The Benjamin-a-year plan entitles the user to a service rep to come out next-day, no matter where on the planet you are—provided it's somewhere reasonable, we'd assume. The tech guy came by his office and fixed exactly what was wrong, basically doing an in-house call that Apple stores, even with their notoriously decent service, couldn't match. I mean, in-house? And they even ignored the fact that he put Linux on there instead of his original Vista?

He does some caveats on his experience with IBM/Lenovo as a whole, and you can check that out over at BB. [BoingBoing]

I'm also curious to know whether or not you ever had to use the warranty. Did it provide the value you hoped for or did you get screwed?

Best Buy's sales pitch often differs from what you'll encounter if you actually try to use your warranty. For example, they say you'll get a new TV if yours needs to be repaired four times. In reality, they can toss you a refurb or rebuilt model. They also claim that they'll give you a loaner TV, but that's nowhere in the contract.

The whole thing is worth a read, but here's what to take away from it: avoid extended warranties at all costs. [HD Guru via Consumerist]

SquareTrade warranties state that should you break your iPhone just because you're an idiot, they'll replace your iPhone with a brand new model. Their prices, below, are reported to be lower than Best Buy's by a good margin:

Current Promotional Rate/Regular Rate:
8gb 3G model: $76.80 / $96 (TOTAL for 2 years)
16gb 3G S: $96 / $120 (TOTAL for 2 years)
32gb 3G S: $120 / $144 (TOTAL for 2 years)

Knock on wood, but the iPhone 3G build has proven to be a pretty sturdy design. I've sat on the thing, dropped it more than once and basically treated it like crap, and the thing still works well. On the same token, I know someone (*cough* Andi Wang *cough*) who drops her cellphone down the stairs on a daily basis.

So she should probably consider this deal from SquareTrade, as well as moving into a ranch-style home. I'm going to take my chances. [SquareTrade]

There are two components to this. One, manufacturers calculate with extreme thoroughness how long to make their warranties so they don't have to repair a bunch of products for free. Two, it's your brain that makes you remember that one time that something broke outside warranty.

"It's really connected to two things: regret and memory," says Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational. A gadget that dies a day out of warranty will piss you off a lot more than one that soldiers on until after you've lost the certificate. And years later, you'll probably remember it more acutely, too.

[Wired]

From Redmond, via Kotaku:

While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays "E74" on their screen. After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three flashing red lights error on the console. As a result, we have decided to cover repairs related to the E74 error message under our three-year warranty program for certain general hardware failures that was announced in July 2007.

Apparently the program will also reimburse anyone who previously paid for E74 repairs. Having to address another hardware fiasco may further solidify the Xbox 360's reputation as a comically goof-prone console, but at least Microsoft is doing their users right on this one. [Kotaku]

"I'll tell you the truth," a criminal complaint quotes an apparently inebriated Keith Walendowski. "I got pissed because my lawn mower wouldn't start, so I got my shotgun and shot it.

"I can do that. It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want," Walendowski told police.

…

According to the complaint, Walendowski had been drinking all morning. Around 9:30 a.m., he attempted to start his 21-inch Lawn-Boy - unsuccessfully.

After shooting the mower, he went in his basement, where he was arrested by police, the complaint says.

Police recovered the shotgun, shells, a handgun, rounds for the handgun and a stun gun.

Dick Wagner of Wagner's Garden Mart, 6075 N. Green Bay Ave., said shooting the mower didn't help Walendowski's odds of getting it repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," he said.

God bless America. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Consumerist]

Reader Patricia writes:

I don't quite follow the math here: For example, a recent Consumer Reports survey found that only about 10 percent of digital cameras broke during their first five years. For an extended warranty to be valuable, it would have to cost much less than 10 percent of the purchase price, since a camera with the same features will probably cost much less by the time you need a replacement. Yet a warranty on a digital camera usually costs 15 percent to 20 percent of the purchase price, Mr. Marks said.

I mean, a replacement for a broken camera, no matter how much prices drop, is STILL going to cost more than 15% of the original. So, wouldn't a warranty save you $? Shit, I was an English/French lit major. What do I know.

We agree with Patricia, and 30% of readers. Why?

Because although you're statistically not going to be in the 10% of people, if something expensive does break, like that $5,000 Plasma TV, you're not going to want to shovel up another $5,000 for a new and improved one when the one you had was just fine. Sure, don't buy warranties on stuff you can afford to replace (like a $35 CD player), but on big expensive things—for the peace of mind and for the accident prone—we'd recommend getting them. Hell, we wish we got one on our Xbox 360s, which has a DVD drive that's been giving us disc read errors. – Jason Chen

The Word on Warranties: Don't Bother [NY Times]

Warranty Week, an industry publication, last year estimated that of the $15 billion in premiums charged consumers in 2004, $7.5 billion went straight into the pockets of the stores that sell warranties as their cut.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Unwarranted [Washington Post via Kotaku]