School equipment - do you extend warranties?

[SteveB_NI]

We've almost reached end of our manufacturer warranty period for many Dell Desktops & a Dell Server.

 

I've requested an extended warranty quotation for both desktops and server, and it's rather eye watering to say the least - even just for the server!

 

In general what do you tend to do with your equipment - do you extend the warranties, or just do it for the server?

[Katy]

We don't bother for desktops/laptops, the cost of extending the warranty for 100 devices is usually more than enough to have say 10 devices totally fail and need replacements buying.

[DavR]

I have done for our key servers, ie, stuff we can't run without. Other servers I have enough redundancy to let fail and I'll repair myself as and when.

 

Laptops and desktops I try and get five year warranties from the start, but never extend. I might start dropping down to three years tbh, we have so few failures these days. The one exception was our Dell Latitude E5530 laptops, these had the famous hinge failure issues so extending the warranties on these was worth the money.

[mikeprice]

When I have tried this for desktops and laptops it has been expensive

 

and the terms and conditions basically mean that it wouldn't work in a school

It would be OK if e.g. that hard drive failed but in most cases it looked like there was too much wriggle room for saying it was 'damage' or 'wear and tear' so they could back out of doing anything

 

I haven't come across any that will just fix anything no matter what (the old foot shaped 'crack' on a laptop screen etc etc)

 

 

WHen I have put the cost against the cost of the normal simple repairs (screen, hard drive, keyboard) and add on the costs of a replacement once a year or so them it doesn't work out

 

 

YMMV

[Chris_Cook]

It depends. In the past we've often gone for 3 or 5 year warranties at time of purchase. A lot of it comes down to cost of the warranty, cost of spares, and past experience with the warranty provider.

 

In many ways I'd rather buy quality products and have spares or spare parts available. If we can switch out or repair ourselves its often quicker and less hassle than using the warranty.

 

There is a lot of variation in warranties. HP/3com switches I've found good once you've given the right info. Some other companies are happy to send out parts for us to fit if we prefer. Some companies will lie about fixing things and send it back - I wouldn't mind if they can't reproduce the issue, but I've subtly marked a part before and checked it when it came back after being told it was fixed.

 

I probably wouldn't pay for a warranty beyond 5 years as replacing the item is often preferable, and can often be sourced in a similar time frame.

[CHiLL]

We generally do on desktop, server and network infrastructure. They were all purchased in 2015 and had a 3-year NBD warranty and have had their warranties extended via third party suppliers, on a two year deal. We renewed them again for another two years earlier this year. We initially planned the servers on a 8 year life cycle and the network on 15 years. The desktops were on a 5 year life cycle, though due to financial issues, that's been extended to at least 7.

[Disease]

I buy Desktops and laptops form ICT Direct and always get a 5 year warranty, I wouldn't extend past that as they are such good value that they are cheap enough to replace after the 5 years.

[PlantHead]

Servers we get with a 3 year warranty and usually extend to 5 years, after that we make a decision on what is needed.

Workstations we never extend, it isn't worth it. We usually do a Trade in with HP and replace the kit for less money than the cost of extending the warranty

[6Foot2]

We have, occasionally, managed to buy laptops or desktops with three year warranties included with the purchase price. If these are not available we, typically, accept the standard 1-year warranty and hope that the machine lasts long past that without issue. Aside from vandalism we have found that our Dell kit doesn't usually give us problems.

[DrCheese]

Servers/SANs I try to get a 5 year warranty when I purchase them. We then decide if we have enough budget to replace them (Or if it's even worth it)

 

Networking hardware I only buy stuff I can get a lifetime warranty on (For replacements) but try to keep a drop in replacement ready to go (More important as they age)

 

Desktops - Again 5 years if it's not too expensive on purchase (Was £15 per device last time) but no I won't extend those after that as the kits old enough I could just buy a like for like replacement on fleabay if needed.