Notebook Warranty Guide

by Andrew Baxter

It's hard to find exactly the right notebook, but satisfying once you finally settle on the right one for you. But the purchase decision isn't over yet, should you buy an extended laptop warranty and extra carecoverage to protect your investment? How about laptop insurance? This article serves to provide some guidance on what warranty might be best for your needs, and what types of extra protection make sense.

What is a Warranty?

Let's start fromthe beginninghere and make sure we understand what a basicwarranty is. According to the dictionary the definition of the word warranty is:

A guarantee given to the purchaser by a company stating that a product is reliable and free from known defects and that the seller will, without charge, repair or replace defective parts within a given time limit and under certain conditions.

The given time limit for a basic laptop warranty is usually 1-year, but conditions vary widely between manufacturers and it is important to read the terms to understand exactly what is and is not covered.

In general, a basic laptop warranty and service support should at leastgive you:

• 1-year of protection from the date of receiving the laptop
• Hardware support for defects in a laptop material or workmanship
• 7-day a week access to some type of technical support such as call-in, email or chat
• Mail-in repair service should trouble shooting via phone prove futile, or shipment of replacement part to the customer if it is deemed the fix can be easily done by the user
• Return and replacement of any laptop that is simply dead (non-working) on arrival (DOA)

A basic warranty and support does not include or cover:

• At home fix and repair service
• Accidental drops or spills that break the laptop
• Loss of laptop through theft, fire, power surge or some natural phenomenon
• International support for when problems arise and you're in another country
• "How to" support for things such as installing 3rd party software or removing viruses

That's a quick take on what a basic warranty is and isn't, but as stated, conditions for each company vary widely so pay attention when buying, here are a few links to major manufacturers warranty and support information:

• Lenovo laptop warranty info
• Gateway laptop warranty info
• Apple laptop warranty info
• HP and Compaq laptop warranty info
• Dell laptop warranty info
• Toshiba laptop warranty info
• Asus laptop warranty info
• Fujitsu laptop warranty info

The Support Aspect of a Warranty

One thing I will not cover is the actual support quality ofeach manufacturer, that's hard to quantify and something only consumer satisfaction surveys or notebook manufacturer forum discussion boards can give you an idea of. If you see a low consumer satisfaction rating and are able to find a discussion board full of complaints you might want to consider how valuable any warranty is from that company -- a 1-year or 4-year warranty is worth little if the support you get in return is bad. Having said that, keep in mind when it comes to discussion boards people are more likely to post complaints than praises in regards to support.

In purchasing a laptop you need to realize that when you buy a specific brandyou'rebuying into that company as well -- support and confidence in a company should certainly be a factorin your decision. A buying decision shouldn't all be based on technicalfeature to feature comparisons. Any companycan sell a product, it's more challenging and expensive for a companyto support thousands of customers when problems arise.

Is a 1-Year Basic Warranty Enough?

This is a question I see all the time. First things first, a 1-year warranty should be the minimum warranty you accept. You might see notebooks being sold for $399 with a 90-day warranty and, while tempting, you should realize that cheap notebooks are more likely to develop problems and if that $399 purchase breaks after 6 months it's not a good deal at all. The absolute minimum you should look for is a 1-year manufacturer warranty.

Many notebooks that are going to fail due to some material or manufacturing defect will do so within the first year. So if you're looking to keep price down and simply can't afford a warranty extension, you canatleast know thechance of your notebook failing after the 1st year due to a manufacturing defect decreases. The 1st year is the "break-in" period.

However, notebooks are a technology item that gets carried around, exposed to high levels of heat from internal components, can get lots and lots of usage, have mechanical moving parts, have varying levels of case quality construction and are prone to abuse. Think about it, what other $1,000+ technology item do you throw in a backpack, shove books on top of and then proceed to run into doorways with it or not so gently place it on a flat surface?

Laptops are a uniquely expensive and extensively used and abused item -- because of this problems can certainly crop up after the first year if you use and carry around your laptop a lot. In general, the more you use a notebook and carry it around the more likely it is to eventuallybreak. If you know you will be using your laptop day-in and day-out and it will get moved around, a 1-year warranty is not enough -- you should strongly consider 2 - 3 years if you can afford it. If the laptop will simply be sitting on a desk, used now and againandyou have confidence you're buying a well built product, then a 1-year warranty should be just fine.

