extended warranty

[ParadigmDawg]

Should I buy the extended warranty on a plasma TV. I never can decide if it is worth it or not considering I seem to buy a new TV about every 4 years. Any thoughts on this?

 

[agarwalro]

If its a 1080 native TV, it will be reasonably future proof since it will be 1080p. So you might end up holding on to it for a while and in that case you might benefit.

 

[skizzerflake]

Extended warranties are a gambler's proposition. The stores sell them as a product, not a charity. That means that they check their reliability statistics on a product and come up with a warranty price that makes money for them based on the cash they get VS the number of TV's that go bad and have to be fixed. Since they have all the numbers, they know more than you. Your are betting that the TV will go bad, they bet that it won't. Since they have the numbers, they hold all the cards. I would guess that the extended warranty makes more sense for a new product where the reliability numbers are more vague and there may be early problems.

 

[Methodical]

Warranties to me are a waste of monies - put those $s in the equipment

Personally, I don't buy extended warranties. You have to really read them before purchasing them - any of them. From what I've seen in the past - maybe it's changed now don't now - but those warranties do not extend necessarily past the manufacturers warranty for the entire extended warranty period. Example: the manuf. has a 3 year warranty and the store has an extended 5 year warranty. The stores warranty actually only extends 2 years beyond the manuf. The other 3 years runs concurrently with the manuf. To me this is a rip off - but I think the store's warranty is supposedly more kind in replacements than the manuf. Now if the warranty starts the day after the manuf. warranty ends then it's worth investigating but I still probably wouldn't get it. Again, this is from what I've seen and things may have changed since the last time I even considered a warranty - years and years ago. Just One Man's Opinion.

At least see how long they allow you to purchase the extended warranty after your purchase which would give you an opportunity to research the warranties.

 

[ctjoe]

I recently purchased a 42" Plasma from Tweeter. I also purchased the Ext. warranty, but negotiaded it down in price. $100 less. I have life insurance, car insurance,health insurance and so on. You hope nothing happens, but if it does, I dont want to be strap with a descent size repair bill. Service calls are no longer $50. Its a gamble but at least I know I have no out of pocket expense for 5 years. Just my 2 cents

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Ok thanks for the help. I am actually just going with a 720 vs. 1080. I know, I know...that may seem crazy but I have a 55" 1080 in my bedroom and hardly ever even turn on my HD box; the channels just arent there. It seems I have been waiting years for technology to "catch up" to my equipment and I am sick of it. I am just going to put an inexpensive plasma in my living room.

That being said; any advise on a pick out of the following?

Hewlett-Packard 50" Plasma HDTV
Model: PL5060N

LG 50" Plasma HDTV
Model: 50PC3D

Toshiba TheaterWide 50" Plasma HDTV
Model: 50HP66




Panasonic 50" Plasma HDTV
Model: TH-50PX60U

Samsung 50" Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV
Model: HP-S5053

These are all in the 2-2.5K range and will work for what I need at this time.

 

[Geno]

The Panasonic has been the hands-down winner for some time now. The high end Pioneers may be slightly better in PQ, but their prices are way out of line.

 

[stratman]

Yup Geno's right, for the money, the Panny beats all.

 

[wire]

Should I buy the extended warranty on a plasma TV. I never can decide if it is worth it or not considering I seem to buy a new TV about every 4 years. Any thoughts on this?

Once i bought for a TV many years ago , but never used it .
I buy it with my Computer equipment ( Video Cards ) all the time and get cheap upgrades , as long as i dont miss the expiry date .

 

[GreenJelly]

Should I buy the extended warranty on a plasma TV. I never can decide if it is worth it or not considering I seem to buy a new TV about every 4 years. Any thoughts on this?

I followed the advice of Consumer Reports, which states that if the warrenty is bellow 20% (or 15% I forget) of the total cost, then it is a smart purchase. They stated that they are still very uncertain of the longevity of such TV's and are warry of the problems that may arise.

With that said I bought my first 42" plasma TV, and my first Extended Warrenty. I have NEVER bought an Extended Warrenty in my entire life.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I followed the advice of Consumer Reports, which states that if the warrenty is bellow 20% (or 15% I forget) of the total cost, then it is a smart purchase. They stated that they are still very uncertain of the longevity of such TV's and are warry of the problems that may arise.

With that said I bought my first 42" plasma TV, and my first Extended Warrenty. I have NEVER bought an Extended Warrenty in my entire life.

And what % was that extended warranty? did you have to bargain them down?

 

[GreenJelly]

I actually got Circuit Sh-City to match the lowest online price on my TV. This is crazy, and is unheard of. I dont know how it happened, but it happened.

I ended up paying over 20% (for a 3 year) because the Circuit Sh-City warrenty covers pixle loss. However, Circuit Sh-City had a much cheaper 3 year warrenty then almost all of the online dealers for the same set.

So, I kinda came out feeling like I just got away with robbing a bank.

 

[stratman]

Curious, has anyone actually used one of those extended warranties? How was the service? I know they're independent companies doing the service. I heard that "MAC" warranties are said to be reputable, but I'm really curious about real-life experience with one these second or third party repairs.

 

[GreenJelly]

My parents used one for their Sony Vega (or is it Wega) CRT... no problems...