Playstation 4

[Waldorf and Statler]

I'm going to definitely buy the Geek Squad extended warranty from BB. Unlike with phones I won't get the accidental damage one as I've never dropped a console. And I believe every purchase at a store guarantees the product will work without issues for at least a couple of weeks to 30 days. So pray to god that if your PS4 breaks it does so within the time limit the store is responsible for so you can get a speedy exchange.

[Mr. GOH!]

Don't get an extended warranty. Pretty sure Sony's warranty is for up to a year. It is almost never worth it to buy an extended warranty for consumer electronics; it's sort of a scam.

 

Edit: If you do get an extended warranty, get it from Sony directly. It's likely cheaper than Geek Squad and you can buy it within a year of purchase (though it doesn't include accidental damage.) You're not an ignorant soccer mom; don't waste money on Best Buy upsells.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Mr. GOH!

[Mister Jack]

I think you can extend your warranty right from the PSN store should you feel so inclined.

[TCP]

MJ is right, at least you can on your PS3/Vita. 

Don't ever buy warranties, on anything. You'll save more money in the long run. 

[staySICK]

Don't get an extended warranty. Pretty sure Sony's warranty is for up to a year. It is almost never worth it to buy an extended warranty for consumer electronics; it's sort of a scam.

 

Edit: If you do get an extended warranty, get it from Sony directly. It's likely cheaper than Geek Squad and you can buy it within a year of purchase (though it doesn't include accidental damage.) You're not an ignorant soccer mom; don't waste money on Best Buy upsells.

Respectfully I disagree, at least with my experience.

 

Wife got an extended warranty on my PSP, used it once.

 

I got one on my first 360, used it 4 times.  Each time I could walk in with my console, tell them whats wrong, sometimes they'd look at it, I'd pick one up off the shelf, swap the hard drives, take it home.  4 consoles for the price of one, I'd say I got my money's worth.

 

I have a Zune 120 that I got for free after my Zune 80 stopped holding a charge, thanks to BB's replacement plan.  

 

My Wii U is the only system I have without a replacement plan, and that's because of Nintendo's lack of a proper purchase management system.

[Mr. GOH!]

The only advantage to the GeekSquad would be being able to get a replacement console immediately; I used the 360 warrant twice, and had my (or the replacement) 360 back within a week or two of sending it in for repairs. And that was the *free* warranty. Most folks never need it.

 

Staysick is an outlier, a winner in the warranty lottery. And mostly that's because he's bought crappy products like the 360 and Zune.

[Mister Jack]

It's really too early to know if we have another 360 RROD level debacle on our hands.  I'd say wait out the year with Sony, and if the failure rate climbs too high then just extend it from PSN before your warranty is up.  I'd be surprised if it's necessary, though.

[Mal]

If it gets to RROD level, Sony would be insane not to do what Microsoft did and auto extended the warranty. If I recall, it went from 1 year to two since I had to send one of my 360s in after the one year but before the two. Wasn't RROD related though.

[Pojodin]

While I could be wrong, it almost sounds like a case of the PS4 pushing so many more consoles at launch that even x% of faulty consoles means a higher number of faulty consoles overall than previous releases. I could be wrong though.

Edited November 19, 2013 by Pojodin

[Waldorf and Statler]

Don't get an extended warranty. Pretty sure Sony's warranty is for up to a year. It is almost never worth it to buy an extended warranty for consumer electronics; it's sort of a scam.

 

Edit: If you do get an extended warranty, get it from Sony directly. It's likely cheaper than Geek Squad and you can buy it within a year of purchase (though it doesn't include accidental damage.) You're not an ignorant soccer mom; don't waste money on Best Buy upsells.

 

I'll see how much more I gotta pay. The thing about Sony, Amazon, or any other one of those warranties that require shipping is that you gotta wait like 2 weeks to receive the thing back. If an extra $100 or less means I can get a new machine within a day, then why the fuck not?

 

And yes, I respectfully disagree. I understand it's geek cred to say extended warranties are useless but:

 

- I've had 4 360's RROD on me. The first one occurred while my Gamestop warranty I paid for was still in effect, got it exchanged immediately. Second two while the MS extended warranty was in effect. Had to wait upwards of 1-2 weeks to my console back. Fourth one died out when I had nothing, had to outright buy a used console.

