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Are extended warranties worth buying?


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Extended warranties are one of the most profitable items for a retailer. They pray we fall for it. However, with the blizzard of technology these days, gadgets are more and more in our lives. Would you buy an extended warranty on a computer? Appliance such as a TV? Gadget? Ever glad you did? I bought a laptop two years ago; it's cratered. If I had 3-yr warranty, I'd sure be happy right now. Of course, I guess, odds are that nothing will fail in three years. Do you think a 4-yr warranty is a bad buy? (Because you will probably replace it within four years.) I've been considering my next laptop purchase as totally state of the art... the gizmos I can load it up with... and a 4-yr warranty. But geez, it advances so dang fast, four years is a long time.

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Nope, most of the time, extended warranties are sucker bets. Sorry about your laptop, but with huge MTBF rates, things are more likely to become obsolete and be replaced before they "die". In my experience, things usually die in the first month, or after many years. [img]http://www.freakygamers.com/smilies/s2/contrib/navigator/usa.gif[/img] Phil O'Keefe Sound Sanctuary Recording Riverside CA http://www.ssrstudio.com pokeefe777@ssrstudio.com
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[quote] In my experience, things usually die in the first month, or after many years. [/quote] Yeah- that's why computer stores used to do a "burn in" process. In the '80s, you'd go to the locally-owned computer dealer and they'd set up your system for you and then leave it on and running for 24 hrs at least. If something's gonna go wrong, it'd usually be then and they could fix/replace it at the shop. As for loading up a laptop and a 4-year extended, I wouldn't. A new computer is gonna be your hotrod for like 1, maybe 2 years tops and then you're gonna want a new one. Generally twice as fast at the same price point is when it's time to buy. High-end stuff depreciates so fast when the latest & greatest comes out... as far as retaining value, buying more low-mid end is a better deal. High-end Macs drop like $1k every speed-bump time(3-6 months) but changes occur a lot more slowly at the low-end. So I wouldn't go for high-end unless you really need the extra speed. G. Ratte'
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A friend of mine is the West coast service manager for Circuit City. The wife needed a new frig, so I asked my friend about CC. He said their extended warrantees were the best in the business (4 years ago). I haggled with the sales guy a little on the price and got a 5-year extended warrantee for nothing. A couple of years ago, I bought a Sony digital camera from The Good Guys. I got the best price from them and again got a 3-year warrantee thrown in. It's a bargaining point. They won't come down on the price? Then, ask for a free extended warrantee. Would I ever pay for an extended warrantee? Probably not. Especially not with a new car.

GY

 

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I think it depends on the device. For instance, if you are going to be lugging your laptop all over the country, where it may wind up in the baggage hold of an airplane, it may be a good idea. Or something the kids will be using, like a Playstation box. -I'm on my 2nd replacement PS machine! Sure happy I got the extended 'no questions asked' warranty; the kids are happy too. Otherwise, there'd have to be some tanned-hide, ass-wuppins going on around here. ;)
In two days, it won't matter.
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> Would you buy an extended warranty on a computer? Appliance such as a TV? Gadget? Ever glad you did? < No, and not only because extended warranties are a bad value, which they surely are. The big problem, which nobody else here addressed, is you may never get what you paid for. A few years ago a fellow wrote to PC Magazine saying he'd bought an extended warranty and later returned his computer for warranty repair. After six months he still hadn't gotten it back! Since nobody actually fixes anything these days, this is a very real scenario. So now, when a saleperson pushes me to buy an extended warranty, I ask if they will provide in writing the maximum time the unit can be away for service. Or if they will promise in writing to provide me with a loaner for as long as necessary. They can't promise that, of course, so they back down from their hard sell immediately. --Ethan
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A couple of times I have bought extended warranties, and I haven't used them. And some other times I have bought them and they really paid off. The place I have bought warranties a couple of times was at Best Buy. I bought a display video camera, and bought the 4 year warranty. A couple of years later it broke, and after a couple of weeks they told me they wouldn't be repairing it, so they gave me a store credit for what I paid for the camera, and a credit for the remaining warranty period. Another time I bought a boombox for my daughter, and got the extended warranty. A year later the boombox was busted, and they gave me a store credit for the cost of the original purchase. So I felt like I had gotten the use of the boombox for the year for the cost of the warranty! But recently I bought a surround sound receiver. It has 1 year manufacturer warranty, so I didn't buy anything to extend it. But sometimes I will buy one for 90 day warranted stuff. I used to feel like extended warranties were a ripoff across the board. But nowadays there is some junky electronic stuff with short warranties out there, so I think it can make sense sometimes.
- Calfee Jones
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