Lenovo or Squaretrade Warranty?

I am getting a nice deal from Lenovo to get a 3 year warranty for $85. However, Squaretrade has offered to pricematch this deal by 110% for a cost of $76. Is the Lenovo warranty worth the $10 premium?

Which offers better coverage? Does Lenovo cover more items than Squaretrade? I have very limited experience with Squaretrade but reviews online seem to be generally positive.

 

I prefer Lenovo for one simple reason. Its a warranty from the actual manufacture, and that gives me just a bit more peace of mind. Squaretrade is rated pretty good but if you do a review or complaints of this warranty company you will find both pro and con.

Here is one link that many use to get some idea on manufacture pro's and con responces
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/SquareTrade

 

I personally have a squaretrade warranty on my smartphone (Droid X) because of the good things I've read online about their services. Their price seems reasonable but I have yet to experience first hand how they handle claims, seeing how I've never made a claim.

On the other hand, a close friend of mine has an X series laptop from about 3 years ago and he also purchased 3 year warranty w/ Accidental Damage.

To date, he has made 3 claims. First claim was when he broke the screen. (Backstory: He's a college student and got super drunk one night, woke up the next morning and stepped on his screen.) He called in, explained what happened, and they mailed him a mailer to send his laptop in. It came back with the screen replaced and the keyboard replaced.

Second time was a bit later on, when he spilled an entire cup of beer on his keyboard and promptly shorted out his system (keyboard drain holes cant handle this party now). Again he called in and mailed in the system, and I believe they replaced the motherboard.

Third time was near the end of the warranty period (a month before the end of the 3 year warranty). His computer case (the actual body of the laptop) was pretty scratched up and cracked just because he abused the machine. He called in and complained and they essentially also replaced the case, so he's on year 4 with the machine and has essentially a "new" thinkpad.

Not sure if they still offer the same level of service now, but just thought I'd share.

 

Lol, fantastic reply and back stories! I will find out how much the accidental coverage is with the discount. That story alone is worth it for me since I will be going back to school and traveling a lot too (which can lead to a lot of laptop abuse).

If the accidental coverage is too pricey, I'll stick with Lenovo. Otherwise squaretrade might be the best best, even though it's not directly from the manufacturer.

Without A&D, both seem comparable. Does Lenovo offer Accidental & Damage (A&D) coverage? This seems to be the unique factor of Squaretrade, I believe.

 

I just realized I was a little unclear with my story.

My friend purchased a LENOVO warranty. With the squaretrade warranties, I believe you are limited to a maximum payout (for my phone for example, the total maximum payout is $600, whether over several smaller claims, or 1 claim if I destroyed my phone for whatever reason)

The warranty plan he purchased from Lenovo INCLUDED accidental damage. The accidental damage from lenovo is called Thinkpad Protection (abbreviated TPP). I believe they now have 2 versions, TPP and TPP Basic. The difference is TPP Basic you're limited to 1 accidental damage claim.

Example:
Your wireless card craps out on you through no fault of your own: Both warranties would cover that.

You drop your laptop and shatter the screen: Both warranties would cover this too, however you just used up your one and only accidental damage claim for TPP Basic, so if this were to happen again you'd be SOL.