Renewed my warranty on M17x R3 - did I make a mistake?

Got a call from Dell (as they usually do) early this month, about a week before my warranty was set to expire on my Alienware M17x R3.

They offered me 1 year of total protection, total replacement, etc etc... for 340 and some change.

I hate having to spend that much on warranties, but I handle work/school stuff on my laptop and I can't afford to have it breaking down on me. I took the deal on the spot.

I haven't had any hardware issues with my Alienware M17x R3 so far, and I feel really lucky. It's about a year old now, and I'm hoping to get at *least* a year out of it before upgrading.

 

Well, you're covered now. A replacement GPU alone would cost almost as much as the warranty.

 

Your mistake was not purchasing more during checkout on the date of purchasing the system. You could have gotten three years for the amount of money you spent on that additional year. Don't worry though, you did the right thing by purchasing additional warranty. However, you could've saved a lot of money if you had done so in the beginning.

But to answer your question, no. You didn't make a mistake by adding additional time onto your existing warranty. It's always good to have this. As the person said above, replacement parts can cost a lot - in some cases, more than a new computer.

Now if something goes wrong, you make a phone call and a technician will magically appear at your front door prepared to assist you. :thumbsup:

 

Seems like a decent price to me. Hope I get quoted around the same amount when mine warranty expires here in April.

 

You're so right. Unfortunately I never plan ahead, and never have the money to get the 3 and 4 year warranties when I buy the laptop.

Like you said too... I just like that my laptop is still protected. I'd rather pay 340 now than have to fix my laptop myself, or buy expensive replacement parts like GPUs... etc

 

I tried to call and upgrade my warranty today (about 5 days after originally placing my order) and I was told that I couldn't upgrade it through Alienware because it had just shipped. I need to contact the extended warranty dept to see if they can cut me a deal, but if they can't the only way I can get the $189 upgrade is to cancel my order, return the laptop, and buy another one. I'm hoping they will be able to help me out, since it's in everyone's best interest that I don't return this laptop.

The reason I didn't upgrade at the beginning is because I planned on using the 5% egift card to buy extra warranty, but didn't realize it takes 20 days to get the card after your laptop ships. Once I found that out, that's when I called AW.

 

For those of you extending warranty, don't forget that the reps who are calling you are also part of the sales department. Haggling with them is just the same as haggling when purchasing the machine. When I was called to extend my warranty they offered me about $300 for a year. After a few holds on the phone and speaking with the manager, the rep offered me $170 for one year. I didn't take the offer since most of my parts are aftermarket, but just putting this out there.

 

It is the regular price for your machine, replacing almost any component on it would be more expensive than the warranty.

 

Hey if I've put in additional memory sticks, will they require that I remove them in the event that I have to send the laptop back or have it serviced for any reason?