Manufacturer Extended Warranty and Other Extra Coverage

Any notebook you buy will have the option foran extended warranty from the manufacturer and likely some other type of enhanced coverage. You can buy this extended warranty at the time of purchase or usually within 30-days after purchase. Usually a 3-year warranty is going to cost somewhere in the range of $200 - $300 to upgrade to from a 1-year warranty. For instance, in configuring a Dell Inspiron e1705 notebook I find that it will cost me $240 to upgrade to a 3-year warranty from 1-year. Dell also has a warranty option called "Complete Care" that will cover a laptop repairs for accidental spills, drops and power surges -- this costs about $100 extra.

When is a 3-year manufacturer warranty worth it? As a general rule of thumb you shouldn't pay for a warranty that costs 25% or morethan the value of the notebook because after that point you're overpaying and wasting your money. For example, if you pay $300 for a 3-year warranty on a $1,000 notebook then the warranty is 30% the value of the notebook and boosts your total out of pocket purchase to $1,300. That's too much, you're better off just saving your money and if you're unlucky and something goes wrong with the laptopthere's still a chance you could fix it for under $300 anyway. However, if you buy a high-end $3,000 notebook and a 3-year warranty is $300 then it's more reasonable to consider the warranty upgrade.

In regards to the accidental spill and accident coverage packages, such as Dell Complete Care, the value is questionable and only you can decide if such coverage is worth it based on how clumsy you are and how much value you place on peace of mind knowing your laptop is covered for silly accidents. We all know somebody that's spilt coffee or lemonade into their laptop keyboard, my ownbrother dropped lemonade onto a Dell notebook last year. He had to remove each key and clean underneath to get rid of the sticky residue, but now certain keys don't work properly, he had no accidental damage coverage so he's out of luck. You can also buy coverage for accidents through laptop insurance, more on that later.

Retail Store Extended Warranty

If you're buying direct from a retail store you absolutely will be encouraged to buy a protection plan offered by the store that extends a warranty to 3-years. You'll hear the pitch at least 3-times and be pressured into buying this warranty. You will be made to feel guilty or dumb if you refuse this coverage (see this story). This is because extended warranties are lucrativebusiness for these stores,often with profit margins of 50%. For instance, extended warranty purchasesaccount for about 4% of the entire $10 billion in annual sales of U.S. electronics retailer Circuit City (source).

You should almost always refusestore provided warrantycoverage on notebooks. It isjust about alwayscheaper and better to go with a direct manufacturer extended warranty. Notebook parts are often made to fit withina manufacturer's unique case design so they're going to be able to provide the right parts and do the repairs more efficiently. Furthermore,with a manufacturer's warranty, you continue to enjoy access to free tech support. For example, if you buy the Apple Care 3-year coverage for a new MacBook you get 3-years of call-in tech support in addition to repair coverage, you won't get call-in tech support from any retail store.

So when is a retail store coverage plan worth it? I can think of three cases:

• I've seen some that offer the accidental break and spillcoverage as part of the warranty which would be a nice extra -- this is very rare though.
• If you know the laptop you're buying is from a manufacturer with abysmal reputation for repair and fix service, you might consider a retailer that has a reputation for good repair service. However, if you know a manufacturer has terrible support reputation, the question begs why are you even buying that notebook?
• If you're a person that just has to deal with people face to face and want to carry your notebook into a store to get it fixed rather than call-in and mail off your notebook to get fixed then you may consider a retail store warranty. Keep in mind, just because you buy a notebook and repair warranty from a store, they still may need to mail it somewhere else for proper repair so don't assume in store repair will be faster.

Laptop Insurance for Accidental Drops, Theft, Fire, Tornadoes, Mudslides...

