Desktops and Notebooks warranty

Do you guys think that any notebook or desktop computers need warranty like 3 years or so? I just wonder since computers are really complicated they do run into problems in around 3 years or so. Like hard drive fails or motherboard doesn't work right, etc.

 

hard drive are fairly easy, cheap and fun to replace. for desktops, almost all desktop GPU nowadays have at least 3 year warranty, same goes with desktop motherboards and CPUs, PSUs. story is a bit different for laptops because you buy a pre assembled laptop from a dealer, who usually offers 1 year (2 year+ extra charge).

 

Anything a seller/manufacturer offers comes at a price. Warranty is one such item.

The best warranty in my opinion is having the $$$ on hand to simply replace a dead system at a moment's notice (a good backup strategy is also required, of course).

Buy the cheapest, most capable/powerful system you can with the option to (possibly) buy it again in a year's time and leave the warranties for others to waste money on.

(Do note: I always recommend warranties for companies/clients I recommend hardware to - but that is because I don't have the time or inclination to personally manage/be responsible for 100's of system (1000's over the years) that I have no direct (day to day) control over).


Save your money always - cash is king - and take the chance that the hardware you buy will still be working in half a decade - and if not, not only are you spending on a 'need to' basis, but you'll be upgrading to better hardware/software/OS at the same time.

Any warranty I've ever bought has always turned out to be useless: the product dies 'after' the warranty runs out - so, not only did I pay for the warranty - but I also paid for the new system in full in the end anyways.

Good luck.

 

100% yes. i always recommend extended warranty.

all it takes is a crapped out gpu (9800GT for instance) and youve already saved money.
the amount of people who had to fork out £300-400 on courier,parts,labour to replace their dead 9800. mine was replaced the same day with a better 260gtx saving me £300

i will let you do the maths but i think i would rather pay £70 for a full 2 years than £300 for a one off repair.

 

It's a personal decision. Spend $2k on a laptop, I'll spend the extra $150-$200 for the two year warranty. I'm not going to save another $2k in a year in case my laptop takes a crap as tiller suggests. I'd rather have peace of mind for the two years that if it fails, it gets replaced or fixed.

Of course along with that is to review the warranty history of the company you're buying the laptop from. Some companies, like Asus, have had nightmare warranty claims, basically their laptop ships out and never comes back. In that case choose a different brand, or buy an independent warranty like SquareTrade. And in some cases the warranty cost is just not justified. For some less expensive systems, like $1000-$1200 I've seen three year warranties for like $500-$600! The laptop won't be worth that after two years!

Accidental damage protection is another warranty decision too because it's typically a separate purchase. In many cases if you're technically inclined you can usually replace a motherboard or LCD yourself at or less than the cost of the accidental warranty.

IMHO, after two years the laptop is worth less than half the original purchase price, so it's just deal with it if / when something happens. The beauty of it is, especially for the more expensive gaming laptops, components are a lot cheaper and can be found on eBay or other online sites for fairly cheap after 2-3 years. And heck, I've bought laptops being sold "for parts" because it was just missing a power adapter (yeah crazy eh?), dead battery, and/or a broken LCD for a few hundred bucks, and the parts inside it are worth twice that.

Bottom line is to weigh the pros and cons, and use your best judgement. I don't like spending money on warranties or insurance, but in the case of a laptop especially, replacement components are expensive and can be hard to come by even in the first couple years, so I feel its justified as long as the warranty cost isn't outrageous.

 

I would say if that is standard manufacture warranty I would let it be but if they are talking about the retailer addon warranty - read what the warranty covers and what the cost for the tier repair or replacement. After market warranties usually isn't worth it but alot depends on what they cover and what they will fix. But one should consider the environment they will use the laptop in is it a ruff and tumble or leisure home use that will tell you which if any warranty will be needed past the manufacture warranty. I seen where a LCD replacement might be worth for a larger screen laptop if it should break and everything else is working fine. IMO

 

I would say depends on the budget of your notebook, if you have a 300 dollar notebook, a warranty probably doesn't make sense. But if you have a 5000 dollar maxed out Alienware, a 500-700 dollar accidental damage warranty is probably a good investment. Also for laptops, a warranty makes more sense IMO, as notebook parts aren't as standardized and sold at stores compared to desktops (motherboards, MXM cards, mobile PGA CPU's, screens). That and laptops are more prone to being dropped then desktops (at least I would hope nobody lugs around a desktop). And I build custom desktops for myself, so no warranty really implied.

