Best Buy and eMachines warranty - Page 2

Also, always ask the retailer to provide a copy of the warranty before purchasing. One should be available for review since it is considered a material item of concern.

An electronic part failure within the beginning of it's life cycle is called infant mortality. While it's true that at the end of it's life cycle, the failure rate is also high, the life cycle is usually very long that sometimes the device is obsolete before it fails.
All I am saying is, the failure rate in the beginning is high, then it decreses with time, then it goes high again. There is a good article explaning this whole thing at
http://www.weibull.com/hotwire/issue21/hottopics21.htm

Dugdug

I am 32 years old and have been buying electronic equipment of all sorts; both consumer and professional; since the age of 16. I have never had to use a warranty for a single item. I simply take very good care of what I buy.

However this thread started it's become de facto "should you buy an extended warranty?"

And the answer is: maybe. Like any company computer manufacturers are in business to make money; they seek to do so on all aspects of their business. Which means they expect, when they sell an extended warranty, that they will profit from it - in other words that the total income will be greater than the total expense of parts and labor furnished under the warranty terms.

Like insurance companies manufactures and resellers have a very large installed base from which to derive actuarial data. They know that in year 3, for example, X% of LCD screens are going to fail, and they price their extended warranty coverages based on this research.

So in the aggregate an extended warranty (like insurance) is a better deal for the seller than the buyer. That's just the way it is, and the second it changes either the price goes up or they stop selling the warranties.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't buy one, however, because you are dealing with your individual unit, not all units sold. While they know that on average a $250 extended warranty will cost $200 to service (for example), NOBODY can tell what repairs to any particular unit will cost (sort of like quantum physics, this). Your machine may never break or it may go through motherboards and LCDs like Sherman through Georgia.

Overall, then, the "house" always comes out ahead in the long run but that doesn't mean you won't win your particular bet, which is all an extended warranty is: a bet, a gamble, an assignment of risk. And like any bet it's impossible to logically or rationally decide if it is a "good deal" until you know the outcome.

[Taking very good care of what you buy] may OR may not have any impact on the performance and lifetime of a product. Even people who take immaculate care in their electronic products have NO control over any internal defective parts, etc. One again, a very common consumer fallacy.

well the other argument is.. why not spend half as much and get the emachines warranty

Because the eMachines extended warranty doesn't offer MORE coverage all it offers is an EXTENDED time period...whereas a third party warranty such as the Best Buy performance service plan offers a time extension as well as more coverage...

I believe I tried.

Here are the list of exclusions according to the included warranty card:

-Damage that occurs during unpackaging, setup, or installation
-Damage resulting from misuse, accident, abuse, alteration, modification or negligence
-Failure to follow normal operation and maintenance procedures outlined in the owners manual
-Attempted repair by non-qualified personnel
-Operation outside of normal environmental and electrical specifications
-Normal wear and tear (like LCD pixel drop or distortion)
-Exterior cosmetic damage (cracks, scratches, broken or modified parts)
-Malfunction caused by non approved hardware or software
-Damaged or removed identification trademark or serial number.

There is no mention of a 90 day LCD policy. In fact, I find nothing out of the ordinary or unrealistic in their exclusions. By the way, the extended Emachine warranty does cover additional items that the original does not expressly cover like:
-Screen protection coverage
-Power surge protection
-No lemon policy
-Extended tech support

Hope that answers your original question.

Well, I called "the Man" himself about EM's warranty, both extended and standard. Here's the deal (direct from EM):

1. There is no 90 day LCD warranty [ala DeusExMachina ]. It is a one year policy and is extended if you purchase the extended warranty. The warranty goes like this:

Imagine that the screen is divided into 4 square quadrants with a square box in the middle. If 3 pixels fail in any of the four outside quadrants (but not due to misuse or wear/tear) during the first year, the screen will be replaced. If any pixel in the middle box fails, it will be replaced.

2. There is a warranty for the battery and power supply adapter. With respect to the battery, they will perform a series of tests (which was not disclosed to me) to confirm an inherent defect before authorizing return. The adapter is covered except for abuse. This runs in line with the surge protection coverage.

