Computer insurance: Should you buy it?

What is computer insurance and is spending the extra cash worth it? Here’s a handy guide to help put things in perspective.

Computer insurance is meant to protect your machine against malfunction, accidents, and (if you’re lucky), theft. Whether it’s in the form of a private insurance policy or a simple warranty, there are many choices to make when deciding whether or not you need to insure your laptop or desktop.

According to Consumer Reports, about one in three laptops and desktops break by their fourth year. Considering most manufacturer’s warranties last about a year, that leaves you with about three years of time when your computer could either sail ahead, problem-free, or be bogged down by hardware issues requiring maintenance.

But should you buy an extended warranty? To try and answer that question, we spoke with Adam Senderson, manager at Computer Overhauls in New York City, who thinks that generally speaking, buyers should purchase a warranty right from the start. However, if you’re buying a lower-end laptop, a warranty may not be worth it since you can just buy another $300 laptop a year or two from then. “If it’s a computer that costs over $750, you should definitely be getting the warranty,” Senderson said. “If it’s less, it’s more of a judgment call.”

Navigating the land of warranties can be difficult. To help you find your way and make the right choice, we’ve taken a look at manufacturer warranties, extended warranties, private insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and detailed what you need to look out for when choosing whether or not to buy insurance for your computer.

Most products come with at least a one-year manufacturer’s warranty. If they don’t, you’re most likely getting a cheap laptop that will develop problems within the 90-day warranty offered at purchase. The manufacturer’s warranty typically covers most minor malfunctions, hardware support for any defects in the laptop’s material, tech support, mail-in repair service, and the option to return and replace a machine that you receive dead on arrival. Most basic warranty programs are good for replacing malfunctioning hardware, such as a hard drive or keyboard, but will not take responsibility for defects you caused or accidents that are unrelated to the manufacturer’s design and craftsmanship.

You don’t have to make a choice here; this kind of coverage should just come with the product.

According to Senderson, the most common repairs he sees are broken screens and liquid damage. In terms of software, “virus infection is quite substantial,” he said.

Generally speaking, Senderson said most PC laptop screen replacements and labor cost can run between $200 and $300, depending on the computer. Did you spill your coffee on your laptop during when you sat down at your desk? Senderson said liquid damage can be fixed for about $150 to $250 – that is, if the motherboard doesn’t need to be replaced.”

When buying a new computer, you’ll be offered the opportunity to buy an extended warranty. This happens 99.9 percent of the time, so be prepared. “You definitely want to find out what the warranty covers,” Senderson said. “Some cover wear and tear, and some cover accidental damage, which is a huge difference.” Before you go to the Apple Store, Best Buy, or Staples, do your research beforehand to see what these extended warranties cover and how much extra it’ll tack onto your bill.

Best Buy: Distributors such as Best Buy and Staples offer their own versions of extended warranties. Best Buy’s Geek Squad has two renewable options: tech support insurance lasting two years for $100; and Geek Squad Protection for two years for $180 (or $100 for one year). The latter includes tech support and accident coverage, as well as a one-time replacement for your battery and charger. Tech support covers virus removal, problems with your operating system, and labor that doesn’t involve physical parts. To gauge whether these insurance options are worth the money, consider this: a virus removal alone without the Geek Squad’s tech support insurance will cost $200.

Staples: Staples offers a renewable two-year Care Protection Plan based on your computer’s retail price. The basic plan, which lacks accident coverage, takes care of backup, virus removal, and hardware failure. The full plan includes the repair or replacement of your computer (whichever is cheaper) in case of physical damage, such as a cracked screen or faulty keys. Coverage ranges from $90 to $170, depending on the price of your computer. Considering virus removal at Staples without insurance, will cost you $160, it may be worth the investment.

By the way, none of these insurance options will help in case of loss or theft.

Apple: The AppleCare protection plan will extend a three-month warranty to three years. Since the least expensive laptop at Apple will cost you right around $1,000, the extra $250 is a small price to pay for hardware coverage and support.

Also of note, some major credit card companies will actually extend your device’s warranty up to an additional year for free if you charge the purchase with their card.

If your limit is high enough, you may be able to insure your computer equipment under your personal property coverage. This insurance may cover the policyholder’s equipment in case of certain damage or loss due to fire, flooding, and power surge. In this case, you should check whether your insurance will cover your computer even if it isn’t at home when it is damaged or lost, because the insurance policy may compensate you only if your computer is stolen from your home and not at a coffee shop or an airport, for example. You will often need to explicitly ask to adjust your policy so that it covers loss and damage outside of your home as well, as the policy will probably not offer this option automatically.

