Vendors give us 3-year notebook warranties say users

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 05 July 2006 12:08

Your IT - Home IT

A recent poll of computer users has come out with a resounding demand for standard 3-year warranties on notebook computers.

The iTWire poll asked the question: Should 3-year warranties be standard on notebooks? Of the 250 respondents, an overwhelming 91.9% answered yes and just 8.1% answered no.

The issue of notebook warranties is bound to become a more contentious one as recent surveys show that notebooks are becoming more predominant in small business and increasing their share of overall PC sales in relation to desktops.

Until now, the big brand notebook vendors have stubbornly refused to back all but their most expensive high-end products with anything more than a standard one-year warranty. Users have generally been able to buy two year extensions at the time of purchase but for the additional cost they may as well upgrade to a better model.

So far, notebook vendors have been able to ignore consumers on this issue but as more notebooks become mission critical business devices, a groundswell of consumer dissatisfaction will force vendors to provide quality to match their prices.