- Accidents:

One thing your normal warranty does not cover is damage or problems with the laptop due to something caused by the user or an accident. If your dog runs through the power cord dragging the laptop offthe kitchentable to the ground (true story) and said laptop breaks, you're not covered. Some manufacturers and retailers dooffer fix coverage resulting from accidents, but this coverage is always more expensive and an extra. One option you may consider is laptop insurance. It's a bit hard to find insurance companies that offer this, but one that I know about is SafeWare. You can get a quote for the cost of insurance coverage on a laptop via an online form. Cost varies by state and the value of your laptop, but generally it seems to be between $48 - $100 for 1-year of insurance fora $1,500 laptop. Coverage includes fix, repair or replacement due to accident, theft, vandalism,fire, flooding for anywhere in the U.S. and while you're travelling.

If you have renters insurance or homeowners insurance, there's a good chance that if a laptop is lost due to a natural disaster then your laptop is also covered. Note, this does not include laptop damage coverage due toaccidents (such as drops, spills, dogs or your kids wrecking your laptop). Insurance companies will often reimburse you for either the current replacement value of a notebook with similar specifications similar to the laptop you lost, or for the depreciated cost of your lost laptop. You would prefer a policy with current replacement value reimbursement because it's usually going to cost you more to replace a laptop than what the old laptop would have been actually be worth on eBay (laptop value often drops fairly fast after a year).

Renters and homeowners insurance can often cover your laptop when out of the house as well, so be sure to ask your insurance agent exactly what you're covered for and where. Keep in mind though, there's always a deductible on insurance, so for instance you'll pay the first $250 (or so)in repairs regardless and for every claim you make your insurance premium will go up in the future.

- Theft:

Laptops are frequent targets of thieves. Just do a Google News search on stolen laptop and you'll see daily reports from local and national newspapers. It's sad, but a true fact of life that there will always be thieves and they will always go for the highest priced easiest to carry off item. You can do such things as using a notebook lock to greatly deter theft, but if you want assurance that if a laptop is stolen you can get it replaced then SafeWare or other such dedicated laptopinsuranceagain covers this. Your homeowners insurance and renters insurance likely covers such theft as well. Again though, claiming a laptop theft on your homeowners policy could boost the cost ofthat premium for the long term so having dedicated laptop insurance that wouldn't affect your homeowners insurance can be beneficial (and the dedicated laptop insurance covers accidents while homeowners/renters wouldn't).

Credit CardFree Warranty Upgrades (Yes FREE!)

If you purchase your laptop with certain credit cards you might be entitled to extra warranty coverage for free, just by using that card. For instance, if you purchase a laptop using an American Express Card then you get what's called a "Buyer's Assurance" coverage that can add up to 1-year free to your warranty. American Express doubles your warranty coverage but will not add more than one year (i.e., if you have a 6 month warranty it becomes 1-year, ifyou buy a3-year warranty it becomes 4-years). The way it works is that after your manufacturer warranty runs out if your laptop breaks you would contact American Express and they would handle helping get it fixed and costs would be covered by them. Other credit card companies offer this type of coverage too, but Amex is probably the best in terms of reliability and customer service.

Here's a list of what major credit card companies offer extended warranties:

• Mastercard"Purchase Assurance" - (Available for MastercardPlatinum and Gold) Will double the manufacturers warranty on products with warranty of 1 year or less. There is NO extra coverage for items withmanufacturer warranty ofover 1 year. So if you buy a 2-year warranty, Mastercard WILL NOT extend it to 3-years. If you buy a 1-year warranty, Mastercard WILL extend it to 2-years. View here for more info.
  
• Visa "Purchase Security"- (Available for Visa Signature, TravelMoney and Payroll -- check with card issuer if you're covered for other types of Visa cards). Will double a warranty up to 1 extra year on items witha manufacturerwarranty of 3years or less. Visa is the only major issuer to include factory reconditioned items as part of their double warranty (refurb laptops). Visa also has a program to purchase an extended warranty plan, at a cost which is usually less than a store-bought extended warranty. View here for more info.
  
• American Express "Buyer's Assurance" - (Available on all American Express cards). Will double a warranty up to 1 extra year on items with a manufacturer warranty of 5 years or less. So if you buy a 2-year warranty it becomes a 3-year warranty, a 6-month warranty becomes a 1-year warranty. American Express has the best claims process, but it is harder to get a card from them as they are more selective in who they willissue credit cards to. View here for more info.
  
