A Few Thoughts on Warranties

One of the things we laptop buyers are asked numerous times before we purchase our new machine is if we want an extended warranty. Most people will cringe at the mention of one, but honestly, for some situations it is better to get one, than not, and it really depends on the company.

I have worked for a computer store that was horrible at honoring any type of warranty, and always made the purchaser go through the original manufacturer, and I have worked at a company where they nearly bent over backwards to support their customers. I have also been a customer, and had to RMA my laptop to fix an issue I was having with it. All of these experiences have helped me understand more about warranties, and the serious consideration they deserve.

How do you find out if the warranty will be beneficial for you?
When looking at purchasing a laptop, ask your friends and family about experiences they have had, or if they know anyone with experiences with the company you are looking at purchasing a laptop from. You may be able to find people with warranty horror stories that will help you avoid certain companies.

There are also many websites that talk about products, and many mention their warranties. One of the ones I like is Epinions, as it allows a wide group to report on their experiences with companies and products.

If you are buying the latest in technology or the start of a brand new run of a laptop, you should make sure you warranty it, as many first run devices have flaws that later become very apparent, even the first round of Apple MacBook Pro’s had many flaws, and I am sure when the next generation of optical drives and computer processors come out, there will be a larger group with flaws that have not come up in testing that they will need to work out. This says a lot for products that are tried and tested, and thus are a generation older.

How long should you warranty your laptop for?
When you buy a laptop, you probably put it on credit. If so, you have a one year warranty through your credit card company for the electronic product you just bought. I am not sure how easy it is to use, or really what all it covers, but as far as I know, there is a warranty on your purchase.

Then there is the manufacturer’s warranty, be it 90 days to a year or two, it will cover much more, and provide you with a bit more safety. These warranties still don’t cover as many things as most consumers would like to believe, but most comapanies that sell laptops will allow you to RMA the machine if anything crops up in the first 30 days, so even if the problem is small, it may be worth your time to send it in.

Then there are extended warranties. Like I mentioned above, these can be especially useful for newer technology when it first comes out, as long term reliability has never been tested. If a product is three years old, it is usually easy to find out how often the device fails in those first three years, and use that to decide if the extended warranty options are worth your money. But if a product is less than a year old, you don’t really know what the long term problems might be, and are taking a big gamble if you don’t put some type of protection on your investment.

The consumer joke though always is that a device fails only after the warranty expires, but do you want the warranty, and thus the device, to fail after only a year of use?

What features should you look for in a good warranty?
Good warranties cover just about everything, even things that might be your own fault. They should also make it easy to use the warranty, on-site service, or free shipping labels to pick up the problem device.

There should also be a time limit on the repair of the item. You should not have to wait more than a month and a half to get your problem fixed, and if it is going to take them that long, then try to remind them that if customer satisfaction is important, they should look at getting you a temporary replacement or a new laptop of the same model or better.

The warranty should also stipulate how many times a machine needs to go in for the same problem before it is replaced. If you have to send in a machine four times to get the same strange problem fixed, they should be replacing your whole unit, not trying to repair it anymore, as they have proven, they don’t know what is wrong.

Warranties can be a little like trying to get through a mine field, but if you take the time to be informed you could save yourself a great deal of time, energy and money later on. After all, a notebook is not a small investment.

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