Actually such insurance did exist, but was so much more expensive that the ROI meant one was often better off buying another laptop. Also, with the exception of some really bottom-end brands, even most consumer-grade notebooks of the era had 3 year warranties with far less restrictions.
Also, most notebooks beyond the extreme bottom-end brands tended to be built like tanks* and could withstand much more abuse than notebooks…especially budget/consumer grade notebooks sold in the last 10-15 years.
Knew several college classmates from my undergrad years who dropped their 90's era Toshiba Satellites from a height of 5 feet onto concrete floors while they were on a few times without the notebooks skipping a beat. I wouldn't recommend doing that with even most corporate line notebooks built within the last 10 years.
+1 on @jym626 comment. For about $100 you get zero deductible accidental damage/loss insurance for a laptop and smartphone. Nice if your student is forgetful or a klutz.
OP, if you return, it’s best to stay focused on current information. There are many very affordable student insurance policies that cover possessions, separate from the laptop manufacturer warranty. Students are notorious for being rough on their belongings. My s’s insurance paid for itself more than once, and you can find many similar stories in many cc threads. Whatever happened decades ago is not relevant to your purchase.
It is to point out how notebook manufacturers…especially on the PC side have been cutting corners on build quality/QC in the last 15-20 years and how prices for notebooks have fallen so much in that time interval that it’s penny-wise and pound foolish to assume one’s student will be fine with a consumer-grade notebook*.
Especially when compared with Apple products(Apple while also cutting some corners in the same time span still maintains build/quality standards comparable to the corporate-line/premium-end PC notebook market segment…which is the market sector they focus on).
If one wants to do an apples to apples comparison, it should be with PC notebooks like the corporate-line such as the Dell Latitude or the premium XPS or comparable equivalents from other OEMs…not consumer-line machines like the Dell Inspiron/Vostro.
Well...unless one is prepared for the possibility of needing to replace it in a year or two due to problems from build quality/QC.
OP-'However computers were built 20+ years ago is completely irrelevant to your question about CURRENT laptop purchases for a rising college freshman. Posts with information from decades ago without clearly indicating when the referenced timeframe is is misleading and potentially harmful to you and other current readers/posters who are trying to make decisions and who may be misled by old, outdated and irrelevant information. Best of luck to you in your laptop purchase and student laptop insurance purchase.
Thank you @TooOld4School. The voice of reason with current information. We got the extra student insurance through our USAA insurance, and it came in handy when DS fell asleep in his top bunk, it fell off, and he then stepped on it when he got down and didn’t see it. Replaced by insurance. Another was replaced for another reason, the details of which escape me at present. Which insurance do you have? Many like the NSSI student personal property plan.
Much of the information I have posted has been current. If one wants to fairly compare an Apple to a comparable PC…one should compare it to PCs of the same comparable market segment.
Telling someone they can buy 2 or 4 PC notebooks for the same price as one mac is irresponsibly setting someone up for disappointment and major issues in terms of build quality/QC.
Most people comparing Apple notebooks to PCs tend to use the comparison with the consumer-grade notebook such as a Dell lnspiron/Vostro lines one can buy at big box stores like Costco or Best Buy when Apple machines are actually much more comparable to PC notebooks from the corporate/premium line like the Dell Latitudes/XPS lines.
If one does an apples to apples comparison…the costs are actually comparable for the specs, build quality/QC, etc.
If my kid asked for a Macbook, I’d get that, assuming it’s affordable. But if my kid asked for a PC, I feel much better about buying one now that I know about the business laptops.
In my limited, mom-level experience, I agree with @cobrat on build quality of the Dell Inspiron vs Latitude. We have a couple of roughly 7 yr old Inspirons that sound like jet airplanes, the plastic is taped together, and they’re too heavy/fragile to be truly portable (after I replaced several screens, keyboards and hard drives). There was a point at which I said I’d never buy another Windows laptop, never buy another Dell, etc. The Latitude looks and feels more durable than the Inspiron (the new ones). In addition, my understanding is that business laptops like the Latitude are built to be easy to service compared to the consumer ones. (At the moment, my only “never again” applies to spinning hard drives, though I’m not terribly keen on PCs with touch screens either.)
We bought my daughter the MacBook Pro with the extended warranty. Thank goodness we did, as she dropped the computer two months into school and caused substantial damage. We purchased the computer (and protection plan) through her university. There was a slight discount (like $100 off) and free beat headphones
A 7 yr old laptop will be heavier, and perhaps the fan is going out and making a racket. My new Dell Inspiron is an i7 processor, with 16GB memory, 1TB hard drive with Radeon graphics. Its fine for my needs, and would probably be fine for any incoming college student. Some of the programs engineering students use are, IIRC, windows programs.I’d check with the department if your student is an engineering major. If a student wants a mac and they need to run autoCAD or something they can do it in the department’s computer lab.
