When you buy a new computer, one question that will come up is whether you should put out the extra bucks to buy the extended warranty.

I have no doubt we’ll be getting a call from Dell shortly pushing its extended warranty for the new notebook computer that will be soon be joining our household.

Today’s Boston Globe actually addresses the question, with some decent advice.

As the article points out, Consumer Reports advises not to bother, since your new system will probably be covered for some period (in our case, a year). In that time, presuming you’re using the computer, if something’s bound to go wrong as a result of a faulty part or connection, it will.

The fact is that most warranties don’t cover the stuff that can really happen to your machine in those extended years of use: Your new kitten runs into the power cord, pulling the notebook off your desk; or your first-grader tries to print a coloring page from The Wiggles website while you’re off washing your hair and spills his breakfast juice on the keyboard. Trust me, that stuff isn’t covered by an extended warranty.

Still determined to get that extra protection? Then ask these questions, suggests the Globe:

“Can it be returned to the store, or will it be shipped to a third party? Who pays for the shipping? What is the ‘lemon clause’ — meaning how many times will they try to repair the computer before they give up and replace the device?”

Whatever you do, don’t buy the warranty the moment you’re standing in the checkout counter holding your new purchase. That gives you no time at all to read the fine print.

So when Dell calls this household for that after-market upgrade, we’ll say, “No thanks.” Plus, we’ll make sure that juice is served in a sippy cup.

Where do you stand on the subject?

Posted on April 20th, 2008 by dian