<p>I know this has been discussed earlier but I am still confused. I want to buy a dell laptop. It seems that the majority of the students purchase their laptops through UMD. When I look at the Dell site and take the student discount and purchase the 4 year extended warranty it is significantly cheaper that buying through the ACT programs. Not only is it cheaper I can get a better laptop. I realize the convenience of being able to a get a loaner on campus but is there something else I am missing? Thanks</p>
<p>I am not really one of the best people to get advice from regarding computers, but I’ll just say that the UMD laptop plan is REALLY good. My friends and I regard it as “frisbee proof” as you could literally break it playing frisbee and get it repaired.</p>
<pre><code>My roommate, who is a careful person, dropped his laptop from his lofted bed onto a hardwood floor. There was no memory or internal damage, but it looked pretty roughed up and some of the outer pieces broke off. Maryland fixed it, no questions asked, and got back to him in about a week.
Now I don’t have one of these laptops because I thought they were too expensive as well. I bought a Dell Studio 1558. Its done pretty well and it was cheaper than Maryland’s, but I’m gonna need to turn it in eventually because it freezes occasionally. I have the accident proof warranty (so I’m not worried about this possibly not being covered), but I am not looking forward to how long that will take.
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<p>tl; dr
I am a cheap person and did not get the UMD laptop. I am not upset with my decision (yet ?), but I have seen first-hand that their warranty is REALLY good.</p>