• Discover - No extra warranty coverage.

In orderto utilize theextended warranty from these card companies you must:

• Charge the entire amount onthat one credit card
• Keep the invoice, warranty printout page, and credit cardreceipt showing you paid for the item
• Keep a copy of the card member agreement you initially get with a credit card that outlines the extended warranty coverage
• Do not cancel the card you bought the laptop with

I recommend American Express over other cards because their terms are better and the claims process easier. I once worked at the company and can endorse them as being well runand verify thisprotection works.

International Warranty

Your laptop will not be automatically covered for damage and repairs if carried outside of the country you buy it in. This is almost always an extra coverage you must buy if you want to be covered for international repairs. Such coverage is mostlyexclusive to business notebooks since business people are the type of folks that go everywhere and need a laptop as a lifeline to getting work done. If you need international coverage, buy from a manufacturer that is established worldwide and will have repair centers all over. HP, Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, Apple, Sony, Fujitsu, Acer and Asus are the obvious global power houses thatmight offer you an international warranty at a high-cost.

Avoiding Voiding a Warranty

There are a lot of ways to void a warranty, opening up your laptop and trying to upgrade a processor or graphics card is one way. Upgrading memory (RAM)is a common task thatwill not void your warranty. As a guideline, if you're replacing a component that's not modular (designed to be swapped out andreplaced with ease)and doesn't have instructions in the notebook user guide on how to do -- it's probably a hardware change that's going to void your warranty. Just be careful with what you do and think carefully if it's worth making a change that may improve your notebooks performance, but may void your warranty.

Laptop Returns Policy

A warranty is not something that says you can return a laptop if you don't like it. That's covered under a separate return policy that is unique to wherever you buy the laptop from. Certain retailers have liberal return policies, if you buy a ThinkPad direct from Lenovo.com you can return a notebook within 30-days with no questions asked if you don't like the laptop. You have to pay for the return shipping though. At U.S. retailer Costco you can buy a laptop and return it within 6 months. Amazon.com has a 30-day return policy.These are exceptions though. As a rule, you can assume that if you decide to return a laptop just because you don't like it or have buyer's remorse then you'll pay on average a 15% "restocking" fee. So if you buy a $1,000 laptopand return it, you'll lose out on $150 in some type of restock fee.

Final Word and Conclusion

So to wrap things up, here aremy final recommendation for how much warranty coverage to buy for your laptop and some points:

• I recommend 2-year warranty coverage via manufacturer,gettingthe basic1-year warranty and using a credit card that offers free extended warranty upgradeis the cheapest way to achieve this. If you'll be using your laptop a lot, carrying it around a lot and want it to last 3-years thenaim for a 3-year warranty.
• Go with a manufacturer warranty over store warranty
• Don't spend more than 25% of your purchasemoney on the warranty. For example, if a 3-yearwarrantyon a $700 notebook is $250, just skip the warranty upgrade.
• Laptop insurance and additional manufacturer coverage that protects from accidental spills and damages is expensive, buy it only if you crave peace of mind and know you're a klutz.

It's up to you how much warranty you think you'll need. I do think a 2-year warranty is sort of the sweet spot. 3-years is certainlynice to have and people often replace a laptop after that time any way, so it's great to be covered for the full length of ownership.4-years of warranty coverage is expensive and probably overkill.

Just remember that when shopping for a notebook check to see what the basic warranty terms and length are -- a laptop purchase is more than just looking at the hardware and comparing feature to feature -- you're buying into a company and its support as well. Make sure you weigh that in your purchase decision.

 

Great guide! Very well done!

 

wow. thanks. This came at just the right time! Thanks soo much!

Now...could you do one for Windows XP, pro, home, media center?

and wireless cards (which one)

and...

these boards have been just great. really, thanks so much.

 

This guide is really good to know.

 

This article is quite funny

Sorry, funny in that my brother just got his Golden Retreiver puppy. Not trained that wires are a no-no

 

I am very glad to learn I'd made the right considerations in choosing a warranty plan for my new laptop. This guide really helped to dispell my doubts. Thanks so much! Great job. ...and scary story, about BestBuy...

