Should I buy the warranty?

Hey all,

I just purchased an X61 a few weeks ago. I added a bunch of goodies and upgrades to the system but I stuck with the base warranty. When I ordered, I was told that I had until the 1 year warranty ended to upgrade the regular warranty and I had 90 days to upgrade the protection services warranty. Currently Im not sure if I should upgrade.

Im a graduate student and Im starting to use my laptop a lot more although I know I could survive without one because I have a desktop (I did for half the school year already). My main question is would you buy the extended warranty? If so, which one do you think is better? Also, how willing is lenovo to fix problems. Will I need to call several times and have to deal with the run around or are they usually quick and responsive to warranty fixing?

Below are the prices for the warranty prices for both regular and accidental coverage. Im leaning towards the 2 year on site accidental coverage but I have my reservations due to the fact that I think I wont ever use it and as a student, $250 could be better spent elsewhere. What do you guys think?


Warranty upgrade:

1 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day [add $39.00]
2 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day [add $69.00]
3 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day [add $119.00]
2 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day [add $139.00]
3 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day [add $219.00]
4 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day [add $229.00]
4 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day [add $349.00]

Accidental coverage:

1 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $89.00]
1 Year On Site Upgrade with 1 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $119.00]
2 Year Depot Upgrade with 2 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $199.00]
2 Year On Site Upgrade with 2 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $249.00]
3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $279.00]
3 Year On Site Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $349.00]
4 Year Depot Upgrade with 4 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $379.00]

 

Here are my specs in case any of these have a tendency to go bad).

X61 purchased 12/11/07 warranty until 12/11/08
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 NV (2.2GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
100GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm Serial ATA (2.5")
Intel Turbo Memory 1GB
ThinkPad X60 Series 8 cell High Capacity Battery

 

I generally do the three year depot and skip the accidental damage. It's pretty inexpensive. I did buy the 3yr + accidental damage for my 61p as the web site was screwed up on "opening day" and you could not get it without accidental damage. Oh well, better to have more coverage than less.

Thinkpads seem to follow the traditional bathtub curve, so I don't know if 2yr is really enough. Initial quality problems would be covered, but fan failures, backlight failures, etc that may occur later in life may not occur before the two year mark.

 

how good is lenovo about fixing laptops. Will they give me a hard time about fixing things or are they generally pretty good about repairs? (good meaning I will have to call once, get it repaired in a week or so)

 

I would...I just got my x61s and I originally bought the 2 year but then went to the 3 year. I figured most hardware issues won't come within 2 years for me and the 3rd year is the most important. Let's hope my law books don't crush the laptop in my backpack though.

 

They are usually pretty good about repairs if you call the right number. There are those here who have had bad experiences, but you'll find that anywhere. In the past I've had to do warranty repairs twice. Both of those times, a box arrived the next day, I sent my laptop in it that same day, then I had it back within 2 more days. In my experience the service has been exceptional. One of those times they did more than asked by replacing scuffed covers at no charge.

 

Might want to look at the warranty guide.

 

They are good at repairing the laptops. If you are clumsy, travel a lot, or tend to drink liquids near the laptop, then I would purchase the accidental coverage otherwise the 3 year Depot warranty is fine.

If you rely on your laptop for business or school then get the 3 year IOR.

 

They are pretty good at fixing most things, but once they screw up it will take them many tries to fix it.

For example: My X60 tablet screen had issues, so I called and they got it. Then they said they replaced the screen and all and returned it. Fine, except they gave me a X60 regular screen (means to tablet stuff). So for the last 6 repairs in the last 4 months have been to get them to give me my tablet display back, but everytime they come back saying there is nothing wrong! So far they have fixed the tablet issue, but I still need my multitouch back. This will be the 8th repair.

Another example: I have a T60p, was getting video issues. Called sent it in. Came back with a new motherboard. They called me to confirm that they needed to wipe my harddrive and all. Very courteous. As long as they don't screw up your repair, repair is good.

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I'd recommend the 3 year with accidental. You never know when you might need it and you don't want a computer for more than 3 years.

 

I graduate in 2011 so I really just need it to last me for 3 years. Im torn between getting the accidental or regular warranty. I take good care of my stuff so I dont expect to drop it or spill coffee on it (or let anyone borrow it) but you never know. If things tend to fail on systems like the X61 I would rather buy the regular warranty as I feel that would come in handy when something big stops working.

I dont really need the onsite service as I can do without a comp for several days.

 

I wasn't worried that I would accidently do anything to my T61... I was worried somebody else might unintentionally... so the 3 year Thinkpad protection was worth it for me. (but this might be different for those that aren't in a dorm).

My old laptop was dropped 15 feet from a balcony in a targus bag and suffered some injuries My friend was just playing around thinking it was a book bag even though I was yelling out that a laptop was inside. Explain that one away to warranty repairs....

