MicroRentals rents IT and audio-visual equipment to Wollongong and Illawarra businesses from a fleet we own outright — over 2,000 laptops plus desktops, servers, displays and event technology. Our warehouse is at Homebush, around ninety minutes up the highway, and our technicians here are Wollongong-based. We have been renting business equipment since 1987.
Close enough to be served properly
The Illawarra gets treated as regional by suppliers who are themselves only an hour away. Businesses in Wollongong routinely find that a Sydney supplier’s same-day service stops at Sutherland, that on-site attendance becomes a scheduling negotiation, and that freight quotes arrive as though the equipment were going to Broken Hill.
Our warehouse is at 7-9 Underwood Road, Homebush — around ninety minutes from Wollongong. For Wollongong and the northern Illawarra we can often deliver in our own vehicles rather than putting your equipment on a courier, which means a person, a time, and someone to ring if something changes. We confirm that when you order, because it depends on the day and the load, and we would rather check than promise.
You can also collect from Homebush by arrangement, which is an easy run up the M1 and is worth knowing about when something is genuinely urgent.
We own the equipment
Most companies offering equipment hire in the Illawarra do not hold any. They take your order, place one of their own with a distributor, and pass on whatever lead time they are given.
Our fleet — over 2,000 laptops, plus desktops, workstations, servers, monitors, large-format displays and event technology — is owned outright and held at Homebush. When you ring about twelve laptops for a project starting next week, we are checking a shelf, not checking with a supplier.
The part of this that is genuinely local
Our technicians in the Illawarra are based here. On-site setup, meeting a delivery, swapping a failed device over — done by people who live in the region, covering Wollongong and the northern suburbs, Port Kembla and the industrial precinct, Shellharbour and Albion Park, and south to Kiama.
What we rent
Computers. Business laptops (Lenovo ThinkPad, Dell, HP, Microsoft Surface, Acer, Asus), MacBooks and Apple Mac desktops, desktop PCs and all-in-ones, and workstations for design, engineering and video work.
Mobile devices. iPads and Android tablets, iPhones and smartphones, smartwatches.
Infrastructure. Servers, network attached storage, switching and connectivity equipment, wireless internet, UPS units.
Displays and AV. Monitors, large-format TV and LED displays, touchscreen displays, projectors and screens, PA and audio systems.
Office and event. Printers, scanners, shredders, event registration technology, kiosks, stands and lecterns, whiteboards and flipcharts, virtual reality and augmented reality equipment.
If you need a quantity of something and are not sure we have it, ring and ask. We quote within 20 minutes during business hours.
Short-term hire and long-term rental are different products
Short-term hire runs from a single day. Training rooms, exhibitions, conferences, audits, seasonal peaks, a project team that arrives for six weeks, a recovery scramble after an outage. Equipment arrives configured, is supported while you have it, and goes back when you are finished. Daily, weekly and monthly rates, quoted per job.
Long-term rental runs from twelve months and is usually about not owning laptops any more. Hardware, imaging, support, replacement on failure and end-of-term collection bundled into one monthly cost per device — Device as a Service, from $79 per device per month, ex GST. What you pay depends on the specification, the term and how much of the management sits with us.
Short-term hire is priced per job, because a single laptop for three days and forty laptops for a fortnight are not the same problem. Tell us quantity, specification and dates and you will have a price within 20 minutes during business hours.
There is no minimum order quantity. One laptop is a real order. So is five hundred.
Who we supply in the Illawarra
The region’s economy is distinctive enough that a generic Sydney pitch tends to miss it. Heavy industry and the port sit alongside a substantial university and research presence, a growing professional services base, health and aged care, engineering and contracting firms serving both, and a steady inflow of businesses that have left Sydney for the coast without leaving their Sydney clients behind.
The rental demand that comes out of that is mostly project-shaped: a contract that needs a team kitted out, an intake or a semester, a shutdown or a maintenance window that brings contractors in for a fortnight, an audit, a refurbishment. Known headcount, known end date, no reason to own the hardware afterwards.
Industrial environments also punish equipment in ways offices do not. Because we replace rather than repair, a device that dies in a workshop or a site office is swapped rather than queued, and your fleet does not slowly degrade into a collection of half-working machines.
Conferences, training and university work
The Illawarra runs a real events and training calendar of its own — university venues and the innovation campus, conference and function space through Wollongong and the coast, and corporate training that comes here precisely because it is out of the city.
Event work fails differently from office work. The delivery window is narrow, the setup happens after hours, the equipment has to work the first time in front of an audience, and there is no second chance on the morning of day one. Registration kiosks, iPads for lead capture, laptops for presenters, large displays for signage and stage, audio for breakout rooms — supplied configured, delivered to the venue, and collected at bump-out.
Being ninety minutes away is the useful part. If something fails on the morning of day one, a replacement can come down the highway rather than across the country.
We rent to organisations, not households
MicroRentals is a business-to-business supplier. We work with companies, government bodies and educational institutions. We do not hire equipment to home users, and we do not do home computer repair or residential callouts.
In practice that means account terms rather than credit-card checkout, purchase orders, asset registers, insurance requirements and delivery to a loading dock — the paperwork side of renting to organisations, which is a different business from renting to consumers.
