn’t afford. As a result, cloud services help level the playing field between small businesses and their larger rivals.

2 - Fast access to patches, upgrades and innovations.Small businesses typically have small IT staffs, when they have them at all. Either way, implementing patches and upgrades often gets pushed to the back burner. That creates problems such as security risks in the case of patches and lost productivity because an upgrade isn’t in place to eliminate bugs or add features. With hosted solutions, the provider automatically pushes out patches and upgrades.

Also, providers of hosted telecom and IT services often make their latest and greatest products available to their cloud customers six months or more before they’re released to customers with premise-based systems. That gives cloud customers a competitive advantage.

3 - An extensive, growing selection of services and prices. Hosted offerings no longer are limited to PBXes and basic IT services such as storage and backup. In fact, it’s getting difficult to find a business application – even highly specialized ones – that isn’t now available on a hosted basis. If you passed on cloud services because what you needed wasn’t available, it’s worth taking a fresh look.

If you already have cloud services, consider what else is available. For example, does your hosted PBX provider offer value-added services such as transcription, caller analytics and call recording? If not, hopping to another cloud could get features that make your employees more productive and responsive to customers.

The bottom line is that the choice of features and pricing will continue to grow, thanks to competition among cloud providers. They know that SMB cloud spending is increasing at a healthy clip, and they also know that one-upmanship is key to staying relevant and profitable. 

4 - The world is your office. Small businesses often have employees scattered around a city, country or the world. They also often have a lot of road warriors, especially in the case of startups that are constantly running around lining up customers and making a name for themselves.

The cloud extends communications and IT services to those employees anywhere in the world where there’s a decent Internet connection: a home office, an airport lounge, a hotel, a customer’s facility, to name just a few. In fact, Ericsson predicts that by 2016, 70 percent of cloud access will be over cellular broadband. Whether it’s over a wired or wireless connection, cloud-based services enable employees to be more productive and responsive.

5 -Peace of mind. On-premise solutions are only a reliable as the premises they’re on. If your business’ ability to communicate and work is riding on a rack of gear in a closet, what happens if there’s a tornado, flood, fire or terrorist attack?

The best hosted services have their infrastructure spread over a wide geographic area, such as both ends of the country or around the world. That redundancy makes it highly unlikely that a single event will affect their customers – or their customers’ customers. Cloud providers also have hardened facilities with round-the-clock security, which are additional layers of protection. All of that adds up to one thing: business continuity.

This morning, Metalogix announced the launch of Content Matrix Migration Express to make SharePoint migrations simple and fast. The new Migration Express edition is highly suited for SharePoint customers with focused migrations or Office 365 deployment projects. The new product is available as a free offering for 25 GBs along with additional small and departmental editions opportunistically priced and purchased online via credit card from Metalogix.com.

Metalogix Launches Content Matrix Migration Expressto Simplify and Speed Up SharePoint Migrations On-Premises or in the Cloud

Download the Free Edition or Purchase Online from Metalogix.com to Rapidly and Cost-Effectively Migrate Content and Files to SharePoint 2013 or Office 365

Washington, DC –May 15, 2013 – Metalogix, the leading provider of content infrastructure software to improve the use and performance of enterprise content on Microsoft SharePoint, Exchange and Cloud platforms, today announced the launch of Content Matrix Migration Express to make SharePoint migrations simple and fast. The new Migration Express edition is highly suited for SharePoint customers with focused migrations or Office 365 deployment projects. The new product is available as a free offering for 25 GBs along with additional small and departmental editions opportunistically priced and purchased online via credit card from Metalogix.com.

More than a decade of SharePoint migration experience, 7,500 customers and 50,000 terabytes successfully migrated has made Metalogix the established market-leader for SharePoint migrations. The new Content Matrix Migration Express provides SharePoint administrators fast, easy and affordable access to the industry’s most trusted and widely-used migration technology with the market’s most attractive pricing and packaging. The new edition includes a comprehensive range of features required for fast and focused migrations and upgrades to SharePoint 2010, 2013 and to Office 365 from SharePoint 2003, 2007 and 2010. It also includes capabilities to migrate content from File Shares and Exchange Public Folders. Customers can securely purchase Content Matrix Migration Express Edition via Metalogix.com starting with a free version for up to 25 GBs and upgradable editions starting at $1,995. All purchases include Metalogix’s award-winning, live 24/7 product support.

“The proliferation of SharePoint has created sites large and small that could improve collaboration and knowledge sharing by migrating to SharePoint 2013 or Office 365,” said Steven Murphy, CEO, Metalogix. “Content Matrix Migration Express was designed to make the migration process simple, fast and accessible for SharePoint implementations of all sizes. Robust migration capabilities combined with affordable pricing, online purchasing, live 24/7 customer support and a wealth of resources allow customers to quickly and confidently begin their SharePoint migration projects on-premises or the cloud at the most attractive pricing and packaging options available in the market.”

Content Matrix Migration Express is easy to use because it downloads and installs in mere minutes and requires only a simple, one-time connection to get started. Content Matrix Migration Express requires no server side install, which is ideal for moving to Office 365 or SharePoint Online as organizations can connect and migrate using Microsoft’s API. This ability is highly beneficial and tactical for departments within organizations that want to move only a small portion of content to the cloud.

Migrating content is simply a matter of selecting and copying content from the source and pasting it onto the target SharePoint environment. Powerful site collection migration features allow migration of entire site collections at once. The product’s reorganization capabilities help clean up existing structure prior to a migration as well as create a new structure in the target destination during the migration.

Metalogix is offering Content Matrix Migration Express for free for migrating up to 25 GBs so customers can experience the benefits risk-free and immediately get started on their SharePoint 2010, 2013, or Office 365 migration projects.

The full edition of Metalogix Content Matrix is also now available to purchase directly from Metalogix.com. This edition supports migration from additional content sources including website content, blogs and wiki products, and eRoom. It includes advanced features such as the ability to offload migrated BLOBs with the Metalogix RBS product StoragePoint, migrate Nintex workflows or MySite Collections and more advanced filtering options for migrated content. Organization tools available directly within the SharePoint UI allow administrators to offload significant portions of pre-migration, post-migration, and Continuous Improvement organization work to Site Collection Owners and Site Owners.

Customers with larger amounts of content, advanced migration needs or a large number of sites and users should consider the full Content Matrix product for their SharePoint upgrade and reorganization needs. For more information, please visit the product page.

About Metalogix
Metalogix provides content infrastructure software to improve the use and performance of enterprise content. For over a decade, Metalogix has transformed the way commercial and government organizations manage terabytes of content to improve knowledge sharing and collaboration. Today, more than 7,500 customers rely on the company’s products to upgrade, migrate, organize, store, archive and replicate content on Microsoft SharePoint, Exchange and Cloud platforms. Metalogix has moved more than 50,000 terabytes of content – more than every other ISV in the marketplace combined.

Metalogix is recognized as the fastest growing software company in the Washington D.C.-area by the Washington Business Journal and was named to the 2012 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies. Metalogix is a Microsoft Gold Partner, a managed partner in Microsoft’s High Potential ISV Group and GSA provider. Metalogix is a privately held company backed by Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.