Is extra warranty really worth it?

I've already received my T61, but I'm thinking about upgrading my standard 1 year depot to 3 year depot since it's only $80 now.

But I've read from this forum that when something breaks and you send it in, IBM doesn't take and fix your laptop but a random contracted company does. Is this true? If it is, I'm really doubtful if a 3 year warranty will be worth it. And honestly, what's the chance of a hardware component failing after the first year? Not much I would think.

Opinions?

 

It may not fail after the first year, but if it does, you'll be happy you got the warranty. I settled with 2 year because I'll probably be shopping for a new one by then anyway.

 

I got the cheapest warranty - I usually extend it later

 

I think you only have 30 days after invoice to extend it. Which is why I'm trying to decide now.

 

Get it, laptops are expensive to fix and in my mind a 3 year warranty is a must and well worth the peace of mind and $80.

 

I don't know if I'd trust a random contracted company to fix my laptop. That gets me worried.

 

I think there are many satisfied EZ-Serv customers (the depot warranty) and I always get a 3-year warranty (usually as standard) for two reasons: I once had a mobo go out on me (it does occasionally happen) and having some warranty left boosts resale value if you plan to sell within 3 years.

I do not, however, get the Thinkpad protection.

 

30 days is just to add thinkpad protection. You can wait and extend your warranty after the first 30 days...

 

Well, if you purchase with an American Express CC, Amex will extend the warranty an additional year.

 

The company is not random. It's a single company: Solectron. They are worldwide. The big problem is when Solectron has to order parts that Lenovo doesn't keep in stock in the States. Big delays or getting lost in the shuffle because of poor communications between Solectron and Lenovo, are often the result.

 

I wonder how this will work if I had to select Lenovo Warranty and Protection together. Will AMEX cover both, or only warranty, or neither?

 

I got the 3 year. At about 8% of the purchase price it was well worth it.

 

Here's a link for info on what is and isn't covered: https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/benefits/includes/pdf/buyersAssurance2003.pdf

It's a little confusing..."Occurances not covered: any physical damage, including damage as a direct result of natural disaster or a power surge, except to the
extent the manufacturer's warranty covers damage;"

 

As mentioned before, the company that does the repair is far from random. For the multiple repairs that I have had done (including planar card replacement and LCD replacement) they have done fast, high-quality work.

I always get the 3-year depot Thinkpad Protection plan. Never know when an errant stapler will go flying into your screen (really happened to me).

 

Thanks a lot for the link. Yeah words in such documents are often ambiguous, so that they could first get the customers but later interpret it in their own favor. I won't mind at all if they don't cover protection, but I'd like the warranty be covered. Just don't throw warranty away with the protection simply because I get both together.

 

I bought it using the Costco AMEX card. Is that given an extra year?

And if I upgrade to 3 years, does that mean I get 4 years or will they not give me an extra year on top since I'm upgrading the warranty, not initially ordering it.

 

Read the link provided above. I just did. I think if you originally have 1 year, then upgrade to 3 years, then when 3 years passed, you'll get an additional year. But again please read it by yourself as I didn't read very carefully.

 

Yea, Solectron is a pretty big company and has been around since the 70's. Their headquarters are also right here in the Bay Area, w00t!!

 

Can one extend it when the original warranty is just about to expire? Will that cost the same as or more than if we take a longer warranty in the beginning?

 

I would not risk it. Gte it now, $80 for two addional years is pretty damn low. Thinkpads usually fail in year 3 or year 4.
If the motherboard konks out, or the backlight fails, its gonna cost some serious $$$$

 

Really?? Do you really mean to say "Thinkpads" or "laptops"?

 

are you sure about that? after speaking with lenovo..they said I could only do it when i first placed the order....the guy was really rude..even though I was being very polite?

 

That is quite a statement. Maybe I have been lucky or maybe you have been unlucky, but the ThinkPads I used to use for work, got passed on to the rookie employees after about 2 years, and they would be used for at least 4 years before being sold off very cheaply.

Even my old Asus M2400N which I bought in May 2003 is still running perfectly.

Again maybe I have just been lucky (or maybe I take proper care of my notebooks) but I have not had one single notebook which has really failed on me yet. Only real incident was my Dell D610 which had to have a Wireless LAN card replaced after a couple of years of use.

I do however agree that warranty is always good. For 80 USD I wouldn't even be asking this question. Just get it.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=32267
indicates 56% of people in poll had a serious problem witht the thinkpads in years 3 or 4.

This has also been my experience with the people I work with.
Person 1: T40, dvd drive failed year 3, crack in case year 4 (never fell down).
Person 2: HDD failed year 4, fan failed year 4.
Person 3: GPU problem year 4 (had to be sent in for repair), fan failed year 4
Person 4: Fan failed year 5, motherboard died year 5 (this machine was sent to IBM in year 3, I dont know why)
Person 5: Fan failed year 5
Person 6: Backlight died year 4.

Except for one person, I know of NO other person in my group who has had a trouble free laptop for 4 years.

I meant thinkpads, as I havent had much experience with other brands.

 

Interesting, thanks for the statistics.

