Question About System 76 Hardware

[Ed]

On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 3:29 PM, der.hans <PLUGd at lufthans.com> wrote:
> Am 30. Aug, 2014 schwätzte Mark Phillips so:
>
> moin moin,
>
>
>> For all of you System 76 users, do you recommend the extended warranty for
>> 3 years? In other words, do you find you need this warranty, or is the
>> standard 1 year warranty enough?

Hi Mark - The insurance I get is a protective case/bag for the object
- if you have a tradition of putting the laptop away, it lasts longer
- less scratches too. Insurance comes in many forms - not all
financial.

of course hassle removal can be priceless - make sure replacement
covers overnight shipping to/from your hotel/resort location.
Concierge level service could make insurance worth it.

>
> I have mostly heard good things about System 76, but have not purchased
> from them.
>
>
>> I have never purchased a System 76 machine, and I am in the market for a
>> new laptop. The 17.3" Kudu Professional looks like a good fit.
>
>
> What's the opportunity cost for you? In my case, if I were to buy a new
> laptop and almost immediately drop test it, I can afford to either go
> without one ( work laptop is sufficient and I have a spare personal laptop
> available ) or go get another one ( probably not to the same capabilities
> as the first ). It might be financially painful to buy two laptops in
> rapid succession, but I can absorb the cost if I really need to.
>
> A few years ago as I was working unpaid for a startup, I could not have
> afforded to buy a second laptop. Had I bought a laptop at the time, I
> likely would have purchased the warranty plan because the relative cost
> was more affordable. I did drop test a laptop during that time, luckily
> I already had an equivalent spare on hand, so I didn't need to buy a
> replacement.
>
> Another point to consider is what your needs are. When I purchase hardware
> I tend to buy beyond what I need because I want it to match my needs for 3
> to 5 years. But, if I need to, I can do fine with something relatively
> inexpensive and merely adequate.
>
> Finally, if there are problems, can you fix them yourself?
>
> Years ago my corporate thinkpad had a bad daughterboard that knocked out
> ethernet and made USB unreliable. Thinkpads were generally rock solid, but
> this model had a known problem. Had it been my laptop, I could have
> replaced the daughterboard. Since it was corporate and corporate didn't
> care, I bought a pcmcia USB card to go with my pcmcia ethernet and
> wireless cards that I already had and fixed it that way.
>
> I don't buy extra warranties for desktops due to this latter point. I can
> somewhat easily fix those myself. Also, since they don't get drop tested,
> they should be reliable out the gate and the manufacturers and retailer
> should be confident in their product. Since I don't run a virus magnet, I
> just need hardware support and the hardware should be reliable. That said,
> I no longer buy the cheapest thing I can find, having been bit by cheap
> stuff a couple times :).
>
>
>> Also, any issues running Windows in a virtual machine on these beasts?
>
>
> That shouldn't be a problem with current laptops.
>
> ciao,
>
> der.hans
> --
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