 

I bought warranty for my first Dell laptop 8 years, but never used. Since then, I bought 4 laptops and never buy any warranty and I did not have any problems with all of them.

 

laptop warranty is NOT WORTH IT period. The one thing that can break is the HDD, but that will happen after 3 years of operating guaranteed, at which point you can easily buy another one for 5 times less than what you paid for the warranty.

I did once made the mistake of buying a 3-year warranty, but will not make it again for sure.

 

Well if you accidentally drop it or some other type of mayhem that might fall upon it, it is nice to have the accident protection, as is the main reason I bought the warranty.

And 4 Years for only 280.00 isn't expensive for full coverage insurance imo...

 

In my personal experience, the worst thing that can happen to a laptop under warranty *is* the warranty repair.

Woefully incompetent techs, refurbished repair parts that just break again right after the laptop's been picked up from a 2-3 month stay at the service center and, of course, said 2-3 month stay at the service center are the makings of a wonderfully nightmarish experience that peeps all too eagerly pre-pay for.

 

Go with the 3-year depot warranty. I say that is your best bet. A few hundred bucks is worth it for peace of mind.

I take exceptional care of my Thinkpad T60, but it turns out it has overheating problems, and I think I would be able to get them to replace the fan or fix something. I have the 3 year depot warranty, but cannot afford to go without my notebook for a few days. So I am just going to wait it out for now, until something else breaks, or I get another computer, until I send it in for any sort of repairs.

If you can afford to go without your computer for a couple days, I say go with the 3 year depot warranty and you should be fine. Some sort of warranty is always good. so that you can deal with unforeseen problems easily. In my case, I had my notebook for 4-5 months before it started overheating.

 

I bought the 2-year anything goes warranty for my T61P. After three months, it appears that the power jack took a little too much strain, and came loose.

They dropped a box within 24 hours, picked it up that day, seemed to fix in in 48 hours, and it's on the way back. I'll let you know how well they did the repair.

Like me, if you are not sure whether or not to get the warranty, get 2 years. I'm glad I got some.

 

I've had a screen go in a machine, and a motherboard/planar go in two others. A family member was getting a Fan Error in their 2 1/2 year old ThinkPad the other day. I've also had the ticking hard drive of death in the first two years on a couple of machines.

What data do you have that supports your claims?

 

I had a screen go out on the last day of a 3-year warranty.

 

is the accidental coverage inclusive of regular things that fail?

Lets say I get the accidental coverage and all of a sudden my hard drive fails (without me damaging it through an 'accident') would they still fix it?

 

Accidental damage is above and beyond the standard coverage. If your accidental damage coverage is current, so is your depot/onsite service, which would cover a failed component.

 

Actually, no. I owned several Toshibas that had their various issues...first popped by electric surge (replacement, $1700), second had continual overheating and lag issues (got $1k on that one as part of a class-action suit against Toshiba), third had an accidental iced tea incident (keyboard replacement ($140), plus screen/lid/palmrest replacement after they let a gorilla perform the repairs), plus had an optical drive go out at 13 months ($300). I finally said to hell with it and went for the protection warranty. I've worked from my last Toshi for 4 years now, and considering Lenovo had the 4 year protection warranty priced the same as the 3 year warranty for their holiday sale, I opted for the 4 year protection warranty.

Of course, dealing with Lenovo customer service is another matter, at least in my experience thus far.

 

Nice Avatar lol and good words of wisdom, that's why I also opted for the same route.

 

my personal experience.

on my HP Pavilion (P4-2.66GHz, 4.5 years old now) I had to change the HDD once after 2.5 years of exploatation due to an accidental drop, and it was still under warranty. But the HDD cost at the time was like 40 bux or less, and I paid 250 for the warranty when I bought it. I didn't bother to send it to HP for a replacement, I just went ahead and bought a lot faster and bigger drive, for still less than what I paid for the warranty (old one: 60GB 4200rpm, new one:hitachi 100GB 7200rpm). At the 4th year I had to put some oil on the lense rail of the DVD drive cause it started making scrubbing noises when it moved the lense, and that fixxed the problem.

now I can understand the screen and the fan issues that you've seen, but how do you get issues with the motherboard ?

 

this is a guy that has a talk show and is pretty famous in US for his "spend less, save more, and avoid getting ripped off" . I did a quick search about laptop warranty and I found this. Read the second paragraph

http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/8/24/

 

That's a pretty old article.

There was a doctor who once said, "Men have short brutal lives, and women long miserable ones."

This could be adapted, "Laptops have short brutal lives, and desktops long miserable ones."

The people telling you not to buy the warranty, aren't going to help you pay for your laptop repairs down the road; the people telling you to buy the warranty aren't going to help you cover the costs upfront. The question remains, what can you afford--when?

 

I'd have to respectfully disagree with a lot of what that guy recommends. I hate extended warranties just as much as the next guy, and rarely purchase them... but ~$100 more on a $2000+ purchase when most of the major components are $300+ is a no brainer. You might be able to get a laptop for $450, but you get exactly what you paid for there....

