Say No to Extended Warranties (Consumer Reports)

If you're one of those who always feels tempted to buy the extended warranty, check out what Consumer Reports has to say about them. They cite two exceptions, but otherwise recommend that you steer clear of them. i think most of us know not to take the extended warranty, but it's still tempting sometimes when you're pushed.

Consumer Reports: Why you don't need an extended warranty (Nov 06)

I just took a Personal Finance class and they echo the sentiment. It's really just putting money into the salesperson and store's pocket. Instead of giving that money away, you should be saving it in case of emergency. In most cases, you won't need to pay for a repair and over time, you'll have a nice emergency fund.

Holy crap, 43% repair rate for laptop computers? Doesn't that sound a bit high, especially for the amount of money laptops cost?

I can believe that laptops have that high of a repair rate. I'm surprised that desktop computers are that high though. I wonder if problems like virus infestations are getting counted in with repairs.

Laptops take a lot of abuse. The banging around it takes is really not good for it, the hard drive in particular. It's also used in environments that are riskier for electronics like a coffeeshop where you could get a spill or an accidental whack on your screen.

Every laptop I've ever owned has been in bad shape by the third year. I'm going to get one of these cases for my recently purchased MacBook Pro to give it a better chance of seeing a ripe old age of 5.