Warranty... yea or nea?

As a rule, I usually pass on warranties, but I keep reading horror stories on this forum. Am I just reading the "vocal minority" or is the M11X a reliable piece of hardware?

If you purchased a warranty, how long did you get?

 

A good percentage of every model of laptop will have a major problem in each of the first three years of ownership. That is true of many of the major parts, including hard drive, lcd, and motherboard (Google's study on hard drive failure is interesting: Powered by Google Docs. This article puts Dell at a 18% change of failure over the first three years: notebook reliability | Electronista. That's just counting innate problems, with user-caused such as spilling liquids on them (think now how often do you keep your coffee mug or a soda can near your laptop) and drops adding to the total.

At 18%, I consider it risky to own a laptop without a warranty. Your opinion might be different.

The second consideration is whether the price of the warranty is larger than replacing any parts that may go wrong.

I bought a 3 year warranty with accidental damage from squaretrade.com. My r2 cost $810.12, and coverage on that was $129.99 with $70 for accidental damage. Squaretrade always has 20% coupons floating around and comes out with 30% ones every few weeks, so if you wait for one of those like I did, that puts it at $140. Is $140 worth it? I find the cost of displays are generally $200-$350, and one can usually pick up a laptop with a broken screen (but otherwise working) on eBay for around $300. Since $140 is less than both of those, I felt it was worth it.

edit: btw note this was through squaretrade.com, not dell.com, which has higher prices. You can haggle with them, but I haven't managed to get it cheaper than squaretrade, and they're a reputable company. Also, dell's accidental damage plan only covers it once, then you're SOL I think.

 

Well I have heard that a whole lot of issues have been plaguing the M11x's at the moment so it would be best to go for a three year.

 

Got the three year, and may well need it. Already having to replace one part.

 

I didn't get anything when I ordered, but I figure when the year is up I'll extend it another year with accidental--and by year three, I'll be looking for another laptop anyway.

 

After my warranty with dell is over( 1 year advanced) should i get a new warranty from dell or from square trade?

 

Price both and see. I believe Dell's go up in price if you don't get it when you buy the laptop, but on the phone you can haggle. With Squaretrade, you can buy a plan any time after you bought it with no change in price, but it doesn't go into effect until 30 days after you've bought it (to prevent buying it only once something has gone wrong, I assume).

 

so ill get it like a month b4 my 1 year advanced warranty is over. Thank you

 

So I checked out the Squaretrade website and looked at how much it would cost. After entering the cost of the hardware, it gave me a menu choice of "New" or "Refurbished". What can I choose if I decide to purchase a warranty on an 11 month old laptop?

 

I believe that means did you buy it used or refurbished, so put "new" unless you got it second-hand. It will ask you for the purchase date later.

 

Awesome! Thanks!

 

I heavily suggest getting at the very least a 3 year basic warranty. If you are a careful person the advanced warranty is not necessary. The basic warranty will still cover all mechanical and eletronic failures as long as it wasnt directly caused by an accident on your part. Desktops arent really needed to get warranties but laptops are a must. You don;t have to buy it up front though. You can get the 1 year warranty and then before it is over extend it to 3 or 4 years. If you plan on keeping this laptop for 4 or more years then you should eventually upgrade to the full 4 years. If you plan on selling it in say 2 years then just get the 2 year warranty. You will be kicking yourself if you dont get the warranty. If you plan on having this laptop 4 or more years there is a very good chance something is going to fail in that 4 years and you are much safer paying for the warranty then paying for new parts and labor to put them on. Heck there is a good chance 2,3 even 4 things could go wrong in those 4 years and having the warranty will mean you spend much less money in the long run. Though you could get lucky and have a laptop that runs flawless for 4 years. It's the risk you take. But odds are something will break in 4 years maybe even more then 1 thing.

 

1st year is covered by Dell, the second year is covered by many credit card companies. IMO, if it breaks after that I'll happily replace it.

 

Dell warranties are worth every dime in my experience.

My M1330 replaced by M11x R2. What else do I have to say here?

 

i am one of the "if it breaks it will break in the first year" type, i may or may not extend it after the first year.

 

i think that would depends on if you intend to keep this laptop for some time. your opinion might be different but as for me i see no point to save on warranty if you can pay so much for the piece of hardware. does not matter which product or product from who, no matter how realiable they can be, you never know what you are getting at the end of day. i would have paid for warranty to give myself peace of mind if i intend to use it for quite some time. think about it if any part of your laptop ever breaks down beyond the standard first year warranty, you might end up paying more than the initial warranty than you paid for. Of cuz no one hope their machine breaks down but it's just for raining days in case.

apart from that i personally find dell's after sales support pretty ok. u got myself 3 years premium warranty with 3 years complete cover (accident coverage). I am cool with it.

 

I'm amazed that "nea" is currently at 40%. The way the forum reads, I was expecting lower.

 

If it were me, I would get the 3 year basic plan. You'll have plenty of time to think during the 1 year basic plan included in the laptop. I'm running on a one year basic right now and I'll be upgrading it to a 3 year later on. A tech is also coming in to replace my lcd panel because of some hinge issues and I've only had it for about a month.

 

I purchase the advanced plans, it eliminated any argument about who's fault a problem is.

The hinge is cracked, did I drop it? was it defected? Doesn't matter. Fix it.
The screen is dusty, was I out in a corn field or did they forget a 35 cent piece of tape? Doesn't matter. Fix it.
I spilled soy sauce in my keyboard. Whoops. My Fault. Fix it.

I do try to take great care for my equipment, but my m11x, when it arrives, will travel daily to work with me in my gear bag. If i drop my bag down the stairs (hey, it's happened) and it doesn't survive. No problem. It's good for 2 years.

 

Unless they fix the hinge issue, get the warranty. Pure and simple. Because if it's anything like the tech who visited me predicts, you WILL need to replace the screen at least once. And due to the faulty hinge quality, it's likely to happen again. And again. And again. Until the hinge issue is solved.

 

Have a 1 year for now, but that's because I might pick up a different laptop next year, depending on what's out there. I'll extend it a year if there isn't anything that catches my eye by then.

 

Wow, I never thought of the 2 year advanced free upgrade plan. It is genius. (if I accidentally dropped it on concrete or if it fell in a bathtub)