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    Z warranty: 2 Year Accidental or 3 Year Onsite?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Tomassi, Sep 30, 2008.

  1. Tomassi

    Tomassi Notebook Consultant

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    Guys, I'm in big doubt. Should I get '2 Year VAIO Accidental Onsite' warranty or '3 Year VAIO Onsite'? Better get an additional year, or better be insured against 'stupidity'?

    *I'm usually very secure and not stupid at all, but breaking my Z in the first year because of my own fault would really suck... From the other hand, it would obviously suck if in the beginning of the third year it would turn out that the videocard is a faulty one.


    edit: maybe relevant to note; the price of both warranties is essentially the same!
     
  2. favorini

    favorini Notebook Guru

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    I went with 3-yr. onsite, since I don't tend to break things. :D
     
  3. Lattice

    Lattice Notebook Evangelist

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    I would go with the accidental and if you want the extra year, buy it with an Am Ex card, which extends the warranty one year. Sony's original warranty doesn't cover *any* sort of physical damage, so you don't necessarily need to be a clumsy oaf, but even a single instance of rough handling or pressing down too hard on some fragile part could result in heartache. To the Z's credit, its screen seems pretty resilient to flexing, but I still wouldn't want to risk such an expensive piece of hardware!
     
  4. Tomassi

    Tomassi Notebook Consultant

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    @ Lattice;

    Are you sure that purchasing with AmEx extends the warranty? I actually did already make the purchase and payment (some time ago) with AmEx (it's even platinum!), for a Sony Z with the 2 year Accidental warranty, but since my unit still hasn't been shipped I still have the opportunity to change my mind... The AmEx card is a Dutch one by the way, maybe it depends per country?


    edit: found it; the AmEx warranty extension only holds for American residents
     
  5. Prince_Phoenix

    Prince_Phoenix Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    Is not getting a warranty a bad idea on the Sony Z? Are the machines prone to problems later on?
     
  6. Tomassi

    Tomassi Notebook Consultant

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    For me personally, there are two issues here;
    - The Z is a rather expensive notebook, it would suck much more if you dropped it and it broke down than in case you'd broke a $800 lappie.
    - There are these rumours the video card might be defective... Would be cool to have the warranty if this would come 'out' in year 2 or something. Yet, these really are nothing more than rumours, and probably it's just bull**** anyway that I bring this up here.
     
  7. Lattice

    Lattice Notebook Evangelist

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    Well, I personally think if anything's going to go wrong with the Z, it would be more likely due to human error than manufacturing defects, which is why I'd go with the 2-year accidental.

    I'm unfamiliar with how these things work outside North America, but another way to deal with this would be to just get the extended warranty and then get renter's insurance or some sort of specialized laptop insurance to cover accidents/theft and so forth, which is the route I'm taking - but that's only because I have very cheap student insurance that costs $180 for 3 years, so I only need to get an extended warranty on top of that to be completely covered for just about any event.