Extended Warranties
Posted on | January 26, 2009 | No Comments
In general, I’m not a fan of extended warranties. My feeling is that if something survives the first year and is well maintained (not neglected), it will be fine. My exception on this rule is laptops.
I have a Dell Business account for ZenMastering’s computers. I started using them four years ago when I found that the the DAW I was using on my Mac was being discontinued. There wasn’t anything else, at the time, OSX-compatible that I considered serious enough for mastering. So I switched over to a Windows-based DAW. Dell seemed like a good choice of PC for price/performance/support.
I initially bought a desktop for the audio editing and a laptop for ZM’s administrative needs. The laptop only lasted about two years. In that time, the fan, hard drive, and screen failed. The LCD screen died after the one-year warranty expired. After careful consideration, I decided to try another Dell laptop (a higher-quality model), which is what I have now. But I decided to get the extended warranty because laptops take so much abuse in day-to-day life (even if you treat them well) that I think they’re probably going to buck that rule I laid out in the first paragraph.
I’ve had this laptop about a year-and-a-half and the track button mouse clicker is starting to go. I’m glad I got the extra year warranty, as this part — due to how the computer is constructed — would be about $150 parts/labor to replace. My guess is that’s about $2/parts and $148 labor.
About the time this part craps out again, I’ll be done with this laptop. After that I think I’m going back to Mac, as I can install Windows and OSX concurrently and have a better built machine.
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From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
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