Extended Warranties-Laptop Woes

Simply put: Extended warranties on Laptops are not worth the additional cost.

 In today's market, most laptops  have become disposable commodities. The median price range is between $300-$500 US, and most carry a 1 year manufacturer's warranty.

A few facts I have observed with laptops: Most issues requiring outside assistance that will occur with your new fangled tech will occur within 3-6 months. Almost all defects will appear within the 1 year manufacturer's warranty time frame.

"But Brett, with the extended warranty we don't have to deal with the slow manufacturer."
Really? Where do you think the big box store gets the parts that may be necessary for a repair from? Have you taken your laptop in lately and experienced how long it takes for the  big box store to troubleshoot any issue? Let alone repair and get it back in your hands? Have you read the fine print in many of the protection plans that state they may charge you for the diagnosis? Many things are NOT covered. Read carefully.

I am not singing the praises of laptop manufacturer's support systems. They have their own issues. What I am saying is they KNOW your product. They made it. Many of them are in fierce competition for your business as the margins are very low on hardware. They do not want you unhappy.  You already paid for support when you made the purchase. Use it. Many of them have live chat available. It may take 20-30 minutes before they either have identified the problem or are sending you a box to ship it back.


So let's do the math: Let's say you paid $350.00 for a  laptop (let's not figure sales tax). That equates to .095 cents/day for the use of the machine.Lets say you drop and  it eats dirt on day 366. Irritating, yes. Less than the average person spends on coffee per day. Yep.

So why pay $100- $150 for a warranty you:

A. Have about an 8% chance to use
B. Probably will not cover all the costs
C. You already have


There are exceptions: It might be a good idea if you can't afford to go without the item in question for one minute(meaning you are making money with it). Or if the item carried a large price tag(like a 1k + Windows Laptop or a  MAC). However, these types of warranties will set you back 3-$400.

I have a lot of specific examples, I simply don't want to flame businesses.

If you ever question whether you should get that warranty, wait and send me an email. you generally can add them up to 14 days after purchase.

Brett