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Warranties and Computers

Now, this is a very interesting one. I know that my employer, pays for a support contract with a company to support our computers (and they pay a pretty penny too). Do I need that kind of coverage?

Let’s go check out the DELL web site, since they are a good example of where normal folks buy computers (I buy them from shadowy characters in stores, and we speak in code, so I am not a good example to work with right now).

Say we buy a Dell Dimension 3000 (it’s the current system on sale) for $499 (plus tax plus shipping). This system comes with 1 year on-site hardware service warranty, that’s pretty darn good. So for a year, if your system breaks, someone will come to your house and try to fix it! (Remember to do backups, run anti-virus, anti-spy and PAY for your software too, no pirated stuff, eh?).

To extend that warranty by 1 year it would cost me $79 (plus tax). Well, I have found that stuff on a computer will BREAK within the first 3 months of getting it (again, your mileage may vary). If the CPU goes, or the Motherboard, this is expensive to fix and you may as well buy a new system. A hard-drive crash? Unless you are running a porn web site on your system, your hard drive shouldn’t crash within a year. Do you extend the warranty? I wouldn’t but again that is just me (and I can fix these things myself).

Remember also with computers, in 3 years your system is a BOAT ANCHOR. Getting a warranty past that, means you are supporting a machine you most likely will want to replace!

Here is another good discussion (and real world example) from my buddies at Lockergnome.

Think about this kind of stuff guys!

Warranties

Feel Free to Comment

  1. That’s why you buy clones made with parts that carry 3-year manuf warranties(actual manufacturers’, not the guys who assembled the final PC), especially hard drives. Yes, I know hard drives now come with 1 year warranties, but check the product catalogues, you’ll find still plenty of quite-affordable drives with 3 year manuf warranties. CPUs, too, come with 3 year warranties if you buy the boxed versions. I don’t know about motherboards, but I believe most good manufs give 3 years.

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