Cheap warranties for PC's?

SonOfPearl

I am considering buying a new pc (from Dell or Evesham) and have noticed that the warranties they offer are very expensive. Are there independent companies that offer warranties for pc's?

albertross_2

My view is don't waste your money. PC's last a long time.

https://www.dmxdimension.com

SonOfPearl

I know from personal experience that they fail very easily, so in this case a warranty is something I would like.

pinkfluffybabe

I am not sure about buying a seperate warranty, but adding an IT bod to your list of friends is never a bad thing.

albertross_2

I know from personal experience that if you buy a good make, Dell etc.., they don't.. unless you are very very unlucky. None of my PC's has ever failed, yet, and also I have looked after 1000's of them professionally, the failure rate is very low (1% maybe in first 5 years), and it is usually the hard disk, or the psu, which are about £10-30, and much cheaper than a warranty. Most of peoples PC problems are down to software, which isn't covered under a warranty. Fortunately, you can get help with software problems here, for free.

But if you insist on wasting your money, Dell often phone you up after you have bought one, giving you the option to buy a warranty at a better rate. They can do this, because the failure rate is low, and they make loads of money from warranties, even at the reduced rate.

Babu

The laptops we use at work are all covered by manufacturer's warranties, however, I just don't bother with warranties for any on the desktops we have. I just open these up and get the problems sorted myself.

SonOfPearl

Ok, provided I back up my data to an external hard drive, is it fair to say that an extended warranty is a waste of money?

albertross_2

That is my opinion, especially for a Desktop PC, where every part is replaceable cheaply. I have a 10 year old Dell, still going strong.

If you don't have too much data, DVD's are a better backup medium, and Norton Ghost or Acronis Trueimage backups will allow you to put the machine back into a fully working state easily.

SonOfPearl

Thanks everyone for your comments

albertross_2

If you now go out and buy a lemon, I apologise in advance! Checkout the dmxdimension shop, to get the cheap prices, you have to knock the warranty down to 1 year.

LouLou

Not sure how useful this is, but I bought a Packard Bell refurbished base unit about a year ago, from Bigpockets.co.uk. It came with a 1 year On Site Warranty, with the option to extend it for another 2 years for £69.

My first PC was a nightmare so I think it's worth it for peace of mind. I've seen PCs from Aldi and Lidl that have 3 year On Site Warranties, not sure about the reliability of the makes though. Aldi does Medion and Lidl does Targa.

In case you're curious, I've not had any problems with it so far..