3. Extended Tech Support. Fairly self-explanatory but it does expire at the end of the extended warranty (or standard warranty) since they cycle their products frequently.

4. No Lemons: This is simply a short hand explanation for inexplicable failure not normally associated with use/abuse. Also it would apply to some of the apparently bizzare behavior that the units manifest like infinite loop or case flexing/unexpected lockups.

I haven't reviewed the Best Buy warranty though I suspect it is similar.

Funny thing about EM, they wouldn't direct me to the written guidelines though they assured me they exist. Hmmm. I suspect if you are nice and cooperative during troubleshooting, they have sufficient flexibility to repair problems that might otherwise be likely a non-covered event. Of course, dropping, coffee, sleeping on it, etc. is not covered.

Interestingly, if you have a homeowners insurance policy or business ins. policy (C.G.L), your laptop is probably covered. So you may have excess coverage anyways though you definitely have to review the policies with you broker. Also double check the deductible.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention another benefit of the Best Buy warranty...it's TRANFERRABLE..thus your resale value on the computer goes up....eMachines warranty whether standard or extended doesn't allow this:

http://www.emachines.com/support/lim...anty_tandc.pdf

"This Warranty extends only to the original purchaser, is not transferable and applies only to the eMachines branded Products sold with this Warranty."

Best Buy warranty on M6805:

Here is the link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....174&cmp=%20%20

Click on the service plan button next to the price.

The extended warranty is state specific (since different states provide different levels of consumer protection - pity folks in the southern states since their legislatures have deemed business over consumers)

In California, the BB coverage follows EM's:

"* This Plan provides battery repair/replacement for notebook computers, cellular and PCS phones when original is determined defective by us.
...
* This Plan provides coverage for product failures due to dust, heat, humidity and normal wear and tear.

* Notebook Computer screens are covered, unless failure is due to accidental or intentional damage.

* This Plan provides pixel repair based upon manufacturer's guidelines."

It appears that the BB plan has some benefits over EM though much of the warranty tracks EM. However, I want to point out that BB makes no guaranty of new parts:

"Replacement parts will be new, rebuilt or non-original manufacturer's parts that perform to the factory specifications of the product at our option." [sorry Element]

Likewise, it appears that the plan ceases after total replacement:

"* This Plan is fulfilled when a product is replaced after the expiration of the manufacturer's warranty."

Is it better than EM? Based upon these terms, I suspect the wear/tear provisions provide better coverage though the specific exclusions virtually swallow the rules. For example, screen replacement to due wear tear would be governed by EM's policy, not the general wear/tear provisions (specific warranty terms typically govern over general statements). So LCD pixel problems due to case flexing still requires use of the box - 3 pixel analysis before replacement.

Is it worth the cost differential? Depends entirely on risk assessment.

BTW, the battery replacement policy of BB appears identical to EM since BB uses their own procedure to approval replacement. They do offer a "conditioning" program though I suspect that merely means they run defrag while scanning your system for good pix and other "juicy" data.

Hope this helps.

Shame if you Live in Florida, Complete Care doesn't exist! But yes, it is a good option with Dells if you don't live in the Sunshine State.

I did not buy BB's Extended Warranty when I bought my M6805 on March 1st, 2004, and have not as of yet purchases EM's ESP. I will probably purchase the EM ESP upgrade to the 2 or 3 year warranty within the next couple months, as this is my first laptop, and it's going to need to try to survive its Grad School experience. Extended warranties are definitely a gamble, but in this case, after weighing the options, I would choose the EM ESP. And after seeing how remarkable this BEAST of a laptop is, I'm willing to be its a gamble I probably won't need But in life, Murphy's Law reigns supreme, so what the heck, I'll grab me that ESP before the 90 day purchase time expires.

This link describes it all

http://www.emachines.com/support/war....html#esp_note

But bascially, an additional year (so 1 extra year plus the original year received at the purchase of the notebook) is $109 and 2 additional years is $189. For me, I think its the best compromise between a gamble and flushing money down the proverbial drain.