What is included
- Configured before delivery. Devices can be imaged to your standard operating environment, joined to your domain or tenancy, asset-tagged and enrolled in device management before they are dispatched. Custom imaging adds around three days; standard builds ship from stock.
- Replaced, not repaired. If a rented device fails during the term we replace it rather than fixing it in place — a replacement for a stocked configuration is dispatched within 4 hours for metropolitan addresses and within 1 business day for regional addresses, with final delivery by courier. You are not waiting on a repair queue.
- Supported for the term. Our engineers hold Cisco and Microsoft certifications and support the equipment while you have it.
- Wiped and rebuilt on return. Returned devices are wiped of all files and folders and rebuilt with a fresh operating system installation before they go back into the fleet.
- Scaled up or down. Add devices mid-term as headcount changes. Scale-down terms are set in your agreement.
Why organisations rent instead of buying
Three reasons come up over and over. The requirement is temporary — a project, an event, a peak, a secondment — and buying leaves you with equipment you did not want. The capital is better used elsewhere, and a monthly operating cost is easier to approve and easier to forecast than a capital purchase. Nobody wants to own the end of the lifecycle — the four-year-old laptops in the store room, the disposal question, the asset register nobody has updated since 2022.
There are tax and accounting considerations too, which are covered properly on the Device as a Service page. We are not accountants and that page says so; check anything that matters with yours.
How it works
1. Tell us what you need. Quantity, specification, dates, and where it is going. If you are not sure of the specification, describe what people will be doing on it.
2. Quote within 20 minutes. During business hours, with availability confirmed against actual stock.
3. Configuration. Standard builds ship from stock. Custom images add around three days.
4. Delivery. Wollongong and the northern Illawarra can often be served by our own vehicles from Homebush — we confirm that when you order rather than assuming it. Otherwise delivery is by courier, dispatched within 24 hours on stocked configurations.
5. Support, then collection. We support it while you have it and collect it when you are done.
Frequently asked questions
Can you deliver to Wollongong in your own vehicles?
Often, yes. Wollongong and the northern Illawarra are within reach of our Homebush vehicles, which means a delivery person and a time rather than a tracking number. It depends on the day and the load, so we confirm it when you order rather than promising it in advance. Where a van run does not suit, we dispatch by courier within 24 hours on stocked configurations.
How quickly can I get laptops in Wollongong?
Faster than most of the country, because you are ninety minutes from the warehouse. Stocked configurations are dispatched within 24 hours and can often go on a van run. Custom-imaged builds add around three days. Ring 1300 790 650 and we will tell you what is actually on the shelf and when it can reach you.
Can we collect from your warehouse?
Yes, by arrangement. We are at 7-9 Underwood Road, Homebush NSW 2140, near Sydney Olympic Park — a straightforward run up the M1. Call ahead so the equipment is configured and ready.
Do you supply industrial and site environments?
Yes, and the replacement-not-repair model suits them. A device that fails in a workshop or a site office is swapped rather than queued for a repair agent, so the fleet stays at a known standard. Tell us the environment when you order so we can advise on specification.
How much does it cost to hire a laptop in Wollongong?
Short-term hire is quoted per job, because price depends on specification, quantity and duration. You will have a figure within 20 minutes during business hours. Long-term rental starts from $79 per device per month ex GST, and includes support, replacement on failure and end-of-term collection.
Is there a minimum order?
No. There is no minimum order quantity — a single device is a real order. Short-term hire starts from one day. Device as a Service agreements have a 12-month minimum term.
Do you rent to individuals?
No. We supply business, government and education customers only. We do not hire to home users.
What happens if something breaks during the hire?
We replace it rather than repair it, at no extra cost for the term. A replacement for a stocked configuration is dispatched within 4 hours for metropolitan addresses and within 1 business day for regional addresses, with final delivery by courier.
Will the laptops be set up with our software?
Yes, if you want them to be. Devices can be imaged to your standard operating environment, joined to your domain or Microsoft 365 tenancy, asset-tagged and enrolled in management before dispatch. Allow around three days for custom imaging.
What happens to our data when equipment goes back?
Returned devices are wiped of all files and folders and rebuilt with a fresh operating system installation before returning to the fleet.
Can we hire for a long project and then keep going month to month?
Yes. Short-term hires can be extended, and long-running requirements often convert to a Device as a Service agreement, which is cheaper per month and includes replacement and lifecycle management.
Do you also manage the devices, not just supply them?
Yes. MicroRentals is both an equipment rental company and a managed service provider, which is an unusual combination. Hardware and its management can sit under one agreement. See managed IT services in Wollongong.
How long have you been doing this?
Since 1987 — nearly four decades supplying and supporting business IT equipment. Our engineers hold Cisco and Microsoft certifications.
Tell us what you need and when
Quantity, specification, dates and delivery address. We will come back within 20 minutes during business hours with availability, a price, and an honest read on whether your date is achievable.
MicroRentals · IT and AV equipment rental for Wollongong and the Illawarra
1300 790 650 · [email protected] · Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 6:00pm
Head office and warehouse: 7-9 Underwood Road, Homebush NSW 2140. Illawarra on-site work by our Wollongong-based technicians. Collection from Homebush by arrangement.
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