Would a typical manufacturers warranty plus the credit card extension cover accidental damage like spills? or would you need additional accident insurance?
My kids just had the CCard extended warranty. Both their laptop computers just stopped working. There was no abuse/misuse and both were high end for consumers. After evaluation at the place we sent it per AmEx CCard warranty instructions, got full refunds, including the cost of sending it and evaluation fee.
I suspect there may not have been coverage if there was abuse or misuse, but happily no experience.
We never bought or needed student insurance but I have read of others who were glad they did.
No. Spills and damage arising from what is considered user carelessness/abuse are factors which will void most manufacturer’s standard/extended warranty. Credit card extensions adds time, but doesn’t usually provide additional coverage beyond what the manufacturer’s standard/extended warranty covers.
Check your homeowner’s policies to see if it covers such damage on electronics/computers or additional insurance.
I’m going to admit to being personally biased because I work for Microsoft. That said, I think Macs are very overpricedl you can get a Windows PC with as good or better stats for a lower price. A computer in a slightly lower price bracket than the MacBook Pros (think in the $800-1,200 range) will last just as long as a MBP, if well taken-care of.
I do agree with @cobrat’s point about consumer- vs. professional-grade. You can’t compare a $500 Gateway or Dell to a $1500 MacBook Pro - of course the MBP is going to last longer and run better. It’s three times the cost. But if you look at something like the Lenovo ThinkPad X or Yoga series computers, or HP’s Spectre series, or a Surface Book or Surface Pro - those are going to be higher-quality machines that can go toe-to-toe with the MBPs.
Personally I think the portability and the stylus of a Surface Pro with a docking station and a monitor at the dorm room is a great combination, especially for the kid who likes to take notes by handwriting. Only downside is that the thing doesn’t actually work as comfortably in a lap as a real laptop.
EndNote is not going to be useful for the vast majority of college students, and besides, it’s expensive. Many colleges offer EndNote at no cost to their graduate students, and I’d argue the vast, vast majority of undergrads really won’t use EndNote or need the power it offers.
There are free alternatives that would be far more useful for undergrads. Zotero is one option that plugs straight into web browsers. This is what I used as an academic, so I know it’s powerful enough for an undergrad. Mendeley is another free option. For Mac users, there is Papers3. That costs money, but a perpetual license is only $50. The student version of EndNote ranges from $120-150. (And also, in my opinion, Zotero, Mendeley, and Papers3 all have way better user interfaces than EndNote. EndNote is needlessly complex and has a terrible UI.)
Plenty of engineering/CS majors have no issues using Macs to complete their engineering/CS assignments considering the huge presence of Macbook pros I’ve seen among engineering/CS students at MIT, Columbia SEAS, etc within the last decade (Especially after OSX and moreso after Apple moved to using the same intel processor architecture as PCs).
Many engineering/CS students…especially advanced undergrads/grad students liked the fact that OSX has Unix built in as its GUI sits on top of Darwin…which is based on a variant of BSD unix.
If one has the unix toolkits/repositories from their CS/engineering department, they’re off and running without having to dual-boot Linux* as would be the case if they were running MS Windows. Just open up the terminal application within OSX and you have a full-blown BSD Unix bash shell.
Yes, one can technically run Linux, BSD or any other OS as a virtual machine or use a utility such as cygwin...but one takes a major performance hit given the massive overhead taken up by the primary OS and how it can only allocate a relatively small portion of the processing power, RAM, and other hardware resources.as opposed to those OSes commanding alll those resources by running as a fully booted OS outright.
@nw2this- Read posts 61 and 65 for an answer to your question about additional, inexpensive student insurance that covers accidental damage to electronics (laptops, etc)
As a parent (kids graduated from college 2007 and 2010), we always looked at what the school recommended for the students.
Our first kiddo is a musician, and he has a Mac. That kid still has a Mac…and actually just got a new one.
Second kid majored in engineering. That kid had a Dell Latitude. But that same kid still has Dell, but not Latitude.
The OP is looking for inexpensive options for their college student, right? Our second kid’s Latitude was a fine machine and was bought off of the Dell Outlet. Kid used it for all four years of college. when the kid was joining the Peace Corps, we went to Best Buy and bought the cheapest Dell Laptop they had. We figured it would,go to the OC and never return. That was in 2010. We’ll…it did just fine (needed to be cleaned…and updated…). I’m using that one now. Kid got a new inexpensive Dell from Best Buy.
We figured for $350 or a bit less, those Dells could be used for several years…and then replaced if needed. Really, they haven’t needed to be replaced.
The Latitude laptop from 2006 (that’s when it was purchased), had Avery bell and whistle possible on it. However…it weighed quite a lot when comparing to today’s laptops.
The newer Dell laptops (and probably most manufacturers) are much lighter, more compact and have more juice to them.
So…to the OP…see what your kid’s college…or major requires. Then go from there.
You will hear from people with bad and good luck with just about every manufacturer…even Apple.