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Old 08-17-2010, 10:13 AM   #27
smallhagrid
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Posts: 189
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Vermont
Device: EZReader
Thumbs up Such an emotionally charged subject, wow !

A very wise and thoughtful suggestion HarryT:
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
Mathematically speaking, it only makes sense to pay X% of the purchase price of the item in the form of an extended warranty if you believe that there is a greater than X% probability of you needing to make a claim on the warranty.
I will only add that IMO one cannot easily guess at the probability of failure in a type of device which has so little history behind it yet.
(Especially when most of them are not made by the sellers - but instead made in Asia in the cheapest possible manner and then branded for sale elsewhere.)

It occurs to me to mention a demographical idea here too...
This comes to mind because I do a little work for a man I've known for many years and whose income is definitely and correctly described as having a number well >1 at the 6th place to the left of the decimal point.

This man's $$$ expenditure on a single work shirt, if I had it - would be enough to buy my groceries for months !
He will not even LOOK at a car priced under $60,000; regularly enjoys group dinners at a spot charging a flat $120/person where one of the guys 'picks up the tab'; thinks nothing of enjoying a $1000+ bottle of wine - and so on.
I think it is wonderful for folks to enjoy such lovely and expansive lifestyles.

I can only admire such folks though, with the sure knowledge that my own life will never include 99% of the things mentioned above and that is completely OK with me !!!

My reason to mention such silliness is that for someone bringing in above 5 figures a year buying and re-buying gadgets costing mere hundreds is only annoying because of the precious time wasted on purchasing and so forth; the actual $$$ is much less of an object.

For me - right now this minute - there is not enough $ in my wallet to buy either groceries or my next tank of gasoline....SO: I regard this subject WAY differently than would a person who has arrived in middle age with savings, a retirement fund of some sort, and an income I can only imagine if I tried.

Yes - I have chosen most of my path in life and knew it would be a low-$ one, and this is not any problem for me; it is only mentioned here at all to point at the contrasts possible within and around the subject I introduced when I posted this thread -> and all the heated-sounding replies which have shown how poorly some folks regard this very subject.

It also helps that I have personally chosen rather well in getting extended warranties on items which later justified my choices and have paid off well.

Best Wishes.

mark
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