If you don’t have renters or homeowners insurance and aren’t interested in either, many insurance companies offer standalone insurance on specific valuables. For a yearly fee, plus a deductible, you can get insurance on your laptop to protect against theft, and any accidental damage like drops and spills. Many policies also cover flood, fire, or power surge damage.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers shopping for warranties should always get them in writing – talking to a representative over the phone is definitely not enough. The FTC also recommends considering the warranty’s length; make sure to understand what the warranty vows to cover, whether it commits to repairing your computer, replacing it, or giving you a refund, and what parts and repair problems the warranty applies toward. Also, be sure you know who to contact if service is needed, and whether it covers damages caused by the product itself to other products.

Needless to say, if you buy a warranty, always save your receipts in a place you’ll remember, because the company offering it to you may ask for it before service or reimbursement.

You may not like this answer, but it’s really your call on whether you buy the warranty or insurance. If you had to take out a loan to buy your new MacBook Pro, chances are you don’t have the money for repairs. In that case, the three-year Apple Care protection plan would probably be worth it. If you bought a $400 laptop during a Black Friday sale, it’s up to you, and depends on the cost. You may end up buying the warranty and never using it, but if you’re the type of person who’ll be afraid to bring your laptop out of the house in fear that it’ll get damaged or stolen, then for your peace of mind, insurance may be worth it.

However, since most computer problems are due to malware or hard drive problems, you can try your best to prepare your computer for the worst by installing antivirus software and backing up all your files to a cloud service. Either way, it’s a gamble.

Will you be splurging on computer insurance next time you make a big purchase, or will you risk it?

[Image courtesy of RAStudio/Shutterstock]

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If you have SkyDrive you should check “If this then that”

As Windows Phone users, we are blessed with a handsome, dare we say it, world class cloud storage service slotted right in, SkyDrive.

SkyDrive is baked into Windows Phone, allowing all sorts of wonderful uses, uploading the camera roll automatically, storing your OneNote files or just storing good old Office documents. The team at SkyDrive have been opeing up the service and encouraging developers to take advantage of the space with new applications and services. IFTTT is just such an application and it might well be exactly what you’re looking for.

The IFTTT service aims to give people a flexible system of siphoning off content from other services and with conditions pop them over to your SkyDrive storage.

Save my public Flickr Photos to my SkyDriveEvery time you are tagged in a photo on Facebook, it will be sent to SkydriveSave my Facebook photo uploads to my SkyDrive

There is a whole channel of pre-made conditions to get you started on your road to data manipulation, some of them are genuinely useful, but your mileage may vary. This service really has nothing to do with Windows Phone per se but has everything to do with that SkyDrive storage your likely not using properly. If you were lucky enough to have grabbed the 25GB of free space while it was available, bought into the 100GB paid plan or just cant think what to do with your few gigs this could really help.

SkyDrive is secure unlike some other cloud storage solutions and everything that you put there is available on your Windows Phone. The more data you put there the more useful the service becomes, by using some selective filtering, triggers and actions you could craft the perfect system for your needs.

Are you a current user of this service, we’d like to hear from you. Using all your SkyDrive storage? Looking forward to using even more when Windows Phone 8 arrives? Let us know in the spaces below..

Source: IFTTT

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Black or white, which iPad mini or iPad 4 should you get?

Black or white, which iPad mini or iPad 4 should you get? | iMore.com Skip to main content Android BlackBerry iPhone / iPad Windows Phone webOS REGISTER|LOG IN iMore iPhone iPad Forums Apps Accessories Reviews How-To Podcasts Free wallpapers: iPhone & iPad Guides: iOS, iCloud, Siri, photography, jailbreak Free: iPhone apps & games, iPad apps & games Shop Online Cases Chargers Screen protectors Headsets & More Free shipping on orders over $50 Black or white, which iPad mini or iPad 4 should you get? By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 a 10:52 am 6

Apple has updated the iPad and launched the new iPad mini, so we're updating our buyers guides to help you choose just exactly the right devices for you. Now, ever since the iPad 2 launched with a choice of black or white faceplates, one of the biggest decisions we've all had to make is which color to get. This year, that stays the same for the iPad, but for the iPad mini, which has an iPod touch 5-style colored backplate as well, it's an even bigger -- make that smaller -- choice.

Is the white iPad 4 or iPad mini faceplate more distracting?

There's a reason almost all TV sets are black. When you're watching video or playing a game, you want the TV set to blend away into the background so you can enjoy what you're doing without the distractions of a big, bright rim around it.

The same goes for iPad and iPad mini. Some people find having a white faceplate very distracting when they're watching videos or gaming, and others just don't like the contrast between the white border and the black screen when the device is off. (It's known as "panda" if you want to get all inside baseball about it.)

