May 5, 2006

Extended warrantees, are they worth it? Well, I never buy extended warrantees for anything I purchase, with the exception of a computer. I guess that's because I see what problems people have with computers and, in my opinion, I think the price is worth the gamble.

I guess you also need to consider the price of the system you are purchasing. If you are buying a sub $1000 system, it may not be a good idea. While it is true that most problems will probably happen in the first year, hardware does fail any time. If an extended warrantee is $150, that would be eaten up pretty fast if you had to buy a new monitor, hard drive, mother board, etc. In my opinion, you can expect three to four years from a computer before you need to consider upgrading because of all the new stuff coming out. My system is now three and a half years old, and I will probably upgrade after Windows Vista comes out the first part of next year.

The next thing to consider is which extended warrantee to get. My advice is to get the three year, with no on-site service. This means if a part fails, they will send the part and you have to install it.

Here on Maui, we are better off since the quality of on-site can be debatable, and the on-site warrantees are more expensive. If you look at the prices of the warrantees, the three year is the best deal also. With the rapid pace of new development of new products and technologies, knowing you have the support and replacement of the products is worth the initial investment, so if you want my opinion, go ahead and get the warrantee.

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