 

Well I was wondering is that I have a $300 notebook and a $400 desktop PCs and I can get squaretrade and get a 3 year warranty for $70 with accidental for my notebook and for 4 years for desktop without accidental for $80. But I just don't know if they will brake after those years or will computers get problems sooner than 3 years?

 

I can say that SquareTrade will do is that if something is wrong with the desktop or notebook since it's not that expensive they will just send me the money I paid for it to me and I send the broken notebook or desktop back to them. They will pay for the shipping to send it to them.

 

For something like a Retina MacBook Pro, you absolutely want to spend the extra money on the 2-year AppleCare extension as anything that breaks outside the standard warranty will be absurdly expensive to fix. AppleCare doesn't cover accidental damage, though you can check with your homeowner's/renter's insurance company to see if the computer would be covered by that or if you can take out a "personal items policy" which will take care of accidents and I believe theft as well. I have my MBP insured through State Farm, and I think it costs something like $35/year. All I had to do was fax them a copy of the original purchase receipt and note the serial number.

 

Extended warranties serve two purposes.

They act as insurance, to protect you from a high repair / replacement cost if your computer equipment fails after the standard manufacturer's warranty expires. They also act as premium customer service, usually coming with priority support like next-day onsite repair services.

If all you care about is the "insurance" aspect of an extended warranty, then no, they are not worth it. You're better off getting extended warranty / insurance coverage through SquareTrade, or through certain credit cards that offer extended product protection.

However, if you really need the premium customer service to protect you from extended downtime, then it is absolutely worth every penny. Otherwise, you will end up being stuck without a computer for 2-4 weeks while you mail your computer to/from a repair depot, or while you wait for an insurance company to process your claim and reimburse you the value of the machine. If you cannot afford to lose the use of your computer for that amount of time, then pay the $300 extra to protect against that.


I'd take a look at your personal buying patterns, and figure out how long you want to keep your equipment. If you personally get the upgrade itch every 2 years, then you want a 2-year warranty. Because if your laptop breaks down in 2.5 years, it's a good excuse to satisfy that upgrade itch and buy a new, faster, powerful laptop anyway.

 

In my view; they serve a third (and primary) purpose: they make ('free') extra money for the entity selling the extended warranty...

 

True to a degree...however:

If the machine is going to be performing a "mission critical" function - and only the owner can decide whether it will - an upgraded warranty is worth every penny, especially on an expensive piece of hardware.

This statement presumes a manufacturer's - not a third party - warranty, and a company that has a solid reputation in that respect...

 

In most of the cases it is one year of warranty proposed by the producer. If you want to get 3 years, you should pay your extra charge for that. But, generally, I think there is no the necessity to get three years of warranty. One of it will be ok.

 

Here, here. And it most definitely is a good investment.

In fact, if nothing breaks, they're 100% profitable; and you get that profit right upfront.

Nevertheless, that's no reason for not considering purchasing one. Look to the needs that best suits yourself, not to the overwhelming desire to stick it to the man.

 

Just check the fine print with SquareTrade because I believe they give you "fair market value" if they send you a check. So if you bought a laptop for $2k, got the three year warranty, and after two years the laptop mobo was fried, they may just send you a check for $600 since that's what the fair market value dictates for a used laptop with similar specs.

 

I am against extended warranties in all cases (no pun) I have never spent $$ on one for anything I have purchased. I figure all the money I saved over the years; undoubtedly exceeds the few times I have had to pay out of pocket for repairs.

 

JOSEA,

Agreed 100%. Not only am I ahead in the long run... but I'm sure I've saved a few grey/white hairs too by not having to deal with 'customer service'.

 

Til you take care of 4 toddlers, I'd say that is untrue. Accidental Damage and Handling warranties are always something to consider, you may not plan on having an accident, but that doesn't stop life from helping out.