Are the Dell Support Services really worth the money??

thejovialhost

Well i'm thinking of buying the new dell inspiron 630m laptop for college. I was just wondering if it is worth paying c.€250 for theft and damage cover? I would be using the laptop everyday. Has anyone any experience of this? Are dell laptops in general reliable and worth the cost?
Thanks

penexpers

With laptops in general it's best to get the best cover you can as unlike desktops, most parts in laptops aren't user replacable.

Karoma

I wouldn't get any sort of cover for "reliability" issues-I would,however, spend 250 to cover the laptop if it's stolen or smashed-up! Although, you may want to check with your home insurer:
pro: they'll usually insure the laptop for sigfnicantly less
con: Their T&C are often quite silly; and usually if damage occurrs-you have to bring it somewhere,pay for it to be repaired, then claim back on the insurance.

Creamy Goodness

off topic, but do home insurers really insure laptops?

i was under the assumption that no one (bar dell's theft protection) would insure your laptop from theft.

Karoma

They do. But I got the feeling that most state that the laptop must be in your home at the time of being stolen :rolleyes: -some will insure it if it's in your posession out of home but [add a ton of T&C]

thejovialhost

So what you're saying is get the laptop with no cover from dell and insure it yourself? Is it difficult to arrange to put it under house insurance??

Obelisk29

Remember, with most household insurance policies there is an excess applicable to all claims and that the insurance company will generally try to pay out a depreciated value. You may also have to get it as a specified item and pay an extra premium for all risks.

I don't know what the cost per hundred is for laptops but you could easily end up spending 50 or 60 bucks a year in extra insurance.

(Anybody got an accurate actual cost?)

I assume that the Dell cover also includes 3 year on-site support, so if you're going to pay €150 or more to your insurance company over 3 years, then having the parts and labour warranty for an extra €70 or so seems like a sound investment to me.

From personal experience Dell machines are reliable but as with all manufactured items, there is a failure rate, and for me one of the main benefits of the warranty is that it's all done on-site and quickly - no sending it away for a couple of weeks.

I'd go with the Dell service and just remember - if in 2 years and 11 months you accidentially drop your laptop and break it, then Dell will provide you with a nice new one, of equivalent or greater spec!!

Eddie Brennan

I'd go with the Dell service and just remember - if in 2 years and 11 months you accidentially drop your laptop and break it, then Dell will provide you with a nice new one, of equivalent or greater spec!!

thats definitley worth remembering it would purely be an accident im sure

anybody know about insurance company policies cos i bought a laptop that only covers hardware failure and not theft and damage etc so i wanna get that end covered

Obelisk29

Decided to investigate this one a bit further, so I rang my insurance broker and asked them what it would cost for all risk accidental damage and theft cover on a €1,100 laptop.

They quoted me €35 a year with an excess of €200 (this is my policy excess). Mind you, I get a tick in pretty much every discount box they have - age, area, alarm, no claims etc, so you may find that the quote changes if the circumstances differ.

So even paying €105 over 3 years, then the extra €124 for the parts and labour warranty would still seem like a good idea to me.

I'd go for it

Eddie Brennan

i hope it will be something similar for me. wots the situation with it being outside the house or is that quote just for that and not under the house insurance etc ie u can have it anywhere. cos mine is gonna be in clubs when i play in them etc

Obelisk29

It's out and about as an additional item on my home insurance policy - but if you tell 'em that you're going to be using it professionally in clubs I think you'll find its a (much) higher premium.

Eddie Brennan

ah sure i wont be telling them that, if a drink gets spilled on it it didnt happen in a club, they have no way of telling

thejovialhost

Obelisk29 wrote:

Decided to investigate this one a bit further, so I rang my insurance broker and asked them what it would cost for all risk accidental damage and theft cover on a €1,100 laptop.

They quoted me €35 a year with an excess of €200 (this is my policy excess). Mind you, I get a tick in pretty much every discount box they have - age, area, alarm, no claims etc, so you may find that the quote changes if the circumstances differ.

So even paying €105 over 3 years, then the extra €124 for the parts and labour warranty would still seem like a good idea to me.

I'd go for it

Hey cheers for doing all the hard work for me guys, i really appreciate it! It's goin under the house insurance so but that dell 'accidental' drop after 2years 11months is DAMN tempting:D

maidhc

thejovialhost wrote:

Hey cheers for doing all the hard work for me guys, i really appreciate it! It's goin under the house insurance so but that dell 'accidental' drop after 2years 11months is DAMN tempting:D

The chances are you would be sent out a refurb laptop of about the same age as your own. That is what they do with monitors anyhow, in fact they have sent me out two poxy refurbs recently.

Having said that the cover is supposed to be quite good, but that is only from something i read in the paper comparing different ways of insuring a laptop.

JasperKat

Hi Guys,

If you're worried about losing your laptop through theft take a look at this website *snip snip* , I've already lost one & when I read about this company & Computrace in Pc Live! thought it sounded great, rang & chatted to them & they couldn't be more helpful.

Anyone else heard of the software or tried out anything similar?

Jasper