For a lot of people buying their first computer or making the well-advised switch from Windows, this warranty is invaluable for the tech support aside from the hardware warranty extension.

One BIG reason…this extended warranty is a service warranty, so if anything happens to my TV the stores service professionals come to my house and either try to fix it or will replace it for me. Whereas without the service warranty, if something goes wrong with it I have to figure out how I am going to get my rather large TV to the manufacturer and pay for the cost of getting it there.

I did not want to ever have to be bothered with this inconvenience, however, don’t get me wrong I really battled with myself over this. I really think it can come down to your own situation and circumstances. In my case, and I am not sure why, but I have had a dismal history of buying duds and have often wished I had bought the extended warranty. If you are a person who has never needed one then you will think very differently.

Any thoughts?
Ryan

Take the digital camera I mentioned in my earlier post on this topic. The camera is still working great (knock on wood!) but even if it dies, an equivalent camera costs about $300. But the extended warranty when the original camera was purchased would have been about $200.

As Consumer Reports says, it’s cheaper to self-insure, and if by some chance your product does break down, there’s an excellent chance that the company will try to weasel out of the warranty by claiming you misused it in some fashion.