Extended Warrenty?

It's a good sign when a poster who works for or is affiliated with repair/warranty business doesn't automatically suggest getting an ext warr. That's honesty to say the least.

As far as cameras go, I don't know much about them and don't even have my own. All I can say is even if u don't need the ext warr, for others it's the peace of mind they're really buying, which may be worth the $$ if it eases your mind and lets you get on with your life. You need to take into account the reliability of your cam, how expensive it is, repair costs, and shipping if any needed.

Also, read throught the whole ext warr. Find out what's covered and what isn't, for how long/how many times. Make sure they replace batteries for free of cost if it doesn't have a replaceable batt, lens repair if broke etc. Keep in mind, credit cards, IIRC like Amer Express offer additional warr. Also note that in plafces like UK and Europe, manfacturers are required by law to provide 2 year warr on all products.

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As for my experiences, they've only been for PDAs, desktop PCs, and headphones.

Handspring Visor - this was a gift. Ext warr not applicable as i didn't even know it existed then for this item.

Handspring Visor Neo - ditto here as well. The problems I have with the first one (crashes causing soft resets) were solved by tech supp help followed by a prompt replacement under std warr. Even if they did try to push an ext warr on me. I wouldn't have opted as std warr and their tech supp were nice and sufficient

PalmOne Zire 71 - $80 for an ext warr for a $250 PDA! This was soley for peace of mind, as i use this for productivity/business as well as games/multimedia. I figured nothing could go wrong that i couldn't fix right away, or at worst eventually. In the end, the peace of mind was nice, while the $$ wasn't really worth it. I ended up upgrading at the end of the std 1yr warr while still having another yr of ext warr left. There were stories of how ppl go thorough these like hotcakes. I never had such problems. I guess I'm luckier when it comes to PDAs.

PalmOne Tungsten T3 - I bought this on Ebay since it's no longer in production. It was no longer in production, but few places still had it new. I figured with these types of electronic devices, slightly used, somewhat used, and brand new, if it's going to have problems, they all have a good chance of happenening, so saving the extra $60 would be justified. It was used so no ext warr available. It's still working fine

Tapwave Zodiac 2 - I bought it brand new on ebay, still sealed in box, but since Tapwave shut down, no more warr are being honored. No matter. I use this as my gaming/multimedia device and not for busienss/productivity, so no harm done if i lose its data. I coudl'v bought it from another online vendor who offers ext warr, but again, i've alr had my reasons.

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Dell XPS550 - Back then, Dell had 3 yr std warr. No need for an ext warr.

Dell Dimension 8300 - Altho Dell managed to screw up my PC initially (1st time a tech came in to replace motherboard to fix defective USB ports, 2nd time replaced whole system since network card wasn't working after 1st repair), once it's up and working, hardware problems are not likely to resurface again... save for hardrive crashes or optical drive failures. Those i could fix on my own. No ext warr was opted. That and ext warr doesn't even cover stuff like spyware/adware removal, software support (just hardware). It's all separated into multiple warranties now. I would be replacing this system after 4 years of use anyways.

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heaphones - i was paying with credit card, so the extra $3 for a $15 purchase wasn't a big issue. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but otherwise, wasn't a good decision. Just buy a new one for $15. I'm not upset by this decision only b/c it was only $3 wasted

If the product you bought was new and priced under $700.and has a 0ne year or 90 day limited warrenty Do not get the extended coverage. But use the product as much as possible so if there is a early life failure it should show up. If the product was a refurbished unit it probably failed for someone, and was returned for repair. These units have a tendancy to fail again. Buy the extended warrenty.

Extended warranties for depend on the cost of the item. How long I expect an to work is not as important because I expect it to last as long as I do. Guess that means I was raised in a different era than the throw away one manufacturers want us to be in now.

We usually get extended warranties on cars, heating and aircondiitioning systems, and other expensive systems, like our Duet washer and dryer set. I did not on our Canon SD200 camera, but usually to on computers, etc.

Most small electronic things use to fail, if they were going to, during the manufacturer's warranty. Don't know if that is the case, now.

Durand C. waters

I never buy an extended warranty. If they are willing to gamble so am I.

