thoughts on ServicePac warranty upgrade?

[Tony Touch]

Hello, I'm buying a T41 (2379) before I start business school this fall. People on the b-school board I read recommend getting the ServicePac upgrade for next-day onsite repair, since you are screwed if your laptop breaks. Cost is $113 for 3 yrs. Cost is $104 for 4 yrs if you choose depot repair.

On the IBM site, it says the ServicePac upgrade is for PCs used for business or trade purposes, and not personal use.
Any thoughts? Is this a worthwhile thing?
thanks

[JHEM]

The 2379 series machines come with the standard IBM 3 year depot level repair warranty. With this warranty the machine will be picked up at your location, shipped to a central repair facility via overnight express where it is repaired, then returned to you via overnight express. All at no cost to you.

Historically, if I send a unit out for repair on Monday, it's back on Wednesday AM. Rarely does it take longer.

Under the onsite warranty, a repairman will show up at your location the business day after you contact IBM and either repair or replace your machine.

Only you can determine if the added cost for an onsite warranty is worth it. Don't worry about the language in the warranty about "business use only", there are similar packages available for "home" machines for slightly more money.

Regards,

James

[Leon]

historically, I have found on site repair to be "spotty", depending heavily on the experience of the on site technician that arrives and/or his/her parts on hand.... I have had much more success with quality service sending it back to the "factory".... others experiences????

[jephhy]

The one thing I don't like about the depot level repair is waiting a day for them to ship you the empty box so you can send your laptop out. If you don't catch them before the overnight packages are picked up for the day, then you're stuck waiting an entire extra day for it to arrive.

Jeff

[awolfe63]

The tradeoff is that if you have on-site repair, you need to be available for an appointment. With Depot repair - I can get my machine repaired in 2-3 days without any changes to my schedule.

I think you can always choose to send it in though even if you have on-site.