New for old laptop replacement

lunny_2

My mum is in the process of having a report done on her laptop after spill a cup of tea over it, suspect it will be beyond economical repair.

Now I would like to have an idea as to what to ask for a replacement, taking into consideration advances in technology.

She had a 2 year old Dell Inspiron 6000 costing around £650
Pentium M 1.7ghz 2mb L2 cache
15.4 WXGA
512mb upgraded to 1024mb RAM ddr2 533mhz
60gb harddrive 5400rpm
dvd rewritable drive

Any suggestions?

Thanks! :T

iviv

The main question here is 'What does she use it for?'
If its just for writing word documents and browsing the internet then something with a similar spec to that old one would be fine, and around half the price of what you originally paid for it.

lunny_2

Primarily used for internet, email and a little photo editing.
I understand that one of a similar spec would be half the price she paid for it, but as the insurance covers new for old, would she not be 'sold short' by getting the same/similar spec? Especially as the insurance covers new for old/like for like?

iviv

Ah, if that's the case then you should get as much as you can

Check out the Dell Inspiron 1720, that's just over £600 and should keep you going for several more years. There may be better offers elsewhere, but that's a good yardstick.

Leopard

On a new-for-old policy, your insurance company will have its own idea of what to replace it with (if they're indeed prepared to).

The insurance company that I have used for many years has twice replaced, very promptly, laptops of mine that have met with physical accidents.

Understandably, they like to reassure themselves that you are not simply using them as a free upgrade facility when your laptop is past its best! So, they may investigate and ask for evidence of the incident and the damage.

The claim, once agreed, usually gets passed to a "replacement agency" which will ship you swiftly what it regards as the appropriate new-for-old replacement for your computer. They are usually open to discussion and (some) negotiation as to what they will give you.

In my case, I had an advantage because mine were Macs and my insurer's agency doesn't keep Macs in stock.

I told them I'd like to get the replacement supplied by my local Apple dealer, instead, in case any problems then arose with it while it was under warranty. This my insurance company agreed to.

The insurance company asked me to take the wrecked Mac to the Apple dealer and get a written damage report and a quotation for a replacement (Apple) laptop of current equivalence. That works basically upon the principle of where your damaged computer was in the manufacturer's range when it was new and what model in its current range now occupies the same position. So, advances in computer technology being what they are, if your computer is a few years old you do end up with a new one that's more powerful than the one it's replacing

The report cost £50 (plus VAT), which I added to the claim. I included photographs of the damage. They then settled it by cheque.

My policy has a £50 excess for such items, which sum they deducted, and you lose your no-claims discount for the next few years.

They were very decent about it, though, and agreed to pay for a second charger and a second battery, which I had had for the damaged one but which were incompatible with the new one.

Insurance is one thing I never buy online nor for which I seek the cheapest quote - be it for house, contents, car or anything else. If and when a claim has to be made, the time and money spent on getting good insurance, tailored to one's precise needs, repays itself many times over.

In both cases, my insurers paid out well over £1,500. I was very grateful to them after the first claim and told them I'd be staying with them so that they could recoup the loss from further premiums. It was thus embarrassing when I subsequently had to make the second claim.

Despite one's legal rights, I found it best to be apologetic about having to claim (particularly when it's for accidental damage) and asked them to help me rather than start demanding what I wanted and what I thought I was entitled to. (Although I would have asserted my rights in the end if I had been denied them.) This approach was rewarded by kindness, assistance and co-operation by my insurers. I recommend it.

lunny_2

Thanks Leopard, very informative of the the process.

I fully agree with not demanding things, I would only want what is deemed fair, but at the same time, not be sold short.

So far we have the wheels in motion for the claim and am awaiting the engineers report (£35), that should be done today.

Would it be reasonable to expect a replacement laptop to cost a similar amount?

I've never had to make an accidental damage claim on contents insurance before.

Leopard

Hope you didn't think I was suggesting your attitude was stroppy! That certainly wasn't my intention.

I was just commenting that if you ring them up and say, as it were, "Look I'm really sorry about this but I've had this disaster with my laptop and I'm in deep dodo because I really need it. It's insured under my policy; how can you help me recover from this?" they tend to be kind and helpful. Well, my insurers were.

And they do have to make an assessment as to whether it's been a genuine accident or whether somebody is trying to rip them off for a new computer because their old one is out of date. Some people who want new carpets, for example, "drop" a can of paint on them and then stick in a claim and try to get away with making a fraudulent claim.

Anyone can "knock over" a glass of wine into a laptop and wreck it. The task for the insurance company is to work out who has had a genuine accident and who hasn't. So, they frequently investigate claims. Ultimately, if they reckon it's iffy, they don't pay out and simply invite you to sue them for the money. One has to look at it from both sides.

Like-for-like is less a money thing than a new, equivalent thing. It centres on the item, not the price. And computers have gone down in price while, at the same time, having gone up in performance.

So, basically, if the computer that's died was, say, the second best 15" laptop that Widget Computers made when it was new, what you'll get to replace it with is the second best 15" laptop that Widget Computers makes now.

What happens if Widget Computers has gone out of business in the meantime, I don't know! Fortunately for me (and many others!) Apple hasn't.

So, it's likely that the replacement computer will actually cost less but be better specced.

That's been my experience, anyway.

I bet you're glad you invested in decent insurance and not just the cheapest on the market. :money:

Good luck: I hope your mother will be really pleased with her replacement.

lunny_2

It never crossed my mind that you were suggesting my attitude was stroppy.
If i gave that impression, it was certainly never intended.

There is nothing I like less that seeing someone ranting and raving at a customer service desk demanding this, that and the other!

If the quidco cashback comes through it may well turn out to be the cheapest insurance though!:D

Fingers crossed that it is all resolved quickly!

:beer: