Extended warranty: worth it?

Just wondering what people's opinion on extended warranty's are?
Most have one to two years but can be upgraded up to 5 years.

Is it worth shelling extra for it?

 

It is usually free money for them. Always read the fine print - especially on the longer ones - many only cover one occurrence of each problem. Some don't cover the screen at all and many don't cover water - two most common problems. Most consumer advocates websites warn against them. If you are hard on it, you may consider a 1 year accidental if cheap. After that - it is cheaper to save your money and buy a new one. You definitely dont want a long term. Your computer is only worth a couple hundred in 3 years if that much, so you dont want to pay an extra hundred for insurance.

 

The frequency at which laptops are failing, it seems it is logical to go for the 1 year or 2 years extended warranty. IMO, the hard disks and the screen rarely shows a problem if you maintain the laptop well. However it is the optical drive and the motherboard that shows some kind of problem. I recently upgraded my HP Pavilion warranty for two more years and I don't regret it.

 

I just got money back for my HP DV9005ea. Graphic card burn out 4 times and the sound card once. Got lucky with the warranty cuz HP noticed a factory problem and extended the warranty from 1 to 2 years. So I'm coming off a bad experience but I don't want to believe that all computers are as bad.

 

Yes it is worth it. i have gotten two free laptops and a desktop out of HP under the warrenty.

 

Maybe you should stop buying HP lol

 

Just found out that when I buy a new computer I am covered by my house insurance. The insurance is relative cheap but the deposit cost a bit more compared a store bought insurance. The house insurance blankets all my electronics in my house, though. Nice to have some sort of safety net.

 

Generally speaking a 2 year warranty is enough, like someone said, in 5 years your laptop is done, you better have saved the money to invest in another one. There are articles about that on the web on how this is just another way to suck up some more money from the consumer.

 

I read somewhere that a lot of stores get commission from insurance companies for every insurance plan they sell. Some up to 30%...explains why they push the "need" for it.

 

I never buy extended warranty, when you buy that insurance you have to add that amount to the price you are paying for the product. In any case customer need not to worry about the quality and reliability of goods but the manufacturers have to worry about their product's ability to last at least 5yrs without any problem.

 

As someone having a strange habit to try repairing them even warrantry didn't end (and void warranty) not to send laptop to service and wait for days, I think it is not really needed to extend warranty if it costs higher than any part that may need change. (You may think that several parts may change but in such case either you are not created to use laptop or thing you are using is not a laptop but a disaster.)
Probably after two years many parts of your laptop will be available from not only service and most times only GPU and mainboard becomes problematic to replace (except cosmetics and HPs ).

 

Technically your legal rights should protect you for the first two years but you may want to consider extending you warranty to avoid complications.

[Law of England]

Under section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, there is an implied term that the product will be of reasonable quality and that includes durability. Don't worry if the company's small print says otherwise, it's invalidated by the courts under section 6(3) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. In my opinion this should cover you for at least two years.

Also note that third party insurance such as contents insurance will also cover accidental damage. Always read the contract though.

If you decide to get the standard warranty and experience problems in the second year and you cannot rely on third party insurance and the company refuses to fix your laptop, you will need to appoint a solicitor. In my opinion the case can be solved with a simple letter from your solicitor because the company won't want to take this case to court (they will more than likely lose). You will need to find out about cost as they vary, but shouldn't be much for writing a letter, and some do free interviews.

Or... you could just go with extended warranty to avoid the complications.


I am not a solicitor and therefore will not take responsibility for the information provided; do your own research or contact an independent legal adviser to make an informed decision.

 

It depends on how expensive the laptop and the warranty is.
Typically 3 years is a sweet spot (at least fro business laptops).

Also see my sig.