When I worked at CompUSA, we were strongly pushed to sell the TAP program for various items. The insider info was that it was mostly profit, except that it was frequently redeemed by owners of CD burners and laptops. CD burners (and now DVD) tended to fail often, and the TAP guaranteed full no-questions replacement (or upgrade if a similar unit was no longer available). Laptop screen replacement cost over $1K, so failure and breakage insurance on that item was not very profitable either. Everything else was pretty much gravy for us, wasted money for them.

I tried the TAP on my CD burner, and when that drive failed, I was given a newer faster one. Now I always get protection on them. I've had 2 CD drives and a DVD drive fail since then, all replaced or upgraded free.

The best thing for you to do is first evalueate the cost of the camera. The search the internet for the most common problems for yours. Find out how it would cost to replace that part or fix it. Also, some credit cards will include warranties with your purchases. I purchased a Nikon coolpix 8800 that came with a 5 year warranty, tripod, cleaning kid,2 batteries, camera bag and 256MB memory card(COMPACT FLASH). All of this for $958 but then again that was about 3 months ago. With Butterflyphoto you can haggle on the prices too. I like that.

And how much it will cost to fix it. In the case of a camera. I bought a Fuji 2M 3x optical 3 years ago. I did not buy an Ext. Warranty ($69.99). Thank god it did not break. If it did break within the 3 years,it would have been repaired at a cost of $69.99, which would have been paid 3 years ago. However, the fact that I did not have the warranty, I would have bought a better camera at about the same price I would have paid for repairing it.
The question is, why would I repair a 2M camera when I can get a 4M for $159.88 today.
If I insist on having a 2M camera, I can probably find a used one on E-bay for $25.
When it comes to Washing Machine or Refrigerator, do get the extended warranty. A visit for a repairmen alone will cost you $75.00. Nevermind parts and labor.

It depends very much on the company backing the warranty. Often that is not the vendor that made it or the store that sold it but a third party company acting as an insurance company. The company needs to be viable for this kind of coverage to work. And check the terms carefully, including deductibles and shipping and handling costs.

I have spent way too much money lately on repairing my digital equipment. There are so many different systems keeping one device running, Its never a surprise when something breaks.

M

Let me start by telling you I sell financing and insurance for the automotive industry. So I have an insider's view. Simply put, an ext. warr. is a great thing for the right person, and a complete waste of money for the wrong person. And yes, there are profits for extended warranties. But, last time I checked, companies need to make a profit to stay in business.

You need to ask yourself a couple of questions.

First, is what I'm buying worth the extra money it cost to cover a repair or replacement? Paying more than 25% of the items' price for a warranty is probably too much. ($50 for a $150 item is foolish.)

Second, is how much can you afford? If you had to scrimp and save just to buy something, it is a good idea to spend a little extra upfront and not have to worry if something major happens later on. On the other hand, if it was no big deal to make your purchase in the first place, then it might be no big deal to pay for a repair or replacement if you need to later on.

Lastly, what type of person are you? If you're the type of person who doesn't deal well with problems, then consider an ext. warr. If you're comfortable knowing that once your manufacturer coverage expires, your on your own, then skip the extra coverage.

One final note. Remember what your buying is an incredibly complex machine. And a machine can break for any number of reasons no matter how well it was made, or how well it was rated.

Good luck.

Cheapskates like me buy all mechanical/electronic items with a credit card (zero cost) that DOUBLES the manufacturers warranty at zero cost. I have used this several times thru the years - most recently to replace a Canon camera - and have had no problems.

There are two reasons why I don't buy extended warranties. (1) I believe the general rule is true, that if an electronic gadget is going to go bad, this will probably happen much sooner than later. I realize that there are exceptions to this, but I am talking about a general rule. The factory warranty, or the one that comes with the product, almost always covers the short-term failure. (2) Almost any salesman will tell you, if he/she is honest, that extended warranties are "gravy" for the retail outlet.

I could also mention the fact that when service calls are part of an extended warranty, the "service" varies greatly in quality. I bought an E.W. for an Amana electric stove years ago, and the repairman who came had no clue as to what he was doing. I then learned that the E.W. only included one service visit! So, friends, weigh these matters carefully. Extended warranties can be expensive, up to 15% of the purchase price.