Alienware M9750 - Worth buying more warranty?

Well the time has come, my warranty on my M9750 is about to expire.

I have had my laptop for over a year (about a year and a half), and I have not had anything happen to it.

I get good temps when playing games (and not playing games), never BSOD on me, still really fast (slower than when I bought it but that's because I keep so much sh*t on it).

The only bad parts are the hinge (it's a little loose from wear and tear and ever so slightly cracked in the corner), and I have a rather large dead pixel (top left), and what looks like something stuck behind my screen (bottom left) or that may be a dead pixel (I don't know how big dead pixels are so I don't know if I have 1 or more than 1).

I can't get it fixed because apparently Alienware wont fix it unless I have 8 or more dead pixels (load of sh*t if you ask me).

But enough ranting. Do you think it is worth the money to upgrade the warranty? Or just stay as-is?

 

I love my M9750. It has been going strong for 2 years now without a problem! And as I side note, 7950GTXgo in SLI still gets good framerates at max resolution of 1920x1200 with High textures and low shadows. Works for me, and will keep it until it is dead and gone!

And back to your question: No, I would not upgrade the warranty. This tech, while good, is getting rather old. If it runs solid just run it until it dies and then buy a new Notebook or PC. Other people have said that Alienware has trouble just finding replacement parts (they couldn't even find me a new battery!) So even with warranty, what you get back from them is a big "?" right now.

Use the money to get a good external backup drive and backup regularly. That is the sort of insurance I would go for

 

Depends if you have the money for it and want to stay on the safe side.

Lol, my M17 has already had serveral BSODs...and that was before I overclocked it. (Actually when I overclock it too far it instead gives me a BLANK screen of death...lol...then just restarts 0.5 seconds later.)

 

First of all, I would get that crack near the hinge fixed sooner than later because mine did the same thing and then the hinge finally popped. Do it before your warranty runs out. I posted a thread with pics about my own m9750 case cracking here.

If I could go back in time I would not have extended my warranty past the two year mark. I should have just planned to upgrade my computer instead of dreaming about having my m9750 for a really long time. Sure, it's nice not to have to pay for repairs (well, except when they try to charge you anyway), but the hassle of not having my m9750 when problems do arise has been much worse than I anticipated. They have trouble keeping the parts in stock and have not impressed me with their quality of technical support. It's not that I don't like the computer, I still love my m9750 when it's working. But not having a computer for 2-3 weeks per repair adds up quickly when you have multiple issues and makes the warranty almost more hassle than it's worth for me.

 

sounds like it has held up alright I'd probably hold off and save up for a replacement. That said I have a 3 year on my m15x but it and all m15x machines are not so reliable. Love the m9750 what color? They really need to get back to colors!

 

the hindge is about to break on you m9750

you can put m9700 lid any color you want
m9750 or m17 lids fit on it ....

if you get the warrenty and it breaks and they have no parts you get a new laptop

free

 

I say it depends how long you intend to still keep the machine. If you plan on getting a replacement within another year, then I say NO. If you think you are going to keep the machine for another year or 2, then I say YES! Laptop parts are hard to come by and expensive. If something breaks, you will be very happy that you are covered...

 

Care to elaborate Moo please?

 

if they cant replace your laptop like-for-like, they give you whatever machine is as closely spec'd as they can. so you'd get an upgrade for free if they dont have parts for it.

 

When they sold you the warranty they basically agreed to keep your computer working. If they can't because they have no parts, then they owe you something with equal but not lesser specs. This is how many XPS 1730 owners end up getting an M17X when thier XPS dies. Dell sends them a replacement. The warranty is basically a contractual agreement in a way.

 

Looking at how alienware and Dell got fusioned together, maybe we won't see anymore AW in a couple of months...

anyhow, so it IS worth the money to upgrade warranty (my m9750 ends this 5 of january).

what would the down side be?

 

The downside, at least in the past, was if the machine was unrepairable, they (both Dell and Alienware) have been known to sometimes pass off a replacement laptop of sub par specs. So you would have to prove that it wasnt an equal trade, but most people that this happened to got it resolved.
Otherwise, your laptop just keeps working so you didnt need the warranty