I like buying protection plans and warranties. Tons of stuff can go wrong with laptops, very easily. If you ever plan to take it out of the house, there is a chance that someone will bump into your table and knock it over. Almost any repair will be over $100. The lack of FEAR that something will go wrong is another benefit of the protection plan, so if you're a worrier, it helps to have peace of mind.
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Protections plans are calculated to end up a few days before your laptop dies, it works like a tax more than an insurance, but it all depends how anxious you are. It is worth it if you sleep better. Also I do not know about cheap laptops: it may be worth it then. What you should buy is one of these gadgets that allows you to kill your data from a distance if your laptop is stolen. Some gadgets allow you to know where your stolen laptop is.
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In the early days of laptops about 50% of them became defective within the first three years, so it was a very good deal then. Now, I am not so sure. I purchased a Compaq this year and purchased an extended two year warranty. I tend to change out my computer about every three years so this makes sense to me.
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Personally, I don't think it's worth it. I've never bought a protection plan or warranty on things like this, and luckily, I've never had a need for one. I understand that you're really paying for your own peace of mind. However, I wouldn't spend 20%, or more, of the value of an item for a limited protection plan. I'd rather take my chances and pay for any repairs if they happen to come up.
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Is there a 20% chance your laptop will be broken in the first year in a manner that the warranty doesn't cover it? No. Strictly speaking, it is a poor value.

Replacing your $500 laptop in a year with one of the same capability may cost $350 next year, or less, if you don't buy it at Best Buy.

Furthermore, if it is broken, odds are that it won't cost $500 to fix. It may be $100, $200, or $300, or any other amount. So, in order for it to be a good value, you would need to be a mangler of laptops extraordinaire. Seriously. That's 20% of the cost of the laptop which has a 90%+ chance of being fully operational by the end of the year, AND it is already covered by a warranty which will cover the vast majority of problems with it.


Protection plans are pushed because they make Best Buy a lot of money. Best Buy already sells many products at ridiculously inflated prices in addition to "protection plans", like $70 cables that cost $1 online. Supporting companies that make use of these tactics to sell people protection plans they don't need and $40 cables is not something that I can condone.

Warranties are worth it if you need same day or next day service and need it for business, or if a major problem will cause you to be in significant financial peril. IE, purchasing a new car with a 1 year warranty would be a bad idea if you couldn't afford to spend $5000 to replace the engine. However, they are never worth the cost for small items that depreciate quickly.

If the replacement plan is in writing, notes specifically that it covers accidental damage, and cost perhaps 10% of the cost of the machine, it might be worth it. But 20% of the price of a cheapo laptop that will cost far less than $500 to replace in a year, and is going to be under a standard warranty for that time? Forget about it.
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Remember that protection plans are a form of insurance. Insurance itself is primarily intended as a way to hedge your bets against losses. If you have thousands of dollars in disposable income every month, there is no need to pay for insurance on a product you can easily replace. If you scraped to buy the inexpensive laptop, and it would be a real hardship to replace it, especially if it is important for work or other income, then insuring it has a great deal of importance.

For laptops, the screen is always the most fragile, and most expensive component to replace. A laptop hard drive, were it to crash, can be swapped out for $60 if you have a geek in the family. A screen on the other hand will probably be a $300+ repair. So the accidental damage plan, which will be the only on e that covers the screen, is much more valuable as insurance.

Be very careful about the fine print in protection plans however. Ask to see, and take the time to read carefully (without a salesperson hovering over your shoulder), all the fine print. Be comfortable with the terms. Best Buy, and all retailers, make a majority of their profit on any item through insurance sales as protection plans, so they are very interested in selling you one, but be sure to balance the threat f your loss versus the cost of outright replacement.
Source(s):
Personal experience, having worked in the IT field for a decade and having dealt with all manner of warranties, protection plans, etc.

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I would say no to a purchase of <$500 on an item you'll likely want to replace in a couple of years anyway.

Keep in mind the "3 year" protection plans often run concurrently with the manufactures one year warranty. In other words, they are really only a two year extension.

You also usually have 30 days to go back to the store and purchase the warranty if you really do change your mind.

The folks at "stuff you should know" have a brief podcast overview of the topic:
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/netstorage.discovery.com/DMC-FEEDS/MED/podcasts/2008/1228338747992hsw-sysk-extended-warranties.mp3
Source(s):
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/navShell.jsp?cf=su_wa_s...

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No, never buy the extended waranty, here is a quote and a link to clark howard, who is famous for his radio show about protecting consumers. This link also talks about buying a new computer. The extended waranty is never a good idea according to clark howard.

"Sales of extended warranties are down
Minneapolis' Star Tribune reports that sales of extended electronics warranties at Best Buy and Circuit City are down 12 percent and eight percent, respectively. Clark really rejoices in these stats because he hates when these warranties are crammed down your throat by salespeople. Speaking of that, Clark recently bought an LCD TV (on sale) at a major electronics retailer. When the salesperson started his spiel about the warranty and Clark declined, the salesperson dropped him like a hot potato. He actually left Clark by himself to lift the TV onto his cart and didn't even fill out a customer ticket! Clark thinks the man probably acted this way because he may have needed a certain close rate on the customer tickets he writes up. So rather than risk being penalized for not selling the warranty, the sales associate didn't even bother writing up a ticket. At Circuit City, for example, the only way they survive is through warranty sales. Best Buy, meanwhile, reported some $800 million -- more than half of their $1.38 billion in profits -- came from the sale of extended warranties.

