With computers the computer depreciate so quickly that if you think about your 480 dollars, you could buy a second hand laptop to scrap for parts to repair your current one. Or put the money towards an upgrade in two years times.

Extended warranty is such a huge money maker for many products (especially white goods), however in alot of cases it is unneccessary. Under the Sales of Goods Act 1893 and other state statues, Companies have an obligation to make sure their goods are fit for purpose. This NSW fair trading commission explanation was the easiest one to find.

————— (http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/shopping/refundsrepairs/warranties.html#Implied%20warranties)
Implied warranties are implied by either statutes or common law. Implied or statutory conditions and warranties require traders and manufacturers to ensure that every product provided is suitable for the purpose for which it is supplied.

Products must do their job properly, bearing in mind their price and the way they are described. This is a legal obligation that applies, whether or not a trader or manufacturer decides to provide a written warranty or guarantee (voluntary warranty).

Consumers may ask for a refund if the goods purchased:

-are so defective that they should not have been sold, for example they don’t work, they break down or they develop a serious fault. If an article becomes defective after sale, one of the considerations for merchantable quality would be the price received by the supplier for the goods (eg. a $2 watch wouldn’t be expected to last as long as a $300 quality watch)

-are not suitable for their intended purpose made known to the supplier, or

-do not match the sample or description provided.

For example, a refrigerator is an expensive item. It is not unreasonable to expect it to last longer than 18 months before it’s ready for the scrap heap. Even if the voluntary warranty on the refrigerator has expired, a consumer may still have a valid complaint under the law if it had a structural fault eg. defective insulation not apparent at the time of purchase, which became obvious after only 18 months.

These implied warranties cannot be excluded or modified by a manufacturer or trader when the product or service is bought for personal or domestic use, even if the consumer does not return a manufacturer’s guarantee card or notice provided with the goods.

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In effect all you are paying for in alot of cases is ease of warranty claim……

If it does die soon after the warranty runs out (which even for dells is rare), you can either pickup a cheap second hand replacement for not a lot, given how quickly laptops depreciate, or a new laptop which will be faster/more hdd/more ram, etc, for the same or less than you paid for the one that died.

In short, don’t insure items with such steep decpreciation – its just not worth it.

(of course, I’m hypocritical – I spent a wad on a macbook pro, and did buy the warranty for it – but if doing it again, I’d go with a cheap dell and no warranty, since I’d upgrade after max 18 months anyway)

@Jonk — one word. VISTA (ouch!)

It seems worth it when it breaks after a few years, but if it doesn’t, then there’s no use of the warranty, right? Maybe purposedly break it and make a good use of the warranty! :)