[ILUG-SOCIAL] Laptops...

[Wesley Darlington]

On Fri, Aug 01, 2003 at 10:18:07AM +0100, Niall O Broin wrote:
> Well, if you accept that you COULD be paying X for two years of laptop usage, 
> then fine. But as Liam mentioned, the warranty may be upgradable to 3 year - 
> check into cost of this. And I am wary of C&R warranties - how long will they 
> take to do the R part ? Dell's next business day call and fix warranty is bad 
> enough (oh we don't have that exotic spare part right now - sorry - look at 
> the small print). Something which starts of as less than that can only get 
> worse. Of course, it all depends on how badly you want/need to have your 
> laptop.

I am on the horns of the warranty dilemma. 

My thinking is thus:

o The laptop costs UKP500 plus VAT. 

o The extra Acer warranty (as suggested by Liam) costs UKP150 plust vat 9
  more, but the extra warranty-ness so conferred is, afaict, minimal.

o Given the price of the laptop, I can handle thinking in terms of paying
  for two years of laptop.

o Dell's onsite warranty [0] is pretty much the only reason to get a Dell.
  And the price difference is pretty substantial to get a comparable
  laptop: UKP300 plus vat extra. [3]

o So, while a Dell would be nicer: it's the devil I know, good enough
  warranty, compatible "things" (floppy drive, batteries, power supply),
  it's not UKP300 plus vat nicer.

Do you think the trade-off I'm making (remember, the laptop /is/ only
UKP500 plus vat [4]) is reasonable?

Wesley.


[0] While I've always found Dell's onsite warranty to be great [1] [2],
    I'm aware that others have not been so fortunate.
   
[1] Not counting the time taken to establish to the satisfaction of phone
    support that something is indeed broken.

[2] And I've had lots of Dell kit in my time.

[3] A pox on their UKP50 plus vat per system delivery charge!

[4] And, possibly, delivery. I forget how much Dabs charge for delivery
    to NI.