For decades a there’s been an ongoing debate about how wise it is to purchase an extended warranty for electronic products. Every time a consumer makes a major or minor purchase, they’re apt to be gently, or in some cases not so gently, pressured to purchase a contract extending service from three to five years past the standard, new product. The pressure can be especially high in the big box discount stores whose sales staff are likely to derive a good part of their income from the sale of extended service contracts. There’s general agreement that the debate’s been largely resolved as it relates to major household appliances such as refrigerators, ranges, and washers/dryers. These devices normally operate, trouble-free, for a decade or more; defects normally show up in the first year and are covered under the standard warranty. The decision isn’t quite so cut and dried when applied to computers.
Most home and business computers, Windows PCs and MacIntosh, are sold with a year of free hardware and technical support. Apple includes their excellent Applecare tech telephone support program, but only for the first 90 days. The terms and quality of the standard warranties differ among manufacturer, but most of the well-known makers do a decent job of honoring the terms of their warranties.
Like major appliances, most computer problems arise in the first few months after purchase and will routinely be covered under the standard warranty. Unlike a refrigerator, many computers are likely to need some type of repair if kept for three years or more. Studies have shown that extended warranties, if they are used at all, usually cost the consumer more that the price of repair. If the results of those studies are reliable, those who advocate declining the extended warranty would appear to be on the winning side.
There is a contingent who recommend extended warranties for book and laptops—Windows models and Macs. Portables are more likely to have problems and more expensive to fix. Be sure that warranties cover the common, careless incidents that frequently happen to portable models—falling off tables, cracked screens, spills and crumbs in the keyboard. Don’t expect them to cover malicious abuse or theft. Apple’s extended warranty is a little more attractive than some as it can be purchased anytime within the first year, since it doesn’t overlap the standard warranty, it offers up to an extra year of protection.
