LCD TV Question- Would you buy the extended warranty?

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dsigma6 · #1 Post by **dsigma6** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:25 am

I've never been a fan of extended warranties, but I tend to purchase them when the price is reasonable. On my last $500 TV, I purchased a 3 year agreement for about $70. It was a Samsung flat screen CRT, and I had never owned a Samsung before. Funny thing is, it broke less than a year after I purchased it.

Last night I purchased a Sony Bravia 40" LCD for $1150. I've read so many things, especially Consumer Reports, that says you don't need it on current day LCD's and Plasmas. It's $150 for a 4 year warranty, which is essentially only a 3 year since the first was already included...

What would you do? I'm guessing I'll end up buying it since I'm a paranoid freak when it comes to this stuff, but maybe someone will talk me out of it. $50 a year for piece of mind doesn't seem too bad...even if it will contribute to the greatest portion of Best Buy's profit!!

Purcy · #2 Post by **Purcy** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:58 am

Hi Dan, We are on our 3rd TV in 7 years and thank goodness we bought the extended warranty on the first two. The second TV was an upgrade in size and quality, a nice Sony. Well right around the 16 month period (well after the one year warranty expired) it started flipping out; we called the warranty company and they sent someone out, not once but 3 times and it still would not work correctly. Well after 3 times of repair, you get a new set! We upgraded to a 36" Sony and only had to add $100 - and yes we bought the 4 year extended warranty through Circuit City for $150. Now on washers and dryers and stuff, no we don't get the warranty. Our last set of washers and dryers lasted 15 years, I would expect them to break down after that much use.

Enjoy the new TV!

Trekk69 · #3 Post by **Trekk69** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:40 pm

I hear that some companies truly make their money back via unused extended warranties ppl purchase.
But I think it depends on your own situation.

JHEM · #4 Post by **JHEM** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:50 pm

I never get the extended warranties other than the one provided free by my charge cards, e.g. AMEX doubles standard warranties up to an additional year. (They've reimbursed me for the last three digital cameras I've purchased.)

The only exception to my personal rule is that I usually extend the warranty on my favorite Thinkpads.

Regards,

James

Trekk69 · #5 Post by **Trekk69** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:53 pm

JHEM wrote: The only exception to my personal rule is that I usually extend the warranty on my favorite Thinkpads.

I ditto that comment, normally don't get them, but picked up an extended on-site warranty upgrade for my fav X61T

#6 Post by **BillMorrow** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:01 pm

do all these extended warranties on thinkpads mean that they are prone to disaster OR that we love them so much the peace-of-mind is worth the extra tariff..?

Trekk69 · #7 Post by **Trekk69** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:04 pm

No clue!!
Although I would like to assume it is because of our profound, profound love of our machines; however, reading some 'service horror stories' makes me appreciate the extension bought as well....peace of mind.

JHEM · #8 Post by **JHEM** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:16 pm

BillMorrow wrote:do all these extended warranties on thinkpads mean that they are prone to disaster OR that we love them so much the peace-of-mind is worth the extra tariff..?

The latter!

t20user · #9 Post by **t20user** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:21 pm

I have NEVER been a fan of extended warranties. However, I know several people that purchased extended warranties on large screen TVs and had them replaced with new ones within the warranty period. I highly recommend an extended warranty on a 37"+ or $1000+ TV. If you buy something smaller my opinion is that your risk of failure is reduced as well.

dsigma6 · #10 Post by **dsigma6** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:28 pm

Purcy wrote:Hi Dan, We are on our 3rd TV in 7 years

Thanks, Purcy!

You pretty much made the decision easy. Even if someone else posts that they've never had a problem with a TV, I'll still be a nervous wreck around 11 months.

I read something the other day that 47% of Circuit City's profits come from the extended warranties, and that 100% of Best Buy's profits come from them...that seems insane, but they sure do push those things on us!

I also read that only $.20 of every dollar goes towards the actual warranty/insurance for the product, $.20 goes towards administrative fees, and $.60 is profit.

It's funny that on Tuesday I decided I wanted a bigger TV, Wednesday I researched online and visited two retailers just to look...and ended up buying a TV 8" bigger and $400 more than I had planned on spending. Who can resist 0% financing for 2 years?? I used to be the same way with ThinkPads, especially my R40. I posted details from eBay on here, and before I got any replies, I had already purchased it.

Thanks again to Purcy and the lovely thread-hijackers!

And to James...I don't have AMEX!