C.

 

LOL. My friend had a cat. It also liked wires. It chewed and broke 5+ dell notebook power supplies. Savage!!

 

Excellent article. I was reading somewhere, and I can't remember where, that the warranties sold at BestBuy, CircuitCity, etc. are often purchased from third party companies and can be purchased by the end user directly, offering the same coverage for a lot less directly from the third party insurer. Might be worth looking into. I agree buying with a credit card and getting two years is probably the best option. Two years is enough for most people and by the third year you are looking for a new notebook anyway. Costco's return policy is great. It used to be lifetime, but sadly people abused it. I'd throw in a plug for Buy.com which I think has the 30 day return policy as well and if not it is usually noted on the page. One should always read the return policy no matter where you buy.

 

Good article! Its nice to know about the extended warranties provided by credit card issuers.

 

Nice Guide.

One item that has been coming up in my research is the dead pixel policy that different companies have. Potentially another topic that could be discussed.

 

Great timing! Thanks for a great article, Andrew. I'm buying a new notebook this week, and was wondering what to do. My credit card doubles warranties, and I have used that feature in the past. It's one of the best 'hidden' features of some Platinum cards.

Toshiba sells their extended warranties direct from their website, and it's a darn site cheaper than Circuit City's warranty. If I decide to bump it to 3 years or get the damage protection it will be through the mfr.

 

Great review. Thanks for pulling all the different elements together in one readable guide. This is essential reading for any new notebook purchaser.

 

Good point, I did put together something about dead pixel policies a while back and here's the link to that http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=11976 I'm not sure how up to date the information is there now, you're right it would make sense to at least mention that in this article -- I'll work on getting that in!

thanks to all for the feedback. Any more posts with further insights from others on warranty lessons are much appreciated.

 

i would strongly disagree with the assessment of circuit city's warrentys. I have actually had great luck with their warrenty plans and they are widely regarded to have the best retail plan. When my dad dropped his laptop and they replaced the screen, it went to GE for service and it was back at our house in 3 days!
They also don't make you talk to some guy from india, their service center is based in chicago.
As far as the financial statistics provided, those are perhaps the shady-est (if thats a word) placed statistic i have ever seen. Not only are those not correct (my job involves a significant amount of research on this company and it's competitors), but ANY electronics retailer makes their money on installation, televisions, car audio, credit, services (internet, cable, satelite), as well as protection plans. Trust me, the majority of their income IS NOT warrenties.
I appologize if this comes off as an attack, because it isn't, but it is a less than unbiased guide.

 

Great article, but highly one-sided I must say.

First point: Warranties, extended or mfg's, are good only if you actually claim it. How many times have we noticed something wrong or defective but failed to bring it back to the store simply because it was too much of a hassle? Think of your car. Something squeaky in the back? Nah, I'll ignore it and hope it goes away. And you keep hoping even though the squeak remains. The same with your laptop. The harddrive making funny sounds? Well as long as I can still boot into Windows...hope it goes away. Humans are lazy creatures and the manufacturers know this. It is less likely that you'll go out of your way to actually claim a warranty policy than you just living with the problem and hoping that it goes away.

And another point: are you actually able to part with your laptop. Students, think of your busy timetables. Can you be without your laptop for a day? A week? Most repairs take between 2-6 weeks. Career people, think of your work schedules. Can you afford to manage keep track of your warranty claim on top of the million things you already have to manage in a day? Can you be without your laptop for 2-6 weeks? Think of the downtime, lost documents, emails, etc. Now what if the laptop comes back and the problem is still there? Can you afford Round 2? Round 3?

Second point: Let's say that you actually make a claim. Faulty harddrive. Broken LCD screen. Whatever. The laptop comes back and everything is dandy. Great! It seems like your warranty deal paid off. Did it? First of all, the warranty itself cost $150-400 (or thereabouts), so while you did get the problem fixed, you were still out $400 to begin with. Only now are you reaping the benefits. Now, let's say you didn't buy the warranty. You bring it in to the store and they (or the mfg) perform the repair. At the end of it, they bill you $400 for a new harddrive + labor. Was there a difference? Not really, but if you take into account the time-value of money, paying for the $400 later as opposed to earlier was the smarter decision.

