[irastoller]

I totally disagree with the extended warrranty advice in the February,
2008 issue (The Best Places and Times to Buy). I find that the longer
you have a piece of eqquipment, the more likely it is to break, and
extended warranties have some very interesting features. For instance,
some are in-home warranties where the service company will come to you.
Some years back I bought an NEC 27" TV with a 5-year extended warranty.
During a move the set was dropped. The warranty company came right
over, picked up the set, and returned it a week later. When it went out
again a year later the same thing happened.

A few years ago I bought a Panasonic Replay TV, combo DVR & TV,
also with a 5-year warranty. It was fixed once. The second time it went
out, about 3.5 years into the contract, they told me it was beyond
repair and the warranty company gave me a full refund of the retail
price I had paid. I had no complaints about that.

Next I bought a Panasonic combo hard drive & DVD recorder at
Circuit City, of course with the five year extended warranty. When it
conked out a month ago, after a little over three years,,Circuit City
said it was beyond repair and authorized an exchange and refund of the
unexpired portion of the extended warranty. However, since the
Panasonic is no longer available, they gave me a Circuit City gift card
for the full retail price and ordered a brand new Phillips combo hard
drive/DVD recorder for me which hasn't come in yet. When it does, do
you think I'm going to buy the 5-year extended warranty? You better
believe it!

[Adama]

Hi, Irastoller and welcome to PCWorld. I've had a good experience with warranties.


I bought a Cyberhome DVR from Circuit City for $99. with the 3 yr warranty. It was really easy to set up and I really loved that little thing, even though I had to adjust the clock every day, I used it a lot, everyday, for everything! I could record one show while watching another one. Last October, it started giving me some problems and I took it back to Circuit City for repair.

The girl said "no problem" but then she checked the database, she said that it could not be repaired (I know that Cyberhome stopped making these products, so I suppose they had no replacement parts.) So, she said that they would give me a "comparable replacement." I was heart broken and started to cry, because my little DVR was so easy to use... I didn't want a replacement, I wanted my DVR fixed! She was being really nice to me, and she could tell I was really upset.

So, I talked to my BFF who had driven me there, and she suggested I take a look at what they were willing to replace it with. So I did, and they were going to replace it with a regular DVD recorder. Of course, I said No Way. She checked her database again, and came up with a comparable replacement, a Panasonic DVR with a price tag of $249.99!!! So I said Ok, and all it cost me was $50. for another 3 yr warranty.

So yes, I think warranties are truly worth it.

BTW, I never had a problem setting up any of my DVD, VCR, TV, Stereo, etc. But this new DVR?..... I still don't know if I like it or not. And every time I use it, I think how much I used to love my old one and I regret taking it back. .....sigh