Any recent purchasing experiences from laptopdirect.co.za? Opinions on laptop offerings with 1 year vs 3 year warranties.

[leviathan1701]

Good day,

I'm doing some laptop hunting for a buddy and I found a potential option from Laptop Direct as it quite a bit cheaper compared to any of the competing retailers. I am interested to know what their services are like now as all reviews I've found are from several years back. Have they improved at all?

Also, another question - not that I would want to consider buying from Evetech, however I've noticed that they are able to offer longer 3 year warranties (for free supposedly???) on particular laptop models whereas most places are only offering a 1 year warranty on the same model. Does anyone know how they are able to do this? Or is this some scummy tactic?

When looking at Wootware as an example, I've noticed that they sometimes offer a purchasable warranty upgrade on certain laptop models from the standard 1 year to 3 years. Is this actually legal??

Lastly, are laptops with a 1 year warranty asking to break after a year or would they still be a viable option? Or would I need to do research on each individual laptop and not necessarily automatically assume that a 1 year warranty laptop is already doomed to die after a year?

Any advise on these questions would be greatly appreciated

 

[P1000]

Laptopdirect is Comx as far as I know, they are legit.

Evetech, however I've noticed that they are able to offer longer 3 year warranties (for free supposedly???)

If you don't honor any warranty, the number of years you offer won't matter.

 

[el3venth]

Laptops Direct (Laptops South Africa at cheapest prices best service in South Africa. Notebooks at Laptop Direct.) have been around for years, 10+ years I think. So they are legit.
I last bought from them years ago, so cannot say for current service.

Regarding warranty
Evetech T&C reads: 18.13 Laptops: All Laptops sold by Evetech come with no warranty from Evetech and shall only be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and such claims must be handled directly with the relevant manufacturer and their returns/repair process.

I am guessing their 3 year warranty (which they do not offer, just the manufacturer) is probably just a typo. Or perhaps the other shop is doing a grey import.

So basically Evetech say they do no warranties and everything must be handled by the manufacturer. They might do they handling for you, if they feel like it on that day. Don't count on it. (Read the opinion of the average person here to understand how much Evertech is loathed.)

Wootware sometimes imports the laptops themselves, and then they offer the warranty extension, they are responsible, not the manufacturer. So if something goes wrong, Wootware is responsible. This is either good (local, easy talk to them) or bad (they have all the say) depending on how you look at it.

Wootware will typically mediate with any manufacturer regarding warranties and they are generally good with follow-up.

CPA give all good basically 6 months. Anything above that is up to the manufacturer or distributor to decide if you can even claim.

 

[Oj0]

however I've noticed that they are able to offer longer 3 year warranties (for free supposedly???)

"Warranties" are offered through a company called Platinum Warranty, which is basically a hopeful" insurance company. They'll try to source parts via third parties (unofficial channels) to perform the repair.

Review Companies Online | Customer Service & Company Ratings | hellopeter.com

www.hellopeter.com

warranty upgrade on certain laptop models from the standard 1 year to 3 years. Is this actually legal??

Yes, completely legal. Most places offer it as a purchasable add-on.

Lastly, are laptops with a 1 year warranty asking to break after a year or would they still be a viable option? Or would I need to do research on each individual laptop and not necessarily automatically assume that a 1 year warranty laptop is already doomed to die after a year?

It's a gamble you take. As with any electronic components, it might fail a day out of warranty or might last you the next 10 years.

 

[zakk]

laptopdirect / comx is down the road from me, lovely guys never had an issue with them, reliable.

 

[leviathan1701]

"Warranties" are offered through a company called Platinum Warranty, which is basically a hopeful" insurance company. They'll try to source parts via third parties (unofficial channels) to perform the repair.

Review Companies Online | Customer Service & Company Ratings | hellopeter.com

www.hellopeter.com

Yes, completely legal. Most places offer it as a purchasable add-on.


It's a gamble you take. As with any electronic components, it might fail a day out of warranty or might last you the next 10 years.

So just to clarify, a 1 year versus 3 year warranty offered on a laptop is not necessary indicative of it's overall quality?

 

[leviathan1701]

Laptopdirect is Comx as far as I know, they are legit.

If you don't honor any warranty, the number of years you offer won't matter.

That is true. Evetech is definitely not my first choice, especially with the sheer amount of horror stories related to upgrades requested on their laptop offerings.

 

[Oj0]

So just to clarify, a 1 year versus 3 year warranty offered on a laptop is not necessary indicative of it's overall quality?

That's an extremely loaded question.

In general, a long warranty is a good marketing point. If a vendor is confident that their product will last for five years, only offering a one year warranty doesn't make sense as they'll be losing out on a big selling point. Conversely, if they only think it'll last for a year, there's no way they'll offer a ten year warranty as it'll put them out of business with an average of 8-9 replacements during the warranty period.

HOWEVER.

Laptops are different, as three year warranties are almost exclusively reserved for business/higher end models, they get charged accordingly. Take two laptops with very similar spec and you'll see that the one with a three year, on-site, next business day warranty can easily cost twice as much as one with a basic one year carry-in warranty. Upgrading from one year to three years is almost always cheaper than getting something that starts with a three year.

Keep in mind that the laptops that come with a "free upgrade to three years" as mentioned in your original post are NOT three year warranties, but rather three years of a VERY poorly-rated third party attempting to keep it afloat if it's economical to them.

 

[leviathan1701]

That's an extremely loaded question.

In general, a long warranty is a good marketing point. If a vendor is confident that their product will last for five years, only offering a one year warranty doesn't make sense as they'll be losing out on a big selling point. Conversely, if they only think it'll last for a year, there's no way they'll offer a ten year warranty as it'll put them out of business with an average of 8-9 replacements during the warranty period.

HOWEVER.

Laptops are different, as three year warranties are almost exclusively reserved for business/higher end models, they get charged accordingly. Take two laptops with very similar spec and you'll see that the one with a three year, on-site, next business day warranty can easily cost twice as much as one with a basic one year carry-in warranty. Upgrading from one year to three years is almost always cheaper than getting something that starts with a three year.

Keep in mind that the laptops that come with a "free upgrade to three years" as mentioned in your original post are NOT three year warranties, but rather three years of a VERY poorly-rated third party attempting to keep it afloat if it's economical to them.

All of this does make sense. So I shouldn't necessarily then avoid laptops that come with a one year warranty out of the box. I haven't been in the laptop market for a long time, hence my surprise finding most "every day / general use" laptops only coming with a one year warranty.

My recent experiences with modern laptops have been with the business end Dell Latitude models, which have three years.

 

[leviathan1701]

Laptop sourced. Thanks everyone for the assist!