 

Keep in mind, hard drives, fans, optical drives (cd/dvd), hinges etc; .. these things are known to fail with age - they all hav moving parts.

Cracks in the chassis, dents.. normal from wear and tear and the odd bumps and grinds I would imagine.

 

I think for a notebook, the extended warranty is worth it since notebooks tend to fail more easily than a desktop. So many components are jammed in such a small confined space, and the notebook is usually carried around a lot. If something were to fail in a notebook, expect high repair costs. With a desktop, at least you could troubleshoot (or have somebody else do it) and replace a certain part in question. The notebook is less user replaceable.

 

Peace of mind is far more important than the cost. I upgraded my standard 3 year carry in to on site NBD, so glad I did.

 

How long after you placed your order did you upgrade?

 

I didn't buy mine through Lenovo.com - I bought it at a reseller in my country. So it was an extra purchase at the same time.

 

Sorry to double-post but I have another question that is relevant to this topic.

On the warranty page on the Lenovo site there is a Service Provider link. If there is a certified warranty repair place in your town, can you take a notebook that has a Depot warranty in and have it fixed there. Or are you forced to mail it out?

 

My system came with 4yr NBD onsite (no additional charge to upgrade), and I added the TPP for the 4 years ($143.00). There is nothing like the support afforded on this type of warranty. I have been supported by this type of warranty on all my recent computers and I would pay twice as much to have the piece of mind this affords.

 

mine came with a 1 yr depot, and I bought the 3 yr depot for $80. You are correct in you reasoning at 8% price it is a good buy. I have had 1 laptop prior, it worked for 1 month and the mobo cracked in half ( wtf! ), the factory covered this, then 1 year, and 2 days later the HD failed. The factory agreed to look at it, but said it looked like it had been surged - I took it to a local laptop repair shop and they said it was not the HD but the controller on the mobo, and it definitely had not been surged. I argued with (Compaq) and finally said screw it, I got a lemon, and will never buy from them again.

Now 5 years later I am buying a thinkpad, and I am get 3 yr warranty, after 3 years I will be likely want something more modern.

 

If you're in US, you can bump that to 4 years, see my sig

 

The standard warranty for T61 is 1 year parts/labor and 3 year Parts? I just received my warranty stuff, and this is what they sent me (expires 8/16/2010):

Description:
This product has a three year limited warranty and is entitled to IBM EZServ service. Customers may call their local service center for more information. Dealers may provide carry-in repair for this product. Batteries have a one year warranty.

Did they screw up? I didn't buy any extra coverage.

 

Lucky dog

 

where do you look to see when your warranty expires?

 

Order status page > Click Warranty LookUp > Enter your type and serial

 

Thanks..damn..they gave me the 1 year...I was hoping they messed up..lol


Type: Model: Serial number:
6465 CTO XXXXXXX


Status: Expiration date: Location:
In warranty 2008-08-12 UNITED STATES

 

I purchased by my AMEX card and bought 2 years warranty ( not Depot one ) for only 58.00 dollars extra ( so total 3 years ) and it really worth it , the reason i didn't choose depot is :
when they need to change a part they mostly must order it from lenovo them again tech. should come back to fix it and it takes longer than sending the whole system to Lenovo and let them fix it and i am sure they have much better equipment in their labs , and when you report a problem next day you will receive the box , same day delivery and all is express shipping ,
with price of laptops and quality of materials i think its well worth 58.00 dollars insurance as a back up plan in case of problems and kindly note that adding RAM , changing hard drive or operating system WON"T void your warranty

 

Take a look at the following link :

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/thinkcentre_pdf/l505-0010-00-eng.pdf

This is from Lenovo's webpage under Warranty and License. It clearly states 1 year parts/labor and 3 years parts (top of page 3/3)

Maybe it changed, and nobody caught it until now!

 

Thanks for the info. Was never 100% sure about this. Many notebook manufacturers will void your warranty as soon as you remove the lid to i.e. the memory banks.

Do you have a Lenovo link stating your statement above?

 

So everyone with 1 year depot gets labor covered for 1 year, but has 3 years on parts? Pretty interesting. Also, does this mean that the AMEX warranty protection means it adds 1 more year of labor and then a 4th year of parts...but i would assume it's one or the other.

 

Can anyone confirm this?

 

I bought an R61 3-4 weeks ago, and was told the same thing. Apparantly, your warranty upgrade choices/prices are different depending on when you order them: 1) at time of purchase through first 30 days, 2)after 30 days but during "base" warranty, 3) after base warranty period

see:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=THNK-PLUS

 

Thank you
(10 characters)

 

Is the Thinkpad Protection plan the same type of thing as Dell's accident replacement policy? So if I drop the laptop and it breaks they'll fix it even if the reason it broke was completely my fault? I'm assuming batteries aren't covered as they tend to wear out on their own, right?

What happens if they don't have the parts for doing the fix? Going by the options that were avalible on the T61 that are not currently availible this seems likely, especially a few years from now when the T61 isn't sold anymore.

Thanks

 

Anyone have an answer to this one?

 

On the topic of warranties, does anyone know if I can get warranty coverage in Canada if I purchase a thinkpad from the US Lenovo site?