Electronics

[PurpleBunny]

@gardenman my echo dot gets cat "attention" too - when he's in crazy cat mode, he slams into the cord as he is running amok and pulls it off the table. 

[gardenman]

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@PurpleBunny wrote:

@gardenman my echo dot gets cat "attention" too - when he's in crazy cat mode, he slams into the cord as he is running amok and pulls it off the table. 

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Yeah, fortunately they're pretty tough little devices though. 

[gardenman]

Just a quick followup on the whole extended warranty thing. Some cable companies, Frontier Communication being one, now offer product protection packages. For a monthly fee they'll provide you with anti-virus/anti-malware, premium tech support, ID protection, and even let you list ten products that you want protected by a never ending extended warranty which can save you money if you buy things like Lifelock, McAfee/Norton, service contracts or the like for each product you own. The monthly cost is typically somewhere around $20-$25, but if you've got older devices, or expensive devices, that type of a thing can be handy. You typically have to wait 30 days or so after buying the protection before you can file a claim, but if you've got an expensive HDTV or computer that's starting to get a bit iffy, it's not a bad option. Grnted there's still a co-pay for each service call, but it's less than you'd pay a tech just to come out in most cases.  

Most service contracts are designed to milk cash out of you during the period when your product is least likely to fail (early in its life) but services like that offer protection later in the product's life. With some computers and HDTV's cositng $2000 or more that $300 a year could end up being a decent investment.

[jackthebear]

never

it's a profit center for the company not you

[jaxs mom]

Nope, waste of money IMO. I take care of my things. If it's a faulty device it should become obvious during the warranty period. 

[software]

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@grammarqueen wrote:

I broke down and got the Amazon Echo today, but I was wondering if I should buy the 3 year extended warranty they have. Normally I don't because I take good care of my stuff and they last me (I still have my first generation Kindle!) for years. However, a 3 month old Vizio sound bar has been giving me headaches from day one, so I'm leery of getting another lemon. 

Do you guys automatically get the extended warranty, or do you just skip it? Thanks. 

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When it comes to buying a warranty you have to consider if there is  manufacturers warranty, and for how long.   Then be sure you understand what the purchased warranty gets you.   If there is a large deductible or if it only replaces or repairs certain problems it may not be worth it.    Only you can decide.  

Generally speaking I don't buy extended warranties.  

[mima]

Normally I don't ever.  One exception was just recently.  I bought an international model of a Samsung phone from Ebay.  If you buy an international model and use it in the US, Samsung won't warranty it.  When I purchased the phone off Ebay, they offered a Square Trade extended warranty on it and I bought it.  I felt I needed a warranty of some kind for a cell phone just "in case" the screen goes bad or something.

[ALRATIBA]

No.  Technology changes so quickly that I treat stuff as disposable.  My one exception is Geek squad for laptop to handle viruses.

[Moonchilde]

It depends on what the item is, how long I expect to have it, and what it would cost to replace it.

I don't expect to, or particularly want to, keep smaller electronics more than three years. After that point the hardware won't keep up with how the device is ideally supposed to work; it will be outdated and probably unsatisfactory at that point.

If an item costs me $100 and a warranty costs me more than $10-$15, no. 

If an item costs me $500-$1000, yes. Especially since items that once could be counted on to last for decades are now manufactured to kwap out after a few years. 

On an iPad, iPhone or TV, absolutely. Too many things can, and do, go wrong. I've had two major brand LCD TVs just go "Pop to Black" on me after a few years. So whereas once I would have considered all extended warranties a waste of $$, I no longer do.

For an Echo, I personally wouldn't bother. They don't cost that much, and older models already don't do everything that newer models do so what's new and highly functional this month isn't in a year. Plus Amazon's CS is fabulous and you'd either get a refurb (as good as Apple's refurbs) or 30+% off a new one.

[Nuttmeg]

I do have a warranty on my Verizon smartphone from the company. This warranty gives me some security software. I usually do not buy warranties.