Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Bad Luck

One day after the warranty expired on my MacBook Pro laptop the screen went black and today I heard from the repair guys that the graphics chip is gone, which requires replacement of the logic board - an $A1,900 cost. A new laptop costs $A2,700. Of course, there are cheaper Mac laptops. Doing the repair doesn't make a lot of sense, especially given that a new computer will have a warranty included. Downgrading one's standard of living is tough too. Will discuss with Snork Maiden when she gets back this evening from a business trip to Melbourne.

I've read on personal finance blogs that paying for extended warranties never makes sense. This is a case where it would have made a lot of sense. That computer seemed to be inherently faulty - the screen was already replaced under warranty several months ago. The question is whether to pay for the insurance on a new laptop. From an economic perspective it probably doesn't make a lot of sense. The potential loss is only 0.6% of net worth and if occurring after a year as it did this time is a lot less than that (the computer has to be replaced some time - we can assume about a three year life).

Given my tax is so low, I'm not going to get much of a tax benefit from this either.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There must be something in the water. Last night, my internet was working just fine and this morning, nothing. The problem is with my MacBook. I did get the extended warranty so hopefully this will be fixed today.

Anonymous said...

my daughters macbook screen had problems as well, and then it wouldn't close properly which took us 9 months to get if fixed under warranty and they only did it when we contact head office and made a complaint, then it was fixed in a week. t