Worth getting an extended warranty on a budget laptop?

[Jaguar]

Ming
Silly games
More RAM

[lord of the mark]

thanks all for the advice about profits to salesmen, zero sum games, and all that.

But, TBH, what i was really looking for was your experiences with laptops - how often do they break in 3 years of steady use, and how much does it tend to cost to repair?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Cost of repair for major malfunctions (i.e. screen replacment) typically exceeds purchase of a new model.

AS such repair warranties are useless. Replacement warranties are a different matter.

[Nostromo]

But, TBH, what i was really looking for was your experiences with laptops - how often do they break in 3 years of steady use, and how much does it tend to cost to repair?

My Toshiba served me well for 6 years now. I still use it to teach, working while in the bus... The battery is dead, though. But that's perfectly normal.

[David Floyd]

On certain items, getting the "extended warranty" can be worth it, depending on the terms and conditions.

If it's just extending the manufacturer's warranty and providing no additional coverage, anyone will tell you not to buy it.

Some companies offer service plans that provide additional coverage, such as normal wear and tear, power surges, battery replacement, etc. On a $500 notebook, spending $140 for 2 years of course isn't worth it. But if you buy a $1500 laptop, I can see the value of the plan, especially with the battery replacement. Same thing with, say, plasma TVs, especially if you are going to be watching it quite a bit.

Extended warranties aren't worth it, but other types of service plans can be in my opinion.

[Agathon]

Most laptops have about a 15-20% repair rate in the first year. I don't know what it is after that, but it is almost always worth getting an extended warranty on a laptop.

Desktops are much more reliable.

[Sikander]

I've had my Dell laptop for almost 6 years now. I'm typing on it right now and in all likelihood it is posts from this machine that have given most of you the (partially correct) impression that I am an a$$hole. I've only had one problem with it, which was that my CD drive crapped out very early on. It was still under warranty and Dell simply sent me a new drive to snap into the bay.

I agree with the consensus opinion btw, in most cases it isn't worth paying more for more coverage. Where that would be wrong is if the maching is expensive and the extra coverage isn't, or where the machine once in use will have more value than it does new (ie if you have important work on it and might lose a lot of time getting a replacement machine up to speed). I bought my girlfriend a desktop and bought a cheap extended service contract for it which has already paid for itself (imo) by way of me not having to deal with many of her computer problems.

[Provost Harrison]

DON'T BUY IT! IT IS A RIP-OFF.

Apparently if you do your own homework and you really do need an extended cover, you can get it for a fraction of the cost yourself...

It is something that really needs to be clamped down on, I've even come across it sneaked into my bill 'in error' which has made me very displeased...