 

- My previous laptop got a cracked screen a bit more than a year after the warranty ended. Screen was impossible to change for an amateur (i've changed screens before, this was one was glued with cables hidden). Sent it to extended warranty via mail, sure it took 2 months for me to eventually get what I paid back plus an extra $100 for the trouble. But I would have had to buy a brand new computer from scratch if it wasn't for the extra 100 I spent for 3 extra years of warranty.

 

-My friend got geek squad. Old Asus laptop broke on him. Took it to geek squad. Since his model was no longer being made, he got the closest equivalent from Asus which was 20x better.

 

You can call it a robbery and can call me a soccer mom, but I've found use for these. If I can afford an extra $100 for the convenience of a 5 minute drive to get a new console vs a 2 week wait, I'm taking it. A well informed warranty user that has actually experienced issues won't be dissuaded by peer pressure. No sirre.

 

Now if it's like 200 bucks then fuck that. I'm willing to pay close to a $100 for faulty hardware, I know Geek Squad is infamous for being expensive so if they're charging too much I'll go with Sonys

[Mr. GOH!]

$100 for *potential* convenience? If you really have no better use for $100, I guess.

 

Laptops or other items you carry about are better candidates for insurance or an extended warranty because they're riskier than electronics that sit in your home.  (And I'd go with insurance, as those policies cover theft. But theft of your console should be covered under your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy. If you pay $100 for a scammy warranty from BB but don't have renter's or homeowner's insurance, well, there is a sucker born every minute.) Also, love the phrasing of "got a cracked screen." Damn screens just suddenly crack on their own!

 

The RROD was a singular terrible issue. If Sony has similar issues surface in the next six months, then, by all means, get the extended warranty!

 

This isn't a geek cred thing; it's the advice of Consumer Reports. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/extended-warranties/buying-guide.htm 

 

And US News: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2012/04/24/6-reasons-why-you-should-never-purchase-an-extended-warranty

 

And the consumerist: http://consumerist.com/2011/02/24/9-extended-warranty-myths-debunked-by-a-guy-who-sells-them/

[Waldorf and Statler]

Didn't even think about the phrasing on the cracked screen bit haha. But there's a reason I got the whoopsie daisy insurance for a laptop.

 

And I guess you guys make a good point about my freaking out over the sensationalism of the blue light of the ps4 in the media. But shit, xbox 360 was the first console I bought with my own hard earned money and it was such a clusterfuck it left me shaken in a cold shower trying to hide the shame. I can at the least wait the few weeks the store guarantees the product will work for. If it works from there chances are it won't be getting the blue light anytime soon. If I do buy it and it gets it within the same hour, abandon ship extended warranty ahoy.

[CorgiShinobi]

I agree, partly. Having to dish this stuff out, I've also seen the people and products that benefit from "extended warranties."

 

I swear, if you buy a printer, and a retailer will replace your printer should it come under one of the numerous bullet points listed, paying something like $36 for two years is worth it. I've helped out customers that had their printer crap out in a single month due to manufacturer's fault, so they came in and walked out with the same printer that very day. HP, or whoever, will want you to send in the thing so they can look at it, and who knows how that will go down and for how long the process. Then of course there have been times we received customers who were told by a company's customer service to come to us instead.

 

On a console though W&S, you're good to stick with a manufacturer's warranty. If there really is a major issue, it's gonna be an issue that will rear its ugly head within that year. Any possible YLOD-like issue in the future will have its solutions, either by third party repair or just blowing another couple hundred on the Slim version.

 

/flashback

[Pojodin]

Also, love the phrasing of "got a cracked screen." Damn screens just suddenly crack on their own!

 

I'm picturing this as one of those this is your brain on drugs commercials. Like, "This is your screen on crack!"

[Mr. GOH!]

You'll know within a year if you need an extended warranty due to high PS4 hardware failure rates. I'm not saying all extended warranties are bad, just that the vast majority are. They are DEFINITELY worth it for laptops if you want them to last more than a couple years and you take your laptop out and about often, especially if the manufacturer is stingy and gives you a three month warranty. Even then, though, usually any big issues rear their heads within a year. Accidents can happen any time, though.

 

The other thing to think about is whether or not you may want a revision console anyway withing three years. Not sure how aggressive Sony will be about revisions, but it'd be pointless to buy an extended warranty if you're just going to get a new PS4 anyway. 

 

Oh, I see Atomsk addressed the revisions issue, too, because he is a smart, smart man.

