Laptop warranty expiration

Question

I have a Dell Inspiron e1505 purchased in 2006 with a four year warranty that expires in late October. It's just a warranty, not accidental damage protection. That laptop currently runs pretty well. The warranty has already paid for itself with a keyboard a motherboard replacement about 18 months ago, but before it expires I'm wondering what else I should or could be doing to maximize the value from it?

Answer 1

Considering that it's a pretty old computer, the reps will probably way less liberal with replacing anything. If it runs fine, then there's not really anything you can do with the warranty unless you can fake the case cracking and convince Dell that it was a manufacturing defect (and don't mind the weight on your conscience).

That said, the warranty is obviously just really limited insurance. You could buy insurance for the computer if you plan to hold onto it, which should cover virtually everything that happens to it as long as it doesn't happen more than twice.

...Man I hated the e1505. I managed to BSoD the whole computer by hitting the MediaDirect button.

Answer 2

At least run the Dell diagnostic. I can sometimes find a failing part. Not always but it only takes 30 minutes or so and if you get an errror there, Dell servcie will replace.

Answer 3

I had an HP that wasn't engineered intelligently circa 2002 (had a desktop processor and a high-end video module in a laptop unit)... thusly I wisely purchased it with a 3-year warranty extension. This baby screamed when in use, but also... as was 'predicted'... fatally over-heated every 5 months or so. This led to numerous motherboard replacements, an LCD replacement, and other repairs I can't even recall... HP always covered shipping of course.

The story ended well though, near to the end of my extended warranty they contacted me and offered (due to personal inconvenience, regardless of how assumed it was) to buy me a new system. I accepted this of course and bought another extended 3-year warranty on that unit... still have it today.

Still reading? Moral of the story upcoming...

Throughout much of the 90s I worked for Dell Computer, and for most of that there was no better PC company out there... I watched them 'go south' morally from the inside, and was fortunate enough to sell off my stock with them before they took that final value dive. Point being -- I recall, like few others would, how good their customer service used to be, and anyone who deals with them now knows it's mostly a thing of the past.

However, a friend of mine where I currently work recently nagged them (on mere grounds of mediocre, unsatisfactory product design) to accept a return for an inadequate netbook system that was beyond the return date, upgrade to an adequate model at no additional cost, and they even threw in some discounts. He had to nag them extensively for this, but armed with my HP story above, knowledge of their old reputation, and some tenacity to get your way... you never know, you might get an unexpected service from the modern edition of support at Dell Computer after all.

Hope you enjoyed the read and I hope the information helps and you prosper with it ^^ -- ah, nostalgia.