Third point: You have decide between an el' cheapo Compaq notebook for $1000 versus a Lenovo Thinkpad for $1500. Your bargain based mind would go for the Compaq hands down. But think about it again. The Compaq plus a 3yr warranty would come out to be almost as pricey as the Thinkpad without a warranty. Does it make sense to buy an extended warranty with the Thinkpad? Not really, given the fact that they're built like tanks. Maybe it makes more sense to buy into a quality product made by a reputable brand as opposed to trying to skimp on the price now and having to deal with problems in a year or two.

Of course, I've made a couple of big assumptions, namely the price of the warranty and repair costs for various things that could go wrong in a laptop, but I'm just trying to make a point. And there could be a few of you out there who are diligent with your warranty claims (with anything, including your autos), but again, just trying to make a point.

 

Okay, I didn't have any agenda with this guide so all input is welcome. I think your point on American based service provider is certainly a good one -- although not all companies have outsourced all tech support to India (i.e. if you call Lenovo support it comes from Atlanta, during daytime hours Dell support is often from Edmonton Canada). As far as the numbers statistics, I'm quoting those directly from a NY Times article from this year:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/b...rss&adxnnlx=1153768790-S1f1pcYpRjIVpqu43+oHzw

I didn't state the warranty was a majority of their profits, rather 4%, and in the NY Times article it states that BB and CC don't reveal exactly what the break down is on revenue from those sales so it can only be a best guess I suppose.

 

You make good points, but a lot of people do insist upon getting repairs for their laptops if broken. One demonstration of this was done over a 3-year period from 2002 - 2005 on Apple laptop products (regarded as a quality brand I'll note). About 40% of 10,000+ people that registered their Apple laptops eventually sent it in for service within a 3-year time period and the rate was as high as 60% on the G4 Powerbook in 2003 according to these survey statistics:

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/laptops.html

 

I have read that article before, actually. I must have mis-read your guide on the 4% statistic. I thought it said products acount for only 4% of sales.

The article presents many many many more excellent points than the 1 or 2 I took issue with. I am not a extended service plan person in general, but on a laptop i see the value, especially in accidental coverage, as you also said.

Thank you for providing a source for the statistic and clearing up my questions.

Samuel

 

Point taken my friend.

But with all stats, they must be taken with a grain of salt.

Firstly: Apple users are notorious for being extremely picky with their devices. Just google "discoloured palm rests" or "whinny macbook pros" (whinny laptops? give me a break) and you'll find a ton of posts about the issue. I mean, if I had a premium-priced product surrounded by the belief that it's supposed to be infallible, I'd be touchy about anything that's even slightly off too. I think it's not that far of a stretch to say that Apple owners are more predisposed to demand nothing but perfection from their Apple devices, at least more so than Compaq or Acer owners.

Secondly: We have to question the validity of the survey itself. Was it a blind survey? Were there any loaded questions? Were respondents aware of the intent of the survey and so more likely to answer one way or another? And given the fact that this survey is exclusively for owners of Apple laptops, can the same conclusions be applied to the great majority of Windows-based laptop owners?

Mind you, I only briefly skimmed the article and it may have addressed my concerns. If so, pardon my ignorance. If not, then I'll have to raise an eyebrow.

 

You mention that you should buy manufacturer warrenties due to Call in tech Support, thogh at Circuit city the Protection plans come with 24/7 phone tech support with Zero wait time not to mention is 100% American. The Plan also covers in home support as well as full shipping coverage.

You also mention that Manufactures can replace the parts, but Circuit city warrenties pretty must result in a brand new laptop that is updated and new. You dont have to worry about sloppy tech work and such.

$299 on a 4 year warrenty on any Laptop that includes Accidental support.

Can you beat that?

didnt think so.

btw I do work at CC

 

I actually agree more with Andrew on extended warranties. CompUSA has the worst by far, by the way, and even charge you just to transfer it. But they've gone really downhill anyhow.

