Are Extended Warranties Necessary?
Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:20AM EDT
See Comments (11)
Reader wants to know: "I have a question about computer extended warranty. Yesterday I just purchased a HP Slimline Pentium M with one year limited warranty from HP. In general, do people buy the extended warranty from the store they buy from? The extended warranty (which is 3 years) cost more than 1/3 of the purchase price. Please advise. Thank you."
Personally, I had a horrible experience with a recent purchase that has taught me to buy the extended warranty on items that I expect to have around at least three to five years from the time of purchase.
A few years ago, we bought an LCoS Projection TV. We spent weeks doing the research and visited an electronics store almost everyday to compare picture quality before plunking down a few thousand dollars. We loved our television, and were happy with our purchase until dust circles started to appear at the bottom of the screen seven months later. We got it fixed while it was under warranty. Everything was fine until five months later, the same thing happened again. This time the dust circles multiplied faster than before. Long story short, the extended warranty allowed us to get a replacement TV.
On the other hand, a friend of ours liked our LCoS so much, he got one at the same time we did. He had the same problem with the dust circles. Problem is, he never got the extended warranty.
Consumer Reports found that extended warranties cost less than the average repair. Their data shows that electronic products are unlikely to need repairs within the first three years, yet a laptop and desktop PC had the highest odds of needing a repair within the first three years followed by treadmills/elliptical trainers, and plasma televisions. When it came to laptops, they recommend that "consumers consider buying an extended warranty from the manufacturer, not the retailer. The manufacturer’s extended warranty also allows for continued access to tech support."
My recommendation is to get an extended warranty on technology that is still fairly new. The LCOS TV mentioned above is a good example, as well as the new MacBook Pro notebooks. These laptops have been having a few problems of their own. You should also check online to find out if there are any recurring problems with the item you're about to purchase or have already purchased to get an idea of the type of problems you could encounter. If you pay with a credit card, find out if you are eligible for extended warranty from the manufacturer. Visa's has a program called Warranty Manager Service, while Mastercard and American Express have more information online. PC World has a more extensive look at extended warranties and offers these extended warranty pointers.
But what do Yahoo! consumers think? Share your experience and advice on extended warranties in the section below.
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7 Posted by jackieh1957 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:26PM EDT Report Abuse
I am paraplygic so it is difficult to get out if my laptop goes on the blink. I purchased a DELL Inspiron 5100 with 1 yr support. At the end of that year I purchased a 3 yr on site extended warranty. (I only bought the on-site warranty because of my disability) Thank Goodness. I have had to have the ethernet card replaced 3 times. I also experienced a problem with a mircrosoft update where after the update my laptop would not do anything. The telephone tech support helped me by on-line reloading drivers on to my laptop. I just got on my DELL desktop and signed over the computer to them and they reloaded the drivers to my laptop. I would not but anything computer without buying extended warranties.
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8 Posted by amyakame on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:53PM EDT Report Abuse
On impulse I wanted to respond with a definite YES for ext warrenty. However I am so glad that one responder, chetan_kaushal gave 2 cents worth of advise which straightened out my thoughts. Yes ext warrenties are good on things like vacuum sweepers,etc., but on a computer?? No way. Anytime I had a problem and contacted my PC's company, I was told it was a windows issue or that I had to add more time on to my warrenty to even be spoken to. I have to say that even though I was frustrated at the constant "this appears to be window related, contact MS...." It turned out to be true and I fixed the prob. Rarely would it be a faulty PC. If so, wouldn't it be evident right away? I would like to find out more about chetan_kaushal's thoughts and findings by always shutting off PC. I don't any longer but need to I guess again.
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9 Posted by ezst_lv on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:57PM EDT Report Abuse
Extended warranties through the manufacturer can leave you a bit cold in a crisis. Some of the in-store extended warranties can be quite nice though. Take Best Buy "Accidental" Service Plan. This plan is only available on their notebook sales, but it covers several things that manufacturers won't. It covers spills, such as beer, wine, water or soda, inside the unit. It also covers damage to the screen up to and including 2 full screen replacements. Add to this the regular coverage of a replacement battery and replacement charger. In total this plan is worth the expense as long as you take advantage of it. Get your replacement battery at the 18 month point. While your at it get the replacement charger. If you have kids or pets then more than likely you are going to get a spill or a drop. Take advantage of the service plan. The way places like Best Buy make money on these things is that no one uses them. If you use them you can be part of the less than 10% of buyers who use their service plans.
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10 Posted by ezst_lv on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:57PM EDT Report Abuse
As to the shutting off of the computer this is a touchy subject, but I've been a computer repair tech for 22 years now. Basic physics tells us that turning the computer on and off causes damage to the internal parts. This is because you are heating the parts causing them to expand and then cooling the parts causing them to contract. This causes part to warp and become brittle. This is the real reason that desktops have a power saving mode. This mode causes the computer to go into a standby mode that keeps the components "warm" and also mostly shuts the computer down. This saves your computer parts and also has the benefit of a faster start time since all you have to do is hit the spacebar or move the mouse to get the computer to "power" back on. As far as the software problems, the old adage of "an ounce of prevention..." is completely true. By getting an anti-virus software such as AVG, Norton, Mcafee or PC-Cillin and combining it with Webroot's Spysweeper you make your computer about 95%+ protected against the threats out there. This will save your software from getting corrupted by most anything except Windows updates. Unfortunately there is currently no cure for that problem. And that nightmare is about to expand with the release of Windows Vista.
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11 Posted by elw777@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:54PM EDT Report Abuse
If you buy a decent computer, anything that will go wrong due to mfr. defect will probably happen in the first year, when the warranty applies. I feel the extended warranty does not USUALLY do much good except to the seller's pocketbook at the expense of your purse. Who needs the money worse: You or the mfr? It is just a wierd way to jack up the price of a piece. If it is really worth the price they charge, then why don't they give you a 3 year warranty in the first place?
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6 Posted by sleep_bound on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:27PM EDT Report Abuse
The better extended warranties don't, in general, make money for the manufacturer, as has been suggested. Look out for those offered by the supplier (the store, warehouse, etc), to make up for failings in the manufacturer's cover. Look for extended plans that pick up where the maker's warranty leaves off... the parts and/or labour that are excluded, or run out in a few months, for instance. Increasingly, we're buying portable technology... so look for a warranty plan that covers you on the move, in other countries, or for accidental damage... (I write as somebody who has dropped a notebook computer down a flight of concrete steps... it was not pretty) And, just to put my cards on the table... I've worked in support, and in retail, and I do sell extended warranties every day... I would not, however, sell what I didn't believe in.