I like to buy decent laptops. However, I am pretty hard on them. I bought my current one with a 5 year accidental damage and protection warranty with next day in home service. I am on my second or third screen, third motherboard, 2nd set of speakers and 2nd bottom case. I think only the keyboard and memory are still original. Everything else was replaced at my home within 48 hours of my call. I don't think Dell made any money on me. I still love my laptop though. Will my next PC have the same warranty? You bet!
Here were my issues:
1) USB-C port for charging was intermittent (probably from tripping on the power cable). Since the port is on the motherboard, I got a new motherboard.
2) Touchscreen stopped working after Windows update. It was probably a driver issue but they replaced the screen and things did work again.
3) Right speakers was distorting terribly. Probably a tear or dirt but both speakers replaced.
4) 3.5mm jack wasn't working. They replaced the motherboard. It didn't fix it. So they replaced it again. Then I discovered it was really a problem with Windows Audio Services and I developed a workaround that requires restarting the services after every reboot.
5) Fell down the stairs while carrying the laptop. No visible damage but the screen wasn't working. I suspect it was a loose connector but the replaced the whole screen.
6) Technician on screen repairs notices one of the long rubber feet is partially missing (I didn't even complain). He orders me a new bottom case and installs it.
I must admit, Dell support can be hit an miss. I am pretty good at debugging problems and I expect support agents to have reasonable debugging skills. I knew my 2nd and third motherboard replacements weren't necessary but the support agent I got on those calls simply followed a decision tree and didn't understand when it was recommending something unnecessary. Luckily I am just about as likely to get an absolutely fantastic support engineer with excellent debugging skills and can recognize when they aren't speaking to an idiot.
You might be thinking that 5 years is old for a PC so why so such a long warranty. Well, I tend to buy the latest and greatest that will have sufficient power for a while. The cheaper models are the ones that you will want to replace in two years. BTW, my work laptop is a 4 year newer version of the exact same model. Mine is an I5 with 8GB and work is a later generation I7 16GB. Of course work has encumbered that PC with all sorts of security and management software that makes it slower than my personal one.
BTW, I have made use of the in-home service for nearly every laptop I have ever owned (several from each of HP, IBM, Lenovo, Dell). One of my jobs liked to purchase laptops at Costco though. I got a nice LG Gram but guess what, you can't get the good in-home warranties when you buy retail. To get these you usually need to buy from the manufacturer's business website, not their consumer website. One funny thing I should note, is that all the manufacturers contract out their in home warranty service to the same companies. I know two of the local guys pretty well. They have serviced a few different brands for me.
Here were my issues:
1) USB-C port for charging was intermittent (probably from tripping on the power cable). Since the port is on the motherboard, I got a new motherboard.
2) Touchscreen stopped working after Windows update. It was probably a driver issue but they replaced the screen and things did work again.
3) Right speakers was distorting terribly. Probably a tear or dirt but both speakers replaced.
4) 3.5mm jack wasn't working. They replaced the motherboard. It didn't fix it. So they replaced it again. Then I discovered it was really a problem with Windows Audio Services and I developed a workaround that requires restarting the services after every reboot.
5) Fell down the stairs while carrying the laptop. No visible damage but the screen wasn't working. I suspect it was a loose connector but the replaced the whole screen.
6) Technician on screen repairs notices one of the long rubber feet is partially missing (I didn't even complain). He orders me a new bottom case and installs it.
I must admit, Dell support can be hit an miss. I am pretty good at debugging problems and I expect support agents to have reasonable debugging skills. I knew my 2nd and third motherboard replacements weren't necessary but the support agent I got on those calls simply followed a decision tree and didn't understand when it was recommending something unnecessary. Luckily I am just about as likely to get an absolutely fantastic support engineer with excellent debugging skills and can recognize when they aren't speaking to an idiot.
You might be thinking that 5 years is old for a PC so why so such a long warranty. Well, I tend to buy the latest and greatest that will have sufficient power for a while. The cheaper models are the ones that you will want to replace in two years. BTW, my work laptop is a 4 year newer version of the exact same model. Mine is an I5 with 8GB and work is a later generation I7 16GB. Of course work has encumbered that PC with all sorts of security and management software that makes it slower than my personal one.
BTW, I have made use of the in-home service for nearly every laptop I have ever owned (several from each of HP, IBM, Lenovo, Dell). One of my jobs liked to purchase laptops at Costco though. I got a nice LG Gram but guess what, you can't get the good in-home warranties when you buy retail. To get these you usually need to buy from the manufacturer's business website, not their consumer website. One funny thing I should note, is that all the manufacturers contract out their in home warranty service to the same companies. I know two of the local guys pretty well. They have serviced a few different brands for me.
