Every day I prepare repair quotes for user after user whose home insurance gets to pick up the tab for their liquid-related spill. And every day those same users bemoan how awful it is that warranties don’t cover the damage they inflicted on their computer.

Have we as a culture simply forgotten how to take care of our expensive possessions?

I think, yes. We have. We as a culture have become negligent and abusive. We need to treat our technology with respect instead of spilling on it, dropping it, and running over it.

(If we did, it would absolutely lessen my personal workload. Customers would be far happier with the wait time for their ACTUAL repair issues, because the line wouldn’t be clogged with the side-effects of an irresponsible population and their toys.)

My druthers: buy a laptop from a small company (like Falcon Northwest, ZaReason, System76, or Puget Systems) that needs & respects its customers. You might not get on-site support, and the laptop will be more expensive, but you’ll get a better response and a better product. If you’re a do-it-yourself person, use a company like ZaReason that explicitly allows the customer to disassemble the computer, and with *any* company be very, *very* clear which parts can be replaced without voiding the warranty (Dell, at least five years ago, allowed you to replace RAM, CD-ROM drive, and hard drive). You might not think you want to do your own repairs, but you might want to do a cheap & easy upgrade at some point.

Also, if you have a Dell or such and need to call tech support, call at about 3 or 4 AM–i.e., regular business hours in India. I’ve had wonderful tech support from a very knowledgeable tech at such hours. I think the reason that outsourced tech support gets a bad rap is that Americans typically get the graveyard-shift techs.

Diamond Jewelery – the warranty wasn’t very expensive, and covers all damage including accidental and stone loss for life. It has paid for itself multiple times now.

mp3 player – Normally I would say no to this one, but when we bought a Sansa mp3 player for about $60, there was an $8 two-year warranty. It covers one battery replacement. The batteries in those things wear out over time, and cost more than $8, so getting it replaced in 2 years will be worth it. There is also a good chance that they will just replace it with a new equivalent model.

Meanwhile, our college-age son’s macbook has been used and abused and abused some more, and applecare fixed (and upgraded) everything along the way.

I loved this post. But remember, a computer can be replaced, your data cannot! Use an automatic backup system so that you have the protection in place *before* the tragic accident.

For a place to start, check out this article: http://lifehacker.com/398229/five-best-windows-backup-tools

I use and love MozyHome ($5 per month to keep my data safe is worth it to me–I think of it as just another utility bill)

And just because it can’t be said too often: BACKUP YOUR DATA

But then, I’m a careful person.

In 20+ years of using computers daily, traveling with laptops and etc, I’ve never spilled anything on any of my laptops or computers. Computers used to be as expensive as a cheap car–maybe that’s why I trained myself a long time ago to be careful.

Anyway, I think perhaps April could help herself save a lot of money if she just trained herself not to drink tea or soda while working on her laptop. And don’t treat it roughly or drop it. It’s not that hard, people!

Why not pay the deductible only WHEN and IF you need to? Renters insurance! Attach a rider if you must. I was able to claim an expensive camera that I lost on a plane…no rider. Your deductible should not be more than $250.

Alternatively, if you have the credit score to do so, get an American Express card. Not only will you get automatically extended mfg warranties, often they will cover more. You’ll also never have to pay for pricey rental car insurance again.

I think its worth it for both of them.

Other than that, forget it.

As for Apple Care going above and beyond, it depends on what year and who you get. Some years Apple will do anything and others they stick to the letter of the warranty. Whether you get a real Apple geek (someone who wants you the customer to love Apple as much as they do) or a bean counter makes a big difference as well.

I have a Lenovo (formerly IBM) Thinkpad X200s. Lenovo has what’s called “accidental damage” coverage, which covers things like water spills. Not worth it to commingle Apple/Best Buy when you can just buy a better laptop with accidental damage coverage.

My X200s also gets 8 hours of battery life (yes, that’s with Wifi on and constant use) and weighs 3 pounds. No Apple laptop can match it.

My boyfriend, who uses a Mac at home, bought a Lenovo Thinkpad too, in part because he’s trashed several Mac laptops and Apple usually refuses to cover them in warranty.

-Erica

“1) you have a manufacturer’s warranty, that usually gets doubled by american express or visa. You are throwing this away when you buy that other warranty.”

the picture on my $2000 samsung lcd stopped working after 18 months. the manufacturer warranty ended 6 months prior. visa offered another year of warranty for free and reimbursed me for a $500+ repair bill.

2. Replacing damaged parts could have been cheaper than buying an entirely new computer.

Doesn’t seem like someone is going to “Get Rich Slowly” by hastily “biting bullets”.

So the moral of my little rant is when Best Buy offers you a PROTECTION PLAN we are NOT offering an extended warranty. Best Buy doesn’t even sell extended warranties.

@Chett: Not sure what prices are like these days, but 3 years ago I paid $1,600 for my MacBook… so no, a $300 warranty wouldn’t be almost the same as buying a new laptop…

I would just buy at Costco, they give you a free 2 year warranty and if you use their AMEX then you get 3 years. Plus they don’t have the restocking fee if you want to return the product.

I don’t like Best Buy because they always try to upsell you. I went in there once to buy a cheap laptop for my family and they said the only ones they have are the geek squad setup models where they charge an extra 40 bucks. That on top of the service plan could double your total amount of the original purchase price.

Dishonest? I guess by omission.