I have heard a lot of opinions like yours!
I have managed to snatch most of the outfit over at Marshal's/TJMax. And I am taking some quality gear from Columbia. Not $300.00 stuff, but I got a quality multilayer jacket and a pair of ski gloves for around $150.00
I will rent the gear stuff out, see what works for us, and buy the equipment summertime.
Well, to clarify, the skis you rent will be all the same, generally. They're basically all "sport skis" and are good for groomed runs. If you want to expand to other types of skiing like riding switch (backwards), grinding rails, or skiing powder, rental skis won't help you in figuring out what skis you want.
For that you want to get demo skis, which are basically a wide range of different kinds of skis that you can try out.
It's really just messed-up nomenclature in the industry. Yes, you also "rent" demo skis, but rental skis are all the same sport skis while demo skis are skis of all different styles and classes. Go for demo skis when figuring out what skis you want to buy, not rental skis. There are ski shops with season-long demo programs. You can demo all different styles of skis for the entire season.
Actually that would be my advice. Get into a DEMO program. Don't get into a RENTAL program.
Demoing is very important. Even skis of the same make and model can ski completely differently if they are different lengths.
Another thing that is very important is trying out and hammering away at different types of terrain. Groomed runs are fine, but they can get very very boring. Stray into the moguls, the trees, the deep powder, the park (jumps and rails and boxes). You may find you prefer something other than groomed runs. I know guys who end up enjoying grinding rails, doing half pipes, etc more than skiing on the actual runs. The upside to enjoying rails is that you can do it in the city (yes, there is urban skiing and you can do it in a place like flat Minnesota).
And keep in mind that if you end up *hating* a particular type of terrain, it may be your skis, not you. I used to HATE powder. After getting a ski different from my sport skis I now LOVE powder (and a lot of other things that I used to hate as well).
Me:
I first rented skis for half a season. Knowing nothing about skis, I decided to buy a pair of skis that looked like my rentals (sport skis). And that's when I progressed, did different types of terrain, and realized that they're not that great for lots of things that I eventually got into, such as powder days, busting through crud, and riding backwards. So I skied them for one season before I couldn't stand them anymore (lots of crashes). I *demoed* some different classes of skis and found a class that I liked. The demo ski would never have been an offering in the general rental section.
Basically, I would have had a lot more fun if I went ahead and demoed different skis before basing my decision on the rental skis that I had been using.