Just bought an extended warranty for my hp laptop?

[FearoftheNight]

Just paid 99 to hp for a 1 year extension on my compaq x1050. You think I made a bad move? Thanks.

 

[D1gger]

You'll either love it or hate it depending on if your laptop craps out on you.

 

[killershroom]

I hate my Compaq....

....but its a presario 2100


I'd say its a good move. Mine is in shotty shape and its only a year and a half old.

 

[Theguynextdoor]

I hate it how you buy ANYTHING and you don't get an extended warranty on it and it craps out. But if you do it's bullet proof.

This goes for almost all brands of anything (computers cars..etc...) I buy.

 

[DanDrop]

How long is the manufacturer's warranty? Also, some credit cards (like mine) doubles the manuf warranty automatically when i use it to purchase the item.... just a thought.

 

[Gioron]

It all depends on whether you can afford to replace it if it dies, and how well they actually honor it.

The fact that they make money on every extended warranty sold is obvious, especially considering how much they push the warranties. So if you buy a few million laptops, you're better off just warrantying (is that a word?) them yourself since the percentage that break and the cost to fix them will be less than the warranty cost for all the laptops. The same can go for buying just 1 laptop, but its much more of a gamble. You're betting that your particular laptop won't die on you, and the odds are generally in your favor if you avoid the warranty. So if you do loose the "bet", just buy annother laptop or pay to get it fixed. On average, if you buy several laptops over the years, this will end up in your favor. However, if you _can't_ afford to fix the laptop or replace it when it dies, then you'd be screwed and its a good idea to get the warranty. For this reason, getting an extended warranty on a wireless mouse is usually silly, but getting an extended warranty on a laptop or other high ticket item makes a lot of sense unless you've got a lot of cash in the bank.

The other question, which I don't know the answer to, is how well they actually support their warranty. Its all well and good to have a piece of paper saying "we'll fix it if it breaks", but if they're in the habit of using the loopholes to get out of replacing things, then you might have just paid $99 for very little protection. Since I've never worked with HP extended warranties, I can't say how good/bad they are.

 

[SKORPI0]

$99/365 days = $.27/day. Not bad IMHO.

Did this for my Dell Inspiron 8600 I got last month (30% off).

3 year additional warranty -------$269
CompleteCare--------------------119
-------------------------------------
Total--------------------------- $388
tax ----------------------------26.94
--------------------------------------
Total -------------------------414.94
Mail-In Rebate---------------------75
Final Price---------------------340.31 after $0.37 stamp.

Thats about 1461 days of coverage, about $.23/day.

Dell CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service

 

[WobbleWobble]

Notebooks are one of the few items I would actually consider an extended warranty for. Just from personal experiences, a fair number of laptops (mine, family and friends) have needed an expensive part repaired. I've actually had to use my extended warranty once (backlight died). Got a brand new laptop out of it

 

[FearoftheNight]

thanks guy...dan what cc's do that? the doubling of warranty that is

 

[LordPhoenix]

Not bad though if its pretty brand new.

 

[erikistired]

clark howard says never buy extended warranties!

 

[n7]

$99 is damn cheap, so i'd say it was a good move.

Laptops are something i wouldn't buy w/o a longer warranty, unless i was only using it for a short time.

 

[mauiblue]

Extended warranties are great for fragile items such as laptops. If a hard drive died on you and you didn't have the extended warranty after the factory warranty ran out, it would definitely cost you more than $99 for parts and labor.

Have fun with your new laptop - and don't drop it:laugh:

 

[DanDrop]

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
thanks guy...dan what cc's do that? the doubling of warranty that is

My MBNA Business Platinum card doubles my warranty. I've never used the option yet, but the CSR that i talked to at MBNA told me that my warranties do double by using the card to purchase the items.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

Originally posted by: DanDrop
How long is the manufacturer's warranty? Also, some credit cards (like mine) doubles the manuf warranty automatically when i use it to purchase the item.... just a thought.

Have you ever actually used the credit cards warranty on a laptop before? They make you get 3 invoices from 3 different places on how much it costs to repair. So you take it to BB and they charge you 100 bucks to look at it. Then you take it to compusa to have them diagnose it, another 100 bucks. Take it to frys and have them do the same thing. By the time you are done you have just spent more then 300 bucks and that is just for a one time problem. Just buy the warranty along with the notebook and your set for a couple of years.