 

The reason I even ask is because I spent a total of $1070 on the laptop including shipping and tax. Unless things are known to break or unless lenovo is known to have exceptional service, it might not be worth it to pay almost $300 for a warranty. Im still leaning towards getting the three year accidental coverage regardless just havent finalized it yet.

 

Yea whether to get the warranty is a tough decision. When I bought my t61p, I ended up not buying any extended warranties because that would have driven up the cost beyond my budget ($1600 or near $2k). I would consider several things when deciding whether to get the warranty: 1. does my budget allow it? 2. how I am going to use the laptop: are there a lot of possible situations where I or someone else will break something (like drunken friends or children)? 3. how much I paid for the laptop. If I paid $1k, then I would not waste money on a $300+ warranty. On the other hand, if I paid over $2k for it, I would consider getting it. 4. Whether I am willing to repair broken parts myself 5. how long do I expect to use the laptop? The longer I expect it to last more likely something will break in the process. I'd just save the money spend on the warranty and get a new laptop 3 years later.

 

I agree. Though I assume you are looking at Thinkpad Protection if you're talking about that kind of price for a warranty. 3 yr depot is about $119, protection is $279. The former is probably the most appropriate for a laptop in the $1k range unless you're sending a kid to school with it. The 4th year is where it really gets bad -- another $100 for the 4th year. Since I decked my T61p out pretty well, the ratio of warranty cost versus system price was much, much lower.

 

Accidental damage warranty is just for that specific reason, accidents. If you think you will never accidentally trip and fall, accidentally get caught in the pouring rain, accidentally knocking something over from the coffee table, or accidentally do something dumb that you have NEVER done before... then so be it because you do not need it.

As expensive as laptops are compared to desktops in the first place, I wonder why it is difficult for people to consider at least the standard warranty. Just because you never had to fix your first laptop doesn't mean that hardware parts have improved on durability and that you can get away from damaging your new and expensive laptop. I never had to fix my first laptop but I RARELY moved it from my desk. I treated it as if it was about to fall apart all the time because I had no warranty. With my new laptop purchase I opted for the 3 year warranty and 3 year accidental warranty... I have decided that it is time to use a laptop the way it is intended to be used... mobile, take it around, not worry about parts breaking because I have warranty coverage.

My 2 cent. LOL

 

I would never spend 30% of the cost of the product on a warranty..especially a laptop whose technology goes by the wayside so quickly. An extended warranty (which I did not buy) costs about $1,750 for my car which is about 7% of the cost of the car. Get the basic warranty if any and call it a day.

 

I my case, I can price my current laptop, warranty, and accessories above $3000. I originally gave myself a budget of $2000. With the holiday sale and coupon I had at the time, I was able to price it (the laptop and warranty) around $1928. I figure I got such a good deal to begin with that I could splurge on the peace of mind. Also, as I have paid for the extended 4 year warranty, I can pretty much guarantee that nothing will happen to the unit (you know, Murphy's Law and all). Basically I'm hoping I just bribed the laws of probability into looking the other way on this one.

But, in your case with a $1000 machine I would say no. If you are particularly accident prone, maybe the $89 protection addon for the first year, but beyond that it may not be worth it. Case in point, my wife's HP. We bought that thing about a year ago for around $1150. I noticed last month that it is selling around $650. If anything actually happened to the unit, it probably wouldn't cost much more than the warranty just to replace the whole thing. You might also take a look at Lenovo's depot prices for your unit and view that as a viable alternative for anything happening beyond the term of the basic warranty.

 

Agree. Basic point is warranty should not exceed about 20% of lappy cost. If you got AMEX or VISA then can go maybe lower due to 1 year extension for free.

 

I did buy my laptop with my Visa. Can you explain how that affects the warranty?

 

in 3 years, your laptop would cost as much as your warranty right now.

 

I forgot to mention in my previous post: Don't get onsite. It is useless and half the time, they end up coming twice 'cause say they think its a motherboard issue when it's just a cable that needs replaced so they have to come back. Ends up being 3 days, which is about the same as depot which is like 4 days usually.

 

can anyone explain/confirm this visa warranty? If I get a second year warranty included because I used my visa then im not gonna buy anything. Any clues?

 

AMEX:
https://www212.americanexpress.com/...CRD&name=buyersassurance_ccsg_faq&type=intfaq

VISA:
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/benefits/bft_warranty_mgr.html

 

I'd have explained that one to my friend's pocketbook, actually.

I'm looking at the 2-year depot warranty myself. If the T61 is as good as everyone says (I'm used to Dell, which has done very well for us as an organization, so this would be my first Thinkpad) there's only a few parts I'd worry about. At the same time, there are one or two repairs that just cost the big bucks (LCD, system board) even if I did them myself, and the warranty is worth that chance for the extra $60.