Register Guidelines E-Books Today's Posts Search

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Which one should I buy?

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 02-06-2008, 12:50 AM   #1
jmelvin587
Junior Member
jmelvin587 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 1
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2008
Device: MOTORAZRv6
It is a good idea to get the Accidental Damage Plan when purchasing a laptop?

I'm a college student looking trying to buy a laptop. Is an accidental damage plan worth it? Can the plan replace your laptop for free in 3-4 years? And which store's plan is better, Best Buy's or Circuit City's?
jmelvin587 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2008, 01:09 AM   #2
Nate the great
Sir Penguin of Edinburgh
Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Nate the great ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Nate the great's Avatar
 
Posts: 12,375
Karma: 23555235
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DC Metro area
Device: Shake a stick plus 1
It depends on how likely it is that the laptop will be damaged, and whether you can afford to replace it. If you live in a dorm or or some other situation where you can't control the idiots that might be near your laptop, then you should absolutely get the accidental damage warranty.

So far I haven't needed it. When I got my Dell, I got the 3 year next business day repair which covered normal wear and tear. It was a great investment; my screen died. Since then I've beat the keyboard to death and just about killed the trackpad buttons.

P.S. Buy the machine from the manufacturer, not a retail store. I have heard a bunch of horror stories about both stores. I like Dell, but others are good.
Nate the great is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 02-06-2008, 01:43 AM   #3
AnemicOak
Bookaholic
AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
AnemicOak's Avatar
 
Posts: 14,391
Karma: 54969924
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Minnesota
Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +
Nate gives good advice. It really is different for each case. I would probably get the warranty from the manufacturer though instead of a store if I was buying. I know HP/Compaq offers their own, including some that cover accidental damage. AFAIK Best Buy's will not cover accidental damage. Don't trust the person selling it to you, be sure & read what it covers.

BTW, if you want Dell Best Buy sells them now.
AnemicOak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2008, 01:52 AM   #4
Gideon
Wearer of Pants
Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.Gideon knows the square root of minus one.
 
Gideon's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,050
Karma: 7634
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Norman, OK
Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone
For a laptop for a student - absolutely. Laptops get damaged, a lot.. and repair costs are generally very, very high (and your local tech geek can't generally help you much.)

That being said... order from the manufacturer, do not buy from Best Buy, etc. The employees lie their butts off and don't have a clue what they're doing.

Also.... at this point, Gateway is probably better than Dell (unless you're willing to get a Mac - which I'd certainly suggest :grins but Dell has had so many recalls and do such a horrible job anymore. If someone asked me 6 years ago which company to go with, I'd say Dell... but these days it just seems to be crap.

The Gateway convertible tablets are very nice, however. My brother's had one for about 3 years now... And my old Dell (9 yrs ago) lasted 7 years... But the dell my brother had before the gateway had to be sent back 4 times, and then died one last time the day after the warranty expired.

It's really a crapshoot. But whatever you do, I'd avoid buying them at a retail store if you can. The last time I bought one I was lied to regarding about 4 different things that ended up costing me about $400. Also, you can generally get some nice educational discounts buying from the big companies.
Gideon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2008, 04:51 AM   #5
Sparrow
Wizard
Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 4,395
Karma: 1358132
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3
It might be worth checking what's covered in any existing insurance policies you may have.

I know someone who works in insurance, and he says a lot of people don't realise what they can claim for and miss out.

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/your-mone...stmas-con.aspx discusses some of the issues.
Sparrow is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 02-06-2008, 05:03 AM   #6
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 79,687
Karma: 145864619
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
My stepson has a laptop and he lives in the UK. He took out an insurance policy on his laptop. he has a replacement value policy. So he gets the value he paid for it if it breaks. He's already taken advantage of the policy twice already and has a nice laptop now due to the policy.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2008, 06:43 AM   #7
xianfox
Ebook Addict
xianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it isxianfox knows what time it is
 
xianfox's Avatar
 
Posts: 225
Karma: 2136
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Device: Onyx BOOX Note Air 4C, Palma
I'll second (third?) the advise to check with your insurance agent. As a college student, if you're still under your parent's coverage, you may score some discounts due to car/home/life/etc. insurances you/they already have.

Usually going thru your insurance is cheaper and you break the payments into monthly installments instead of all at once plus you can often tailor the coverage to exactly what you want.
xianfox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2008, 07:33 AM   #8
ggendel
Connoisseur
ggendel is on a distinguished road
 
Posts: 54
Karma: 54
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Cybook 3
You should also check with your school. Both my kids were "suggested" to purchase from the school in order to get the school's software packages installed (Matlab, Solidworks, Photoshop, etc.). At the end it was cheaper to purchase that way than from outside. In the case of my daughter, they use Novell to gateway onto the school's network. Without that she can't connect to the campus network to submit their work. In many cases, the school provides 3-4 year warranty. Of course, the quality of the computer center people may be a bit low.

Gary
ggendel is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Sell Sony Daily Reader with the 2year Accidental Damage shrktank Flea Market 4 02-14-2010 12:15 AM
Purchasing Kindle in UK, now a good time? Ragnarak Amazon Kindle 23 01-31-2010 08:14 AM
Accidental Damage Plan, worth it? binzer Bookeen 15 04-29-2008 12:00 PM
Accidental Damage Plan? Michele Sony Reader 26 01-22-2007 09:50 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:47 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.