Others aren't bothered by a white border at all and really like the two-tone look of the iPhone when its off. This year, however, you also have something else to consider. Until apps update for widescreen, they'll be letter-boxed or pillar-boxed on the iPhone 5, which means black bars. Those will almost disappear on a black iPhone 5. On a white iPhone 5, not so much...

I've had both a Black & Slate and a White & Silver iPhone 4 and have never been distracted nor irked by either one. If White & Silver catches your eye a little too much, however, you might want to stick with Black & Slate.

Will the white iPad 4 or iPad mini discolor?

Rumor has it Apple delayed the launch of the white iPhone 4 in order to improve the UV protection and prevent discoloration. That's just a rumor, however, and white iPads have shipped day and date with black iPads since they were introduced in March 2011. That also means white iPads have been on the market for over a year and a half now, and there haven't been any widespread accounts of discoloration. My own white iPad 2, bought in March 2011, still looks as crisp and clean as the day I unboxed it.

In 5 years time some more obvious aging issues may present themselves, but 5 years is an eternity in consumer electronics. If it concerns you, stick with black.

On the other hand, black shows fingerprints, dust, lint, and smudges more dramatically, so if those annoy you, white is a better choice.

Does the white iPad 4 or iPad mini look better?

Some people just love the look of a white device, whether it's an iPad, an iPhone, a BlackBerry, an Android phone, or whatever. They sometimes get shipped later or come in more limited quantities so there's an air of exclusivity about them.

That's not the case with the iPad 4 or iPad mini.

White tends to stand out more and can be more obvious with brightly colored cases. Is that something that appeals to you? Or do you want the content and the accessories to be the star? If you like the idea of a blank canvas, stick to black. If you want your iPad to pop all on its own, get white.

What about the anodized aluminum on the iPad mini?

Like the watch or race car trend, the Black & Slate of the iPad mini is blacked out and the White & Silver appears brighter and flashier. Think Darth Vader vs. Storm Trooper. Both mix texture and sheen to great effect. Both look hot. Black might show scratches and scuffs more, but that could also be seen as aged to perfection.

Unless and until a significant flaw shows up in one or the other, you're fine with either.

So which color iPad 4 or iPad mini should you get?

At the end of the day, the only real answer is get the color you like better. Everything else is manufactured anxiety at this point. Just close your eyes, picture your iPad in your hand and carefully look at what color you're picturing.

Then buy that.

Rene Ritchie

Editor-in-Chief of iMore, co-host of Mobile Nations, Iterate, ZEN and TECH. Cook, grappler, photon wrangler. Follow him on Twitter, App.net, Google+.

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0 1 29 More of: Featured, Tips and How-To, iMore Guides
More of: ipad mini buyers guide, Ipad Mini, Ipad 4 ? Previously13" retina MacBook Pro gets the customary teardown treatment Next up ?Deal of the Day: 46% off the Incipio OVRMLD Case for iPhone 5 There are 6 comments. Add yours. RealNeal says: Oct 25, 2012 at 11:12 am - 29 min ago

I thought I would never like a white device until I tried the iPhone 5 in white. Now, that's the color I prefer. I'm just glad I have the option of black or white.

Reply singletonkatelyn says: Oct 25, 2012 at 11:25 am - 16 min ago

@Loise, you make $27h thats great going girl good for you! My story is that I quit working at shoprite to work online, seriously I couldn't be happier I work when I want and where I want. And with a little effort I easily bring in $35h and sometimes even as much as $85h…heres a good example of what i'm doing, www.Fox90.Com

Reply stephen007 says: Oct 25, 2012 at 11:32 am - 9 min ago

[Sigh]

Reply dandbj13 says: Oct 25, 2012 at 11:25 am - 16 min ago

White mini, black maxi.

Reply Gazoobee says: Oct 25, 2012 at 11:31 am - 10 min ago

All this article shows is that there are increasingly less things to talk about when it comes to these iconic and almost featureless devices.

However, you missed talking about the single most important and popular argument in regards this choice and the reason why White may actually be better in some cases. You talked about how if you watch videos you really want the black, but the reverse is also true, if your primary viewing is of documents, then you want white.

The black is just as "jarring" to the eye surrounding a white webpage as the white border around a black video screen is.

Reply jimmers says: Oct 25, 2012 at 11:38 am - 3 min ago

"...the iPad mini, which has an iPod touch 5-style colored backplate..."

Quoted from this article. I think this is a misprint or I'm misunderstanding it. It only comes in black with the slate back or white with the aluminum back.

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