A couple of weeks ago I purchased a used Dell laptop on eBay for $600, and since have received two offers from SquareTrade to get their one-year "Product Care Plan" (warranty) for $60. I've never bought one of the extended warranties sold by Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., since they are said to be high-margin (= bad for the buyer) items. But I wonder about this one. Does anyone have any suggestions on whether or not to buy it? I doubt that it would cover the most common problems...soft drink in the keyboard, shattered screen after drop, lost or stolen.
I change out cards, HDs and power supplies in my desktop machine, but have never tried to work on a laptop.
It's not that much harder, trust me. Did the notebook come with a manual that tells you how to open it?
I think you are right, Sleepy_Sentry. If the laptop breaks I'll fix it myself. From SquareTrade's website: Accidental damage: We don't cover items that are accidentally, intentionally, or negligently damaged - such as water damage, dropped iPods, and cracked laptop screens. Since they also do not cover lost or stolen items, I would be getting very little value from the warranty. They do cover failed HDs, but that's an easy replacement. Besides, who wants to waste the time sending it off?
Glad you made the right decision . I'm guessing you must have gotten your new laptop by now. Do you like it?
It's a Dell D410, and I like it very much because the 12" monitor lets it be lighter than comparable 15.4" lappys. I had used an almost-identical laptop before, so I knew that I wanted the D410. When travelling I take along an external mouse and a full-size external keyboard, and usually leave the CD/DVD drive at home.