Is the HP Carepaq service worth it???

[Steven Cedrone]

I was reading this thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17625&highlight=) and it got me to thinking...

The Ipaqs being what they are, should I purchase a Carepaq for my 2215???

Steve

[ctmagnus]

It depends. If you're extremely lucky and/or careful, you shouldn't need one. Otherwise, go for it. I had my my 3670 replaced several times on a CarePaq: digitizer developed dead zones twice, rom toasted once (my fault), sync connector quit functioning completely and a cracked LCD. Read the TOS though; cracked LCDs aren't covered by the standard Care Pack although there was nothing in my documentation stating otherwise.

Btw, they're now referred to as Care Packs. ;)

[SassKwatch]

I'm not familiar with the Terms of Service of the Carepacks....and those *might* make a significant diff in how I'd view them. But I was one of those who contributed my experiences with the CompUSA TAP in the thread you link, and have been glad I have purchased that.

I'm one of those who had never...ever...purchased an extended warranty of any kind on any device in the past. Never on tv's, home stereo equipt, desktop pc's..., not even on my notebook pc. But with the exception of the notebook, none of those devices travel any further than from the place of purchase to my crib. Once set up, they never move. The notebook is somewhat of an exception, but even it doesn't do all that much traveling.

A PPC OTOH, goes with me almost everywhere. Goes to work, gets used in the car for GPS purposes occasionally, goes to the laundromat with me so I can read AvantGo...heck, it even goes with me in the field occasionally when I go on photo safaris to record GPS coordinates in case I want to come back to that same spot at a later date.

IOW, the PPC gets a **L-O-T** more exposure to potential damaging situations, so I felt the TAP worth it in this instance.

[AKBishop]

I was reading The Ipaqs being what they are, should I purchase a Carepaq for my 2215???

I've always purchased one for my iPaqs. I went through about 8 replacements on my 3650 over the course of 3 years. However, on my 3850 I have yet to use my CarePaq over the last nearly 2 years. I won't get one for the next iPAQ I buy because it seems that the quality has gone up since the original models. The nice thing about them is that you get a replacement the next day. No send off and wait for a repair. A tech support call is also simple. The first thing you do is say "I have a CarePaq" and then they run through a couple basic things (did you soft reset, did you hard reset) and then they have a unit sent out Next Day Air.

I got more than my money's worth out of the CarePaq for the 3650 but haven't used my current CarePaq yet.

[famousdavis]

My philosophy for virtually all extended warranties is simple: I don't buy them.

There are really only two good reasons to buy extended warranties of any sort:

1) You are unable to bear the financial consequences if you don't buy the warranty (this is very, very rare in the majority of cases for people -- you can almost always bear to replace an item under $1000 USD, or at least $500). This is not to say that you will WANT to bear the cost, but bearing the cost will not up-end you, financially speaking. Your finances should be able to deal with this kind of unpleasant event in life.

2) You need to buy it for the peace-of-mind you get knowing that should a problem arise, no matter what, you'll be okay (this is a little faulty line of logic, too, since the language of any extended warranty makes it less than certain that you will be made whole should you suffer a loss).

My philosophy was reinforced (to me) when I went through the Florida State University's Certiificate in Financial Planning program. It makes much better sense to self-insure yourself. That is, don't buy any extended warranty on anything -- your car, your appliances, your PDAs -- and take the costs of all the extended warranties you'd like to buy and set the money aside somewhere, so when something DOES break, you've got a pot of cash from which to draw to repair/replace the defective unit.

The biggest problem of self-insurance? People don't have the self-discipline to set aside money this way.

[klirking]

CarePaq used to be an overnight warranty program. Since HP bought Compaq it is an "at least seven days" warranty program. I do not think it is worth its price anymore. If you report the problem as an accidental damage the will send you a box and you will have to send your unit back in order for it to be tested. If you tell them it is another kind of problem they will confuse the issue, or your CarePaq reg number, or they will shut down a facility, etc. The bottom line: they will need more time, at least seven days, to send you a new unit. :devilboy:

[ctmagnus]

CarePaq used to be an overnight warranty program. Since HP bought Compaq it is an "at least seven days" warranty program. I do not think it is worth its price anymore. If you report the problem as an accidental damage the will send you a box and you will have to send your unit back in order for it to be tested. If you tell them it is another kind of problem they will confuse the issue, or your CarePaq reg number, or they will shut down a facility, etc. The bottom line: they will need more time, at least seven days, to send you a new unit. :devilboy:

:confused totally: That's never happened to me. My last CarePaq return was ~ eight weeks ago.

The seven days thing is if you have something repaired under warranty but not Carepaq. They ship your unit back to you in these cases; with a CarePaq they ship you a different unit and you ship the bad unit back to them, sometimes in the same box (if you don't have to pull any info off the returning unit).

[Steven Cedrone]

CarePaq used to be an overnight warranty program.
AFAIK, the "Care Pack" (Happy CT? :wink: ) is next business day replacement...

Steve

[cpoole]

I purchased the CarePak for my 3670. I have used it once over the last 2.5 years. One call but had 3 things repaired... battery, on/off switch and catch for stylus. I sent it on a Tuesday morning at 10AM and received it back Thursday morning. Great service since the service center is halfway across the country.

The bad thing about the carepak is that you feel obliged to keep using the same pocket computer. Many people seem to go through a new computer about every 8 months. I am still on my first one. I will use it till it quits... which will be after the CarePak expires.

[caywen]

I bought a CarePaq 1945. I like it because it is slim and very functional.

Oh wait... never mind. :mrgreen: