Hello OTF. As some of you know, 2010 is going to be a big year for me - in April I'm flying to Argentina, and it's going to be a little while before I come back to England if it goes well (aside from a couple of weeks next Christmas).
I'm buying a laptop very shortly indeed to take out there with me, and I've found the one I want at the price I want to pay for it already. Now, a question, because I know there are people on here who a) know more about laptops than me, and b) know more about living on different continents than me.
This laptop (it's an Acer 5738G) comes with a one-year warranty, obviously. This includes Acer's 'International Traveller's Warranty'. What this consists of is letting you take your laptop into their local repair centre (they've got one in Buenos Aires, and what's more it's right near one of my favourite steak houses, so that won't be a hardship) if anything goes wrong. However this apparently applies only to people who are travelling for 3 months or less.
As far as I can find, Acer don't offer a true 'global warranty', and products like this one don't seem to be valid outside the continent they're bought in.
So I'm thinking. For starters I know the likes of Dell and HP do do global warranties, but I've shopped around a lot and found the exact machine I want at a very good price (it was named best in test of a sub-£600 magazine feature recently, priced at £590, and I've found it brand new for £480).
So, simple question: is it worth sacrificing the fact that this is the perfect one for me to go for something that might not suit quite as much, but will come with a global warranty, or are such guarantees a little overrated anyway (especially considering we're not exactly talking about a £1,500 beast)? I'll be using it right here in England for a good 3 1/2 months after taking delivery of it, which I would think will be long enough to at least sort out any latent problems if a hardware device is duff or whatever. And I'll be back here for Christmas next year (that's the plan anyway), so could always submit it for a warranty claim when I got back then...
Alternatively, what about getting it insured? How much difference is there, effectively, between laptop insurance with global coverage, and getting one with a global warranty? If so what do I need to be looking for (particularly given that I'd want any replacements to be done using a European-spec / built machine rather than a South American one)? I am, of course, getting in touch with Acer themselves to find out whether they do have something more like a proper global warranty as well...
I'm buying a laptop very shortly indeed to take out there with me, and I've found the one I want at the price I want to pay for it already. Now, a question, because I know there are people on here who a) know more about laptops than me, and b) know more about living on different continents than me.
This laptop (it's an Acer 5738G) comes with a one-year warranty, obviously. This includes Acer's 'International Traveller's Warranty'. What this consists of is letting you take your laptop into their local repair centre (they've got one in Buenos Aires, and what's more it's right near one of my favourite steak houses, so that won't be a hardship) if anything goes wrong. However this apparently applies only to people who are travelling for 3 months or less.
As far as I can find, Acer don't offer a true 'global warranty', and products like this one don't seem to be valid outside the continent they're bought in.
So I'm thinking. For starters I know the likes of Dell and HP do do global warranties, but I've shopped around a lot and found the exact machine I want at a very good price (it was named best in test of a sub-£600 magazine feature recently, priced at £590, and I've found it brand new for £480).
So, simple question: is it worth sacrificing the fact that this is the perfect one for me to go for something that might not suit quite as much, but will come with a global warranty, or are such guarantees a little overrated anyway (especially considering we're not exactly talking about a £1,500 beast)? I'll be using it right here in England for a good 3 1/2 months after taking delivery of it, which I would think will be long enough to at least sort out any latent problems if a hardware device is duff or whatever. And I'll be back here for Christmas next year (that's the plan anyway), so could always submit it for a warranty claim when I got back then...
Alternatively, what about getting it insured? How much difference is there, effectively, between laptop insurance with global coverage, and getting one with a global warranty? If so what do I need to be looking for (particularly given that I'd want any replacements to be done using a European-spec / built machine rather than a South American one)? I am, of course, getting in touch with Acer themselves to find out whether they do have something more like a proper global warranty as well...
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