Do you buy extended warranties?

i've been wondering about this somewhat controversial question for some time. i'm not worried about software problems. my only concern is that there is some hardware problem that will require me to pay lots of money to fix (like the motherboard).

a few possibilities come to mind:

1. i can pay more for the 2nd (and maybe 3rd/4th) year of coverage from the place where i bought the computer

2. i can buy a squaretrade warranty

3. i can just stick with the 1 year warranty that usually comes with the computer. i don't pay extra, but i take a risk that it will break after the first year and i'll have to pay for repairs

4. maybe there's a better option than #1-3 that you can suggest?

what things would affect your decision? the cost of the computer is one thing i can think of. maybe if it's very cheap, you won't mind if it breaks after a year, because you'll just buy a new one? or maybe if it's expensive, the warranty will also be expensive, so you would rather pay for the parts later if something breaks. or maybe you're buying from a company that covers labor for more than a year and just requires you to pay for parts that break, so you decide not to buy an extended warranty because you're willing to take the chance that nothing expensive will break.

is there some kind of rule of thumb here that you follow?

 

I always buy extended warranties, simply because after the 1st year usually my notebook gives ME some trouble. I have to add that I carried all my laptops daily, and use them all day.

And now I also buy insurance due to the place that I study at night

 

If the price is right (about 5-7% of configured price), I'll go with an extended 2 yr warranty. After that, I'll probably be upgrading the laptop within 12 months or so.

Here's an additional thread regarding this (clevo/sager flavored) as well - http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/657530-2-3-year-sager-parts-warranty-worth.html

 

If you don't want to be bothered with fixing it yourself and/or lazy sure. I would consider accidental damage too if you are clumbsy.

 

there is also the price of the parts to consider, for example a simple lvds cable that I had to change from my lenovo went for R$250 that is U$125, my mbp charger cost me U$150, the ram upgrade cost me U$ 100 for 2x 4g 1333mhz, the HDD 500gb cost me another U$250... and the list goes

 

i would if you can. as long as its a decent price get as long of a warrenty as possible...assuming you are buying a laptop well over $1000. If you are getting a laptop that is only 500-800 bucks you dont need longer then 2 years because you'll just want to upgrade to a new laptop after that long anyways

 

I would say depend on your computer price and warranty price.

"Typically" electronic break down in first 3months if they are going to fail. and again, it really depends what,where and how much .

 

many also break right around that 2 year mark which is why i think a 3 year warranty is good...any longer if pointless because you should be upgrading at that point if it breaks

 

The resale value of most laptops takes a nose dive after 12-18 months not to mention a replacement laptop with likely better performance would cost half as much as you paid originally after 18 months. I think for a higher end machine 2 years makes sense if cost is less than 15% of the machine. Otherwise take the money you would have spent on the warranty and put it aside for repairs. If you're somewhat savvy with computer repairs, you can usually replace the most expensive component for the cost of the warranty. If nothing happens, then you've saved yourself the cost of the warranty.

There are exceptions like high end notebooks like an Alienware or Sager/Clevo. But a 3 year Sager warranty only costs $149. An Alienware costs $350 to $500 for a 3 year. Personally I'd pocket the $500 which could replace the motherboard or video card or combination of LCD, keyboard, touchpad, etc.

Of all the laptops I've owned, I've had ONE incident where I had to replace a part that ended up costing ~ $300. I would have spent ten times that in warranties over the years.

Not to mention the down time it usually takes for a warranty repair. Unless you have onsite warranty, say goodbye to your laptop for 2-4 weeks if not more, and hopefully it's a reproduce-able problem.

Then of course there's accidental. Those are usually VERY expensive warranties. I know I can easily replace the motherboard and CPU or GPU for the price of many of the accidental warranties.

That being said if you're completely hands off then a warranty might work for you. But as noted, for a sub $1000 notebook your best bet is likely to stick with the normal 1 year included warranty unless you can get a second year for less than $100.