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Grex Micros Item 63: Warranties and Extended Warranties
Entered by rcurl on Wed Nov 3 03:22:50 UTC 1993:

Let's discuss Warranties and Extended Warranties.

10 responses total.

#1 of 10 by rcurl on Wed Nov 3 03:28:25 1993:

I bought a Powerbook at the UM Kickoff Sale, and they offer a (slightly)
discounted extended warranty until 6 November. You can buy up to 3
years of extended warranty at $202/a. Generally, I forego extended
warranties, realizing that they are offered as money-making ventures
by the vendors, so the average cost of repairs is less than the cost
of the warranty (probably by a big margin). But it is also insurance,
so one has to judge the "probabilities". I would be interested in 
your thoughts (and decisions) on purchasing extended warranties for
this computer, or computers in general.

#2 of 10 by n8nxf on Wed Nov 3 12:36:00 1993:

I have never bought an extended warranty but then I'm also not afraid
to dive into the latest electronics and see if I can figure out what
is going wrong.
In the case of your PB, I would say it is not too bad of an idea.  I
have opened them several times, and is a LOT of tiny stuff in there
not to mention Apple makes it a policy not to publish schematics.
Would it be covered if you dropped it?
For the person who doesn't know which end of a AAA cell is positive,
extended warranties might make sense.  I, for one, have saved a lot
by NOT buying them. (BTW, I just bought a PB sans extended warranty.)

#3 of 10 by hawkeye on Wed Nov 3 15:04:41 1993:

Buy things on credit cards that double the manufactures warranty.  I did
this with my VCR and ended up using it right before the "double" expired...

#4 of 10 by n8nxf on Thu Nov 4 00:46:31 1993:

How much does such a credit card "cost" to have?

#5 of 10 by kentn on Thu Nov 4 01:40:32 1993:

Everything you own plus about 20%.

#6 of 10 by n8nxf on Thu Nov 4 12:26:44 1993:

Hummm.  Good deal.

#7 of 10 by rcurl on Thu Nov 4 14:17:44 1993:

I checked my credit card benefits, and sure enough, they double warranties
up to one year (for warranties of less than 3 years, which is weird). That's
the good news. The bad news is that the Kickoff would not accept credit
cards, so I paid by check. 

By the way, Klaus, which end of an AAA is positive depends on whether it
is zinc-chloride, or alkaline. The rod is on the former, but the can is
on the latter. Not a trivial matter. Looks deceive. Beauty is in the eye
of the beholder. These are the times that try men's souls.

#8 of 10 by hawkeye on Thu Nov 4 16:43:57 1993:

A number of credit cards are free.  The three that my wife and I have
have no annual fee and we pay the balance off every month.  We got back
something like $80 last year from Discover as well...

#9 of 10 by n8nxf on Fri Nov 5 13:28:16 1993:

But do the free cards double warranties?  (I'll have to check mine one
of these days..)
re #8.  Humm.  I always thought it was the end with the nipple or the
+ sign.  Many hearing aid and watch batteries fool me too ;)

#10 of 10 by hawkeye on Fri Nov 5 18:30:31 1993:

Some do, some don't.  I got an AT&T Gold Universal card for free when they
started offering them.  Has everything I would want for in a card except
cash back.  Discover has that, so I buy everything on Discover except for
electronics or other things that come with warranties.

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