The lease arranged at CBMS was small scale compared to that of BCEMS.  I would agree that on a large scale, leasing may not be the best solution.  Budgetwise, our plan encumbers about 50% of our yearly tech budget, rather than spending 100% in a "replacement year" to get a larger number of machines.  This leaves us budget money for other needs each year. Our plan brings new computers into the building each year (or every two years), and bringing in "small batches" (10-15) made sense to us.  It is not practical financially to replace a large number of machines all at once, and a lifetime of 5-7 years (sometimes longer!) in a school environment is not unreasonable. Granted, there needs to be continued suport to upgrade software and hardware as machines age!  I agree that a leasing option requires serious thought and discussion, but it does allow us to spend more on a single "wave" of replacement than we would be able to budget in one year.  Our business manager did investigate a bank loan vs. manufacturer loan