Value for money laptops

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Vimeous

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Aug 19, 2008
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Regarding laptop warranties.

Whichever way you cut it laptops are disposable items. Their limited upgrade path and propriatory components ages them more rapidly then any desktop solution. Therefore the warranty you buy will depend on your disposable income.

Personally £500 is my no-extra-warranty boundary. This is because I could afford at-most to spend another £500 to replace it should it break in month 13 of my ownership. I cannot afford a more expensive machine to only last 12 months.
Again this would mean if I spent up to £1k I want 2yrs warranty and £1.5k 3yrs. Above that I'd seriously question my need for a laptop other than for pure vanity and buy the mother-of-all-desktops instead.

That said I wouldn't touch allsorts of laptops because I don't trust the warranty let alone the extended version.
The experiences friends have had with Apple for instance have been good IF they were covered. I dislike Toshiba because any I've been near have failed within 18months.

Dell I have had alot of experience with because I admin a raft of them. I would happily pay for additional Dell warranty, in fact if you spend over £500 I would encourage you to chose their at-home warranty.
Why? Because one laptop we had (with accidental cover) had a PINT of tea spilt over it and by the time Dell had finshed only the chassis and graphics card were unchanged. There was no arguement, they listened and pursued the issues until they got it right.
Even their non-European support staff are a significant step above similar offerings we've seen in years past.

It may pay to look to one of the smaller manufacturers as you might get a more personal service though I can't back that up with direct experience.
 
basshound:Miggs:Whats your opinion on paying an extra warranty for say 2 or 3 yrs? Is it worth it? IMO,no it`s not worth it,if my laptop went wrong after 2-3 years I`d probably just get a new one considering the pace computer technology moves at.Hope your wife recovers quickly.

I bought my Sony laptop from Amazon. When it went wrong after 18 months, Sony wanted to charge me for repairing it. I then contacted Amazon who refunded me the full amount, according to the European Law (EU rules gives you replacement rights for 2 years).: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/may/23/tesco-consumer-guarantee

I bought a new laptop with the refund amount.

Sale of Goods Act actually protects you for 6 years, but that's a bit complicated to enforce.
 

Miggs

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Thanks for all the replies and sound advice. Took the plunge and have just ordered a good spec Dell for £500. Just waiting now for a delivery date, but should not have to wait long.

Thanks Again

Miggs.
 

robjcooper

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Sep 29, 2008
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Re: Value for money laptops

one off:apple they really are that good

Unless of course you pay the better part of two grand for a MacBook Pro, it lasts eight weeks before the hard disk goes bang and your company IT department decides it should be repaired rather than binned and replaced...

Consulting Editor, What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision / whathifi.com

Audio Editor, Gramophone

Andrew,

So why didn't you just take it to the Genius Bar in the Kingston Apple store (assuming that like most of the WHF team working at the Teddington Offices you live in this area) and they'd have either fixed it or more than likely given you a replacement. Or phone up Applecare where they would have arranged to get it fixed. I'm surprised that someone as technically adept as yourself bothered to take it within 20ft of a sh IT e department.

But I must ask why you feel you should bin any computer if the hard drive goes bang - it's probably the most unreliable part in any laptop. If the Battery in your new Ferrari refuses to hold a charge would you scrap it !

If the answer's 'yes' then I'll arrange to dispose of it for you - Drop it off, I live in Kingston (I'll have the MacBook as well!)

Rob
 

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