Clark says the payback on warranties is worse than on a Vegas slot-machine. In fact, he jokingly advises people to get a quote on a warranty and then go drop that chunk of change in a one-armed bandit. At least then you'll get flashing lights, racket and noise, plus have some fun taking in the atmosphere! But seriously, for every dollar you pay on an electronics warranty, you only get back about eight to15 cents, after you account for depreciation and how quickly technology becomes outdated. Clark thinks you should never buy an extended warranty on computers and electronics. You're a little bit safer with a warranty on your appliances. Finally, keep in mind that credit cards will sometimes double the manufacturer's warranty."

Check out the website for more info on why extended waranties are not a good idea. If you used a credit card you need to call the company and ask if they have a warranty program, almost all do now, some even better than the store. Hope this helps! Enjoy your new purchase.
Source(s):
http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/category/8/231/

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It is better to spend more than you expected than less than you should have.
--Zig Ziglar
Source(s):
Zig Ziglar

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Another thing you need to consider.

Is if best buy where to ever go bankrupt your protection plan, (unless the warranty is from the manufacturer itself) might not be worth anything more than a scrap piece of paper, and with the economy in the state that it is you also have to consider that it is (while a long shot) possible.

Imagine all of the people that bought protection plans from tweeter or compusa before the companies where no more.

Ouch.
Source(s):
My Brain.

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There's a reason Best Buy (and other companies) sell these protection plans - THEY make money on them. This means that, in the long run, buying protections plans on anything in life is a losing proposition for you.

The other truth is that these plans rarely cover accidental breakages, and that most failures occur early on and are covered by the warranty.

Instead of a backup plan, here's ways to spend $100-$200...Most of your problems will be due to things like
1. Windows Sucks (not so bad these days, but there's still a chance you'll be advised to "restore" your system (i.e. wipe everything to the day you bought it) or possibly someone will steal your laptop - so buy a back-up external drive - http://dealnews.com/categories/Computer/Storage/Hard-Drives/External-Hard-Drives/USB-Hard-Drives/254.html?filter=c:254;)

2. Viruses/Malware suck (so, get yourself antivirus software - wait for the "nearly free with rebate" deals mentioned on places like www.dealnews.com

3. Battery life sucks (so, save your money for a new battery in a year and a half.)

Again, they make money off of these plans. They are not altruistic. You can always go to a repair place and get a repair done for a few hundred $'s.

Besides, despite my 3 things above, most laptops work great without any issues.

Jon
Source(s):
1. www.dealnews.com is my favorite "cheap stuff" place.
2. Years and years of reading Consumer Reports.

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No, don't buy the protection plan. Instead, go ahead and start backing up your data routinely _and_ research a good laptop repair shop in your area because there is a chance that something could go wrong and you will want to be prepared.

You might try searching yelp or another rating service for things like 'laptop repair'. You should be able to find a reputable shop in your area.
Source(s):
http://www.yelp.com
http://www.kudzu.com

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I have had the protection plans from Bestbuy and they are great for the repairs, just not the money. Not to mention you could be looking at not having your laptop for over a week if it needs repair. They no longer do in-house/store repairs. I would get a warantee from Squaretrade. They are cheap and offer great services.
Source(s):
www.squaretrade.com

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Yes, everyone should by the most expensive "protection plan" for everything, especially their $70 HDMI cables. I need people to do that to subsidize my cheap electronics.
Source(s):
http://www.monstercable.com/

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protection plans as a whole are horrible-think about it---
you will spend hundreds of dollars on protection plans for all your expensive items--chances are-at most-one will break during tehprotection period...so now you have spent $1000 on portection plans to replace 1 $500 item..

you are better off not buying a protection plan on ANYTHING-and just payingout of pocket for the repair if need be.

This is assuming it comes with a basic warranty/product support--
when i bought my computer-it came with a 1 year manufatcuers warranty---when the hard drive went in 8 months-they snet me a new one for free--but did not pay for tylenol I needed from tryign to talk to the tech suppport that either couldn't speak English or couldn't understand it..

This 1 plan may look could--but when you look at your products as a whole--in the long run--you are better off notr buying the plans..unless it is an extraordinarily expensive product
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The salespeople at Best Buy get commission from selling the Protection Plans - this is why they insisted that you buy the warranty on the spot.

I think warranties are a great idea on more expensive laptops. I had a three year warranty on my last laptop and had to send the computer in 3 times for repairs that would have cost more than I paid for the warranty. I paid about $300 for the warranty. However, the laptop cost me over $2000. One of the repairs was to replace the LCD which would have cost me $450 at the time. I also had my RAM fail 2 weeks before my warranty ran out and one of the hinges fall apart. In this case, the cost of repairs outweighted the price of the warranty, and the warranty was certainly cheaper than a new computer.

However, the cost of your computer is not much more than the cost of the warranty. You would be better to save the money to apply to an upgrade computer in the event that something expensive goes wrong with this computer.

I would check to see what kind of manufacturer's warranty Toshiba has on the laptop. If you choose to buy a warranty through Best Buy then I would only get the 1-year because in a year's time you can probably buy a computer comparable or better to this one for not much more than $200.
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