M4400 reliability

Hi all,

Well with quite a few M4400 users here, what has been your general reliability thoughts on it?
Mine is running fine however, having a nice chat with dell yesterday - it seems mines just come out of warranty.

Now I could buy their extended 2 year warranty at a cost of £260 which would be the next day business option or risk it and carry on using it.

Now what I am thinking is if it does not break down in the next 2 years then I save £260

If it does and worst case scenario is that the motherboard goes, I'm looking at a £200 cost - I noticed some on ebay so I still save.

If the screen goes, then again, it's a cheap fix.

I suppose the only thing is if multiple parts go - they state if it is not fixable/feasible, they will replace the unit.

Appreciate your thoughts

 

while it is a reliable machine, sh*t happens. it depends on what u use ur laptop for. if its mostly on a desk all the time, chances are you'll be fine.

if you're a road warrior like me, i'd say the extended warranty is a prerequisite. also, if its your only/main machine, and you dont want to risk downtime, go for it.

also, how long are you planning on keeping the unit? thats another important thing to consider. for me, im planning on minimum 3 years, but more likely 4 years, and after that i'll hand it over to my mum. so in my case its gonna be probably a 6 year lifespan

certain types of failures can be very costly, for example on one of my other laptops, the graphics card died, and took the mobo and processor with it.....NOT a cheap fix!!!

the M4400 is pretty highly integrated, even the gfx card is integrated into the mobo...so yea. but 230 for 2 years sounds like a lot...seems like extended warranties are much cheaper in other countries.

i got my system (specs in sig) brand new from dell for about 1100 pounds including 3 year ProSupport warranty

 

Hmm good points made there
I will look into this and probably make a go for it then. The only issue is now whether they will warrant the machine given that it looks like someones been in there - be it dell or someone else.

There won't be issues with the machine itself as I'm replacing a few parts that just don't look right - for instance, the screen bezel is not clipped in on the corner of one side - I've tried to sort this out but can't do it so I'm replacing both screen lid and bezel.

The only other thing then will be the fact that I don't have any stickers under the laptop at all apart from the licence sticker under the battery

Not sure whether it was a recon/refurb but who knows.

I'll speak to him and see what he thinks I guess

 

Oh I should note that the store I got it from gives a 1 year warranty so I could just use them - I don't normally keep a laptop for more than a year though my previous Sony SZ I kept for almost 2 so who knows - I think the weight of it will make me change in a year or so

 

If you're not gonna keep it, definately dont buy the extended warrenty. I usually dont recommend those things anyway. And Dell's tech support, while very fast at approving replacement under the warrenty(got them to replace my mobo in 15mins with online chat, took HP 45mins to let me send my friend's laptop in for repair) the guys that come out to fix it dont know crap. 1st guy lost a couple screws which I later found and put back, the 2nd guy didnt remember to reconnect my speakers after replacing the palmrest. You might as well just place stuff on the fly. Besides, as long as you dont beat the crap out of it or let it overheat, all the parts should last you a year easily.

Not sure how afhstingray's friend fried the cpu along with the gpu, but i do know that if dell replaces the mobo(only way to replace the gpu) they will also replace the processor. Thats what happened when I screwed up my gpu. Mobo replacement or LCD replacement are the only 2 things I see that can come close to making it worth it. Not to mention that with warrenties you're basically "betting against yourself". If you think you'll drop it or severaly damage it in the next year you're gonna have it then buy it. If you less than 50% sure you'll need it, you're better off not buying it. Just my 2 cents

PS. How much did you buy the laptop for? Might wanna factor that into your decision as well...if you paid 1100 for it, 200 is a little less than 20% of the original cost, but if you got it on the cheap like me, $850 then 200 becomes a HUGE chuck of money and doesnt add that much value to me.

 

Think about it this way: Do you plan on keeping the computer for two years longer? If so, you're talking about a little less than -L-11 a month. Is that worth it to you for the peace of mind that if anything happens to your computer, it will be covered? Then you have your answer.
I do agree, though, that it's worth considering how much you spent on the computer. I wouldn't pay that much for a warranty on a netbook, for example.

 

I'd go for the accidental coverage....it's a sturdy and reliable notebook but you never know what'll happen. Plus you can have them fixes small damages as well which you normally would just walk around with.

 

Very good points - I forgot about the accidental cover
I think I might look into this more than warranty - If anything major breaks...one could always have...an accident :- )

Price-wise- I did not pay much. Basically, I traded in my sony which gave me £350, I got 15% off the already lowered £795 for the M4400 making it £675 and that minus the Sony... £325 is what I paid for it.

So £230 extra would be worth it in that case but on the other hand, I doubt I will have it more than a year

Will look into the accidental cover and get back to you guys

Thanks again