My personal experience is more like this: how long are you really planning on keeping the laptop? How long do you NEED it in operation? For me, I've become so compulsive with technology that frankly, it's not worth it just because I'm likely to buy another machine not long after the warranty expires anyhow. After all, I only got my Gateway 7510GX a little more than a year ago, and it's already sold and I've got an ASUS A8Jm now (sweet laptop, by the way).

 

If you spent a good amount on the laptop and plan to use it for 4 years, I agree, that's a good deal. Thanks for disclosing you work there -- do you work in tech support or on the floor? Get any kind of discounts on products or warranty costs?

 

I am A pc Technician and do get some very minor discounts, the laptops we have are bottom of the line and we never sell models such as the sony SZ series, it is in NY so people tend to be rather cheap, quality means nothing its just whats the cheapest. You could tell a customer if you buy product A it will break in 2 months and if you buy product B for $35 more then you will be set for atleadt another 4 years, they will 100% of the time take the cheaper product.


I do admit that the warrenty here is very good, but CC makes nearly 80% on its extended warrenties at my store, very big profit earner. Very very BIg.



I only really like asus and IBM/lenovo notebooks, so nothing in the store fits me really,

 

Nice !!!
I vote for a sticky !!!!

Anyone have any expereince with Safeware ? Their disclosure at https://secure.safeware.com/policies/portable_electronics_policy.pdf

Says that "loss to insured property under mechanical failure or electrical breakdown" is not covered(page 2, III.B.3). WTF ???
So, if the laptop fails, they will not cover ??

 

that isn't true... the margin on CC warrenties is roughly 42% give or take 10% based on product. Not 80%. But yes, it is a high margin driver.

 

I was wondering about all the 'not covered' stuff too! Does anybody else think Safeware's EXCLUSIONS are waaay more extensive than their actual coverages???? Fire, theft, spills, accidental drops....sheesh, that's what I'd expect to cover. But if I'm reading them correctly they seem to have exclusions on all if they care to push the issue.

I hope I'm misinterpreting what I'm reading! But the more I read the policy the more I wonder just what they DO insure against. Has anybody here actually filed a claim? If so, what were your results?

 

Hmm, that's some great insight, thanks. Not too surprising.

 

They definitely cover those things such as theft, fire, drops. The things they list they do not cover are stuff like:

- War
- Purposeful damage or loss
- Nuclear accidents
- Laptop you've been renting or leasing to other people
....
and so on, mostly obvious stuff and rare.

 

But what about mechanical/electrical failure ?? I would have assumed that would the main things a warranty covers.

mstacks: Where did u read they do not cover accidental drops,spills etc ?

 

It's the way sections B and C under "Exclusions" reads on the "portable electronics policy" itself. Just as one example, they don't pay for (B3) mechanical failure or electrical breakdown. And if you go back up under "definitions" they tell you that "mechanical faillure" means "property made inoperrable by (A)Breakdowns or (B)faillures caused by everyday use." Everyday use???? Say whaaaaaat????

Okay, it's true drops and spills are not mentioned specifically. But you see what I mean?

Mary

 

I sent them an email asking for clarification about their policy wrt mechanicla failures. Here is what I got:

 

Has anyone had any experience with warranty against spills in particular? I'm about to spend $550 to replace my mobo damaged by a coffee spill, and I'm told that sooner or later, the kb would also develop problems because the coffee is eating away at the components - so add another $100 on top of that. That's more than a quarter of what I paid, almost a third, and a large part of why I don't want to just get a new laptop is the cosmetic modifications and love that's been put into it. So, since I like to spend my mornings in front of the laptop, drinking 2-3 easily tippable glasses of coffee - and my evenings drinking ice water, some of the time also in front of the laptop - there's a good chance it'll happen again sooner or later. Need to get spill protection coverage... badly

Btw, I had a feeling that if the laptop got damaged, there was a good chance I would have voided the warranty before it happened, or it would be by me, not due to a defect - especially since I was buying from Fujitsu - so I just went with a 1 yr warranty. Didn't have an Amex at the time to double the warranty, but I doubt it would make any difference. Go Fuji!

