socialmedian: Know When (and When Not) to Buy an Extended Warranty [Saving Money]

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Know When (and When Not) to Buy an Extended Warranty [Saving Money]

Source: Lifehacker

Nov 03, 2009

Summary

As a rule, extended warranties are rarely worth the extra cash. Tech site CNET goes in depth on why you don't want to shell out for the extended warranty, then discusses when it may actually be worth it.

Photo by andrew_cosand.

On the "just forget it" side of things, CNET had this to say:

[T]he majority of gadgets won't ever need to be repaired—though retailers and device makers don't usually share statistics about how often they break, Consumer Reports has done studies and found that 3- to 4-year-old gadgets don't need repair all that often. Laptops need service about 43 percent of the time after 3 or 4 years, desktops 31 percent, while camcorders and digital cameras very rarely, about 13 percent and 10 percent of the time, respectively. Three to four years is also a really long time when it comes to technology now. And as the cost of laptops and desktops, for example, continue to decline, sometimes the cost of replacing the device isn't that much more than getting it repaired.

Even with big-ticket purchases, like your new flat panel HDTV, the post recomme

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