Sagemax extended warranty from B&H?

[jonbaber]

I am about to buy a reader from B&H but I am concerned about the warranty. I bought a prs-500 off ebay when they first came out but got one with a bad battery which lasts only about 200-300 page turns. While I love everything else about the reader, the limited page turns means its pretty much useless to me as I often read more than that in a single sitting.

I have considered just getting a new battery, but I thinks its time for an upgrade (after the October 2nd announcement of course) and I noticed that B&H offer an extended warrenty through SageMax including accidental damage etc. Has anyone had any experience with them (especially internationally)? Is it worth the US$28 for 2 years? Does it cover things such things as bad batteries?

All these questions and more! Would be great to hear anyone's thoughts.

Cheers, Jon

[jljones]

I think extended warranties ar a waste of money. Odds are you'll never need it, but if it fails after a year, there will likely be a cheaper and better reader on the market.
I bought one of the first DVD recorders. The EW I declined would have cost me more than the price of the DVD Hard Disk recorder that I bought three years later. And the first one still works.

[dhbailey]

Yes, extended warranties are nothing more than a gambling game -- the company is betting you won't break your reader (and it won't fail) during the warranty period and you're betting that you will break it.

If you need it, like all insurance, it's wonderful to have it, but when the warranty has expired and you didn't use it, it's money wasted.

But if you're a klutz given to dropping sensitive electronic equipment, $28 is cheap enough to get a replacement. Be sure to read the fine print, though -- most such warranties, even when they do cover the screen will only replace the screen once, after that you have to pay full repair costs, even though the rest of the warranty is in effect.

Rest assured that the extended warranties are one of the most lucrative profit centers of any business.

[InspectorGadget]

Originally Posted by dhbailey

But if you're a klutz given to dropping sensitive electronic equipment, $28 is cheap enough to get a replacement. Be sure to read the fine print, though -- most such warranties, even when they do cover the screen will only replace the screen once, after that you have to pay full repair costs, even though the rest of the warranty is in effect.

I got burned by this with the Sony extended warranty. I blew my warranty on a replacement to get the battery life back up from two weeks (with no usage) back to 3-4 weeks like when it was new. What I got was a crappy refurb with, guess what, a 2-week battery life! Then after the 3-mo refurb warranty passed, the screen started blowing rows and columns in the corner.

Never going to do that again. You don't get new repair parts or replacement units. You get abused refurbs and untested factory overrun parts.

You're right, it's a racket.

[jonbaber]

I had always suspected it was a bit of a rort but nice to have confirmation. Thanks for the heads up