to buy or not to buy

[DUSTIN]

hi
i am looking at a few notebook computer. my question is, would you buy the warranty from best buy or compusa for the notebook, or would the manufacturer warranty be enough? does the manufacturer cover everything? thanks.

[sdkfz]

This depends - what does the extended warranty cover? What is the expected use/abuse?

If for example the laptaop is being bought becasuse of size considerations not portability then more coverage for dropping when it never leaves the desk is a waste.

Bottom line is always that the insurance is a way to make money for the seller. If anything that you expect bad to happen to it is excluded then stick with the manufacturer waranty. I'd also look into home owners and renters insurance - these might give you similar coverage and cover more items than just a single laptop.

[SonicVanguard]

I can speak for BestBuy's warranty (or protection plan as they call it). It covers the LCD screen (which is not covered by the mfg) and that was enough for me. Basically any problems, I bring it to them - even if I screwed it up (which I have). Granted, I'm becoming more and more aware of what is good/bad/really bad to do to a laptop (in large part because of this site) so I can fix many of the problems I might have. But I lost the LCD on my VAIO last year and Sony was more than happy to replace it - for a minimum of $450 depending on what needed to be done. BestBuy replaced the laptop (with a better model no less) without question.

Dave.