BillMorrow wrote:do all these extended warranties on thinkpads mean that they are prone to disaster OR that we love them so much the peace-of-mind is worth the extra tariff..?

Bill- You raise a very interesting topic! Why is it that I won't buy a used ThinkPad that doesn't have a warranty?? I don't even want to fathom this sacrilegious comment for fear of a new way of thinking.

iamdmc · #11 Post by **iamdmc** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 6:45 pm

I bought a 37" Bravia on Boxing Day for $800. Warranty would have been an extra $400 from Best Buy.

Was I wrong for not purchasing warranty?

skitty4gzus · #12 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:18 pm

i know you already made your decision but i thought i would add this in. its kind of an untested, non scientific theory i guess you could say in the home entertainment industry. But, an LCD, DLP, Plasma, Lycos, DILA, etc..... type set, if they have problems, tend to have their issues inside the 12 month manufacture warranty. Actually i believe its narrowed down to inside of the first 10 months, but obviously there are exceptions to that.

dsigma6 · #13 Post by **dsigma6** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:27 am

iamdmc wrote:I bought a 37" Bravia on Boxing Day for $800. Warranty would have been an extra $400 from Best Buy.

Was I wrong for not purchasing warranty?

Was it originally a really expensive set, perhaps over $2000? My friend just got a 46"-ish LG for $1700 and the warranty was about $200. I can't believe the $400 thing...

skitty4gzus wrote:i know you already made your decision but i thought i would add this in. its kind of an untested, non scientific theory i guess you could say in the home entertainment industry. But, an LCD, DLP, Plasma, Lycos, DILA, etc..... type set, if they have problems, tend to have their issues inside the 12 month manufacture warranty. Actually i believe its narrowed down to inside of the first 10 months, but obviously there are exceptions to that.

DLP is much more prone to failure, especially because the bulbs are only rated at 5-6000 hours. LCD and Plasma have "60,000 half-life"...which isn't really the main factor in the real world.

I just can't risk it!! I know my TV, regardless of brand or price, will end up breaking!

iamdmc · #14 Post by **iamdmc** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:02 pm

I've never had a TV break on me. Just use a powerbar with it (to avoid spikes in current from destroying your pretty new thing) and don't throw your WiiMote at it.

And yes, Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada raised the prices on their warranties by about 50-100% this year! They say they were losing money, but I call bull.

skitty4gzus · #15 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:06 pm

well i wasnt necessarily referring to bulb life because that does not affect all HDTV's that i listed, but since you bring it up about DLP's there are new LED light engine DLP's with a 20,000 hour lamp rating. you do the math at what how much you watch the tv per day to see how long it lasts, but i would guess the majority will get 10+ years bulb life. Also, considering the more and more popular these sets get the cheaper the bulbs will be. Bulbs have come down in price quite a bit over the last 2-3 years.

spuddog · #16 Post by **spuddog** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:10 pm

I didn't vote one way or the other. I did purchase a 44" lcd about 2 1/2 years ago. The light engine went out about 6 months ago, I had the extended warranty so it was fixed ($1,400). How long will it last ???? with the way prices are dropping and the new technologies, I am not sure whether its worth it

Like the man said "Well punk,Do you feel lucky? "

Scott

dsigma6 · #17 Post by **dsigma6** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:53 am

spuddog wrote:I didn't vote one way or the other. I did purchase a 44" lcd about 2 1/2 years ago. The light engine went out about 6 months ago, I had the extended warranty so it was fixed ($1,400). How long will it last ???? with the way prices are dropping and the new technologies, I am not sure whether its worth it

Like the man said "Well punk,Do you feel lucky? "

Scott

I just came to the forum today to post that I was not going to purchase the extended warranty.

It seems like I'm making my decision based on the last comment I saw...but it's a [censored] seesaw! I've got a little over 2 weeks to make my decision, and now I'm back to "definitely!" buying it.

Scott- Please tell me your LCD was a crappy no-name, and that my precious Sony would never, ever break.

edit: I was using google to see more experiences people have had, and this came up on the first page of results.

dsigma6 · #18 Post by **dsigma6** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:12 am

We can finally put this one to rest...I bought the warranty. $158.99 with tax will stop me from being paranoid for the next 4 years.

Thanks to all who tried to sway me in the other direction, I know it's probably the best way...but I trust no electronics!

LCD TV Question- Would you buy the extended warranty?

Extended Warranty?

LCD TV Question- Would you buy the extended warranty?

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