Malia

 

Bump for this good guide

 

Very good info by BusNut

 

I have a dell inspiron 9300 and the screen has gone. I bought it secondhand but it is still within the warranty period which doesn't expire for another year. Dell don't want to honour the warranty because I am not the original purchasor. Has anyone any experience of this. I would have thought the warranty would be on the product rather than the person.

john ry

 

About the SafeWare insurance, it seems they do not cover "mysterious dissapearance." Does that mean that if you don't actually see someone steal your notebook, you're out of luck?

 

Thank you very much for the very helpful article!

Wearetheborg, thanks for the info about the VISA performance guarantee.

 

I think at the very least it means there must be a police report. In other words, if your laptop is stolen, you can't just go to them and say "hey, my laptop was stolen. gimme gimme gimme!" They need a police report as proof that you're not just making stuff up. That's standard procedure in the insurance industry, by the way, to require at a minimum a police report for claims related to stolen property.

I don't think you need to see someone stealing it but then again insurance companies always find creative ways to weasel out of their obligations.

 

I've owned 3 Dell laptops over a period of 9 years. I've used my extended warranty on all 3 laptops. I never had to go back to a store for this. In all instances except one, Dell shipped replacement parts and I shipped back the broken parts to them. In one instance, a technician came to my house at a time I had decided to do the repairs.

I'll say this: manufacturers are not doing you a favor by selling you an extended warranty. They expect to make money off of it. The laziness displayed by some customers is just the cherry on the sundae for them.

In all instance in which I used the warranty, the parts were on the verge of failing but had not failed yet. This fact combined with the methods for service I mentioned above (shipping or on-site technician) means that there was no down time for me.

If you need a 3rd party to do the service for you, you're better served by the manufacturer. Stores like CC and BestBuy (Geek Squad) rip off people on the price of service. If you can do the service yourself, then you may be better served without a warranty.

Yep, you've got to pay attention to quality.

Count me among the diligent ones.

 

I'm pretty sure Safeware has a "per month premium" plan, meaning that the amount your quoted is a monthly payment.

 

Also, does anyone know if a CC company will honor ASUS's global hardware warranty, or will they restrict it to the place of purchase?

 

Thank you very much. This guide helped me a lot

 

Does anyone have anything to report about the "Staples® Technical Support and Protection Plan"? They've been pushing it the last few weeks (at least) in their in-store circulars -- buy three years, get the fourth free. For this laptop, at least, that's four years of coverage for $200. That supposedly includes:
• 24/7 U.S.-based technical support
• 100% parts and labor covered
• One-time laptop replacement if product cannot be repaired
No mention of whether or not accidental damage is covered.

 

yes you have made assumptions.

your first point: I have a Honda Civic that's nearly 11 years old - and I plan to buy a car when I can afford one - however the three-year warranty expired long ago yet I never used it. things happened years later yet thanks to an honest mechanic I get it checked and take care of it, and when something expensive like brakes or a mileage check comes along I do it.

if I take care of something it will last however there are unforeseen occurrences, and this is when warranties are necessary, at least for me.

your third point: I cannot afford an expensive laptop and am buying a refurbished one made by a reputable brand that makes quality products. it has exactly what I need re specs, OS (XP), and screen dimensions (I'm an editor). thanks to this guide I called my credit card issuer and learned it doubles not only the initial three-month warranty, it also doubles an extended warranty if I choose to buy one.

 

Anyone else have experience with Safeware they care to share with relation to claims, etc.?

 

I am very interested in buying a 8530p, and its priced very well at a little over 1300 usd. But it only has a 3 year limited warranty. It is unconfigurable and i'm very sure this is the laptop i want. Should i get it anyway since it was made to take abuse or try to get a warranty somewhere for accidents.

Well, i recently went to safeware.com and got a quote on the laptop i really wanted to buy. I chose 3 years since it was the closest to my time of college education (4) and it ended up being $309. So now im down to getting a:
laptop with a 3yr lmtd. warranty($1,339.80) vs a laptop with a 3yr lmtd. and a 3 year safeware($1648.80)
if anyone does reccomend safeware, should i get the 1,2,or 3 year