All About Warranties

“Would you like to purchase an extended warranty?”

You pause. Your eyes glaze over. You try to remember how much is left in your bank account. You stall for time by asking how much an extended warranty costs, what it covers, and if you can buy them for different lengths of time. But what you really want to ask, and get an honest answer in regards to, is: “Is the warranty worth it?”

Unfortunately, there are as many different answers to that question as there are people who buy camcorders. We can’t give you an answer that’s guaranteed to fit you, but we can tell you the factors that ought to weigh into your decision.

What’s A Warranty Do, Anyway?
Purchasing an extra warranty is like purchasing limited-time health insurance for your camcorder. Warranties generally cover equipment failure, slight damage, or slight breakage that the owner obviously did not cause. For example, suppose your cam functions fine, but later on it starts to show irregular color splotches in the picture, won’t turn on, or somehow gets a MiniDV tape jammed in the mechanism. If you bring your extended warranty and damaged camcorder to the place where you purchased them, the store will probably send your camcorder off to get repaired and return the fixed model to you, all for free.

Most stores will let you return a camcorder free of charge that has factory defects straight out of the box, regardless of whether or not you have an extended warranty.

How much will I use my camcorder?
The more you use your cam, the sooner it suffers from normal wear and tear, and the more likely it is to experience a problem within its lifetime. Most casual consumers only break out the camcorder a few times a month, if that, to record notable events. If you only use your cam for an hour or two every other week and store it carefully when not in use, you could probably get away with not purchasing a warranty.

On the other hand, if your camcorder is your artistic tool, you’d better be prepared for the worst. You’ll have to film a lot of footage before you get that perfect, melancholy shot of a plastic shopping bag drifting listlessly in the wind against a brick wall. Even though you may know how to treat your equipment with the utmost care and respect, you can only delay a camcorder’s aging so long, especially with daily use.

In what conditions will I use my camcorder?
You have it all figured out: you’re going to film your amateur pirate epic over rough open sea in a dingy in a thunderstorm. Your ultra-low-budget remake of Lawrence of Arabia will feature the mournful windswept landscape of the dust storms in the sandy lot near your house. If these are the types of conditions you expect to encounter, passing up a warranty is not an option.

Extreme temperatures, airborne particles like sand or ice, or very humid environments are all rough on your camcorder, eager to slip between seals and into ports. You don’t have to be an adventurous filmmaker to be at risk: filming a snowball fight or the rain falling beyond your porch on a windy day can bring problems. Be realistic about what conditions you may come across. Do you live in the bayou, where humidity runs rampant? Or are you only using your camcorder to film high school basketball games indoors in climate-controlled comfort? The rougher the conditions, the more risky it is to go without a warranty.

How soon will I replace my camcorder?
If you like to keep up with the latest technological trends and generally replace your camcorder every year or two, then a warranty might not be for you. Heck, if your old cam breaks, it’s a great excuse to run out and buy the latest model!

Most people, however, either intend to keep the camcorders they buy for as long as possible, or have no particular plans or preferences about when their machines are replaced. If you aren’t planning or budgeting for a replacement cam, you should probably go with the warranty.

Will I take good care of my camcorder?
Be honest with yourself. Are you a filmmaker who already knows how to take care of his equipment? Are you conscientious and tidy in general? Or are you the type to shove dirty dishes under the bed?

If you know that you’ll take good care of your camcorder—use only a lens cloth on the lens, run a head-cleaning tape through the MiniDV mechanism, store it in a cool, dry place free of dust, regularly send it in for a general cleaning—then know that these behaviors will help you extend the life of your machine. Taking good care of your equipment is an important factor in reducing wear and tear. Don’t underestimate the power of maintenance. If you chuck your camcorder under a dirt pile when you’re not using it, it’s a fair bet to say that you’d better get a warranty.

Am I accident prone or forgetful?
We all know what the road to hell is paved with. Be honest with yourself. If you’re prone to forgetting where you put your keys, wallet, or baby, who’s to say you didn’t leave your camcorder someplace vulnerable too, like in your damp basement?

The decision to buy an extended warranty is one that many people don’t take seriously, but please, think it through. Go through these questions and try to answer each one as honestly as you can. You only have one chance to buy the warranty, so make the smart choice.