[Waldorf and Statler]

I kept my original 360. Only time I bought a new 360 was when my previos RROD'ed and I had no more warranty anywhere. And even then I chose to go with a much cheaper used fat 360 vs a slim. That's the one I sold to Best Buy.

[TheMightyEthan]

I upgraded to a 360 Elite, but only because it had HDMI and the original one didn't. I can't think of any features like that they could possibly add to the PS4 that I would care enough about to upgrade.

[TCP]

That's a good point, what  could the PS4 Slim be? It's already smaller than my PS3 Slim, looks great, and has all the external hardware features you'd want.... I don't want to say it's perfect but............

[Mr. GOH!]

Just saying that some folks buy revision consoles even though their earlier ones work perfectly well. And they complain about the cost of upgrading GPUs in PCs.

 

I waited until they got everything ironed out to buy a PS3 slim, because buying launch console versions is for suckers. My 360 isn't a slim or whatever; it's whatever was on the market as the new arcade version in 2008.

 

Edit: PS4 revision speculation: cheaper case and disc tray and cheaper/more efficient components inside. Faster Blu-ray, if that's a thing. Better wifi. Heard the PS4 can get pretty hot (I know the PS3 does!), so maybe changes to the way it cools. Bigger HDDs. More USB ports, maybe? Fluff to entice the kind of suckers who buy original launch consoles and who buy overpriced warranties. Integrated Skylanders portal or whatever because the kids love their Skylanders. The ability to throughput TV because everyone really wants to watch cable TV while gaming.

Edited November 19, 2013 by Mr. GOH!

[Waldorf and Statler]

faster blu-ray drive I could see. But the only real use for it is to install games faster. Btw am I missing something or is the ps4 basically the same as the xbox one in terms of having to install games to play them?

[Mr. GOH!]

Oh, they'll totally do a revision with cheaper parts to lower the price. How they'll market it is all that remains to be seen. 

 

I think the installation requirements are close to identical. I imagine that, within a year or two, the 500GB HDD will start to feel like the old 20GB 360 HDD in terms of how many games can be installed simultaneously. 

[Mal]

Just saying that some folks buy revision consoles even though their earlier ones work perfectly well. And they complain about the cost of upgrading GPUs in PCs.

 

I waited until they got everything ironed out to buy a PS3 slim, because buying launch console versions is for suckers. My 360 isn't a slim or whatever; it's whatever was on the market as the new arcade version in 2008.

 

Edit: PS4 revision speculation: cheaper case and disc tray and cheaper/more efficient components inside. Faster Blu-ray, if that's a thing. Better wifi. Heard the PS4 can get pretty hot (I know the PS3 does!), so maybe changes to the way it cools. Bigger HDDs. More USB ports, maybe? Fluff to entice the kind of suckers who buy original launch consoles and who buy overpriced warranties. Integrated Skylanders portal or whatever because the kids love their Skylanders. The ability to throughput TV because everyone really wants to watch cable TV while gaming.

Backward compatibility console semi- master race. If the PS3 had the old PS2 chip then it would be a true console master race.

 

Anyways. I can see power consumption being reduced. Last I've read it was drawing around 70w while idle and charging the DS4? Some people were complaining about that.

[Mr. GOH!]

When the DS4 is done charging does it switch over to the low-power mode that sucks, IIRC, like 5 watts or whatever?

[TheMightyEthan]

I imagine that, within a year or two, the 500GB HDD will start to feel like the old 20GB 360 HDD in terms of how many games can be installed simultaneously.

I dunno about that, all my installed PC games put together is only about 920 GB. Bigger, obviously, but not like orders of magnitude bigger.  You'll have to be conscious of how much space you're using, but I don't see it being a huge issue in the near future.

 

*Edit * - Although game sizes will likely increase now that all consoles are on BD-derived formats. 

Edited November 19, 2013 by TheMightyEthan

[Mr. GOH!]

PC games will get bigger as next-gen games become standard with their much, much bigger textures and their significantly larger environments. 30GB-50GB installs will become more common. PC-only games have been trending this way for a while. Rome II's 35GB install, for example. I think that's around what a typical next-gen game isntall size will be at launch. Maybe 500GB will feel like a last-gen 50GB drive. This also depends on whether we're talking about full installations versus partial installations. Not sure if the PS4 and Xbone make the distinction.

 

920GB is one order of magnitude bigger than the 20GB drive, halfway to two orders of magnitude bigger. If you're talking mere powers of ten, it's almost two orders of magnitude bigger.