are extended warrenty's worth the money?

Question

I recently bought a laptop, it'll come to 1000 after rebates, the 2 year extended warrentee is 250 and does cover accidental damage and free shipping to and from if anything goes wrong. is it worth it? my last laptop lasted me over 4.5 years without any warentee and no problems. what do you think?

here is the exact description of the warrentee.

http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/cache/309975-0-0-225-121.html

Answer 1

Hey I deffinitely think it is worth it to get the warrenty i currently work at best buy and i see ppl come in all the time with broken computers and if you have the accidental coverage they just check it out to see if they can fix it and if they cant they give you your money towards a new one. i thing it would be dumb not to get it because there are thoes other customers who come in and say my comp is broken refund me or get me another and i ask did u get the warrenty and they are like no then we cant do anything for them. if you are gettin the warrenty from a best buy IT IS NOT AN EXTENSION OF THE MANUFACTURS WARRENTY our warrenty starts the day you get the computer and it covers everyting if you get the accidental a manufacturs only covers defects so if you break it they will not fix it. well i am sorry for writing so much but if you have more questions then you can e mail me. good luck and DEFFINITLY get it

Answer 2

If I was sure that I needed an extended warranty on a used car, I would buy a different car. Extended warranty companies have to make a profit, in order to do so the premiums paid in has to exceed the costs paid out. So they will collect on an average more money then the car owner will incur for that same period of time. At best they play the stock market with the money and with wise investment can cover the losses. At worst they put it into a bank and draw interest. But the stock market method to make money has not been doing well, and interest rates are in the basement. So just take the total cost for the coverage, put it in the bank (or play the stock market with it) to cover repairs.

Answer 3

I used to work for a large electronics retailer and can say from inside experience that the extended warranties are not worth the money.

But, those warranties we had did not cover accidental damage to the unit.

If the policy you are considering does indeed cover accidental damage to the computer, then it would be a worthy purchase.

Check the fine print on the policy, many times the salesperson does not know their head from their *** when it comes to these policies.

I can' t tell you how many times a customer came to my service window with a cracked LCD screen screaming that the sales person said their warranty covered it. All I had the power to do was point at the verbiage on the contract that they signed without looking over that says it does not cover accidental damage.

Bottom line, read that fine print. If it does cover any accidental damage, then I say go for it.

Answer 4

Hard to say. $250 is a little steep...especially with computer parts are cheap as they are. The best thing the warranty would cover would be the LCD screen since those are very expensive. If that goes out you may as well buy a new laptop. It is up to you, but I guess it depends on how much faith you have in the brand and how PC savvy you are. Normally I find that extended warranties are not worth it, but in your case it may be.

Answer 5

If it really covers accidental damage, including things like oops I dropped it on the ground or oops I spilled a beer on my shiny new laptop, then its probably worth it. Laptops have around a 33% repair rate according to consumer reports. Considering you are paying less then 1/3 the cost for the laptop for the warranty its probably a good idea.

Answer 6

It's a gamble. If it doesn't break, then you lost your money, if it does, then you may make out. Computers tend to be obsolete after 18-24 months, or so I've been told. Myself, I opted not to take the extended warranty, and press my luck. I can use that money to buy a new one, after this one becomes obsolete. Totally your call, though.

Answer 7

if its a Dell yeah they cover everything that could possibly happen
if its a circuit city or best buy heck no these are just an extension of the manufacturer warranty and cover only manufacturer defects and doesn't even become valid until the manufactures warranty expires

Answer 8

If it only sits on a table in your home, no.
If you lug it everywhere, yes.