We're ringing in the new year by shopping for laptops, which have become incredibly powerful in the past few years. While conducting this survey, we found laptops with 64GB of random-access memory (RAM) and 2TB solid-state drives (SSDs). Who needs desktops anymore?

We found laptop service contract options far more comprehensive and robust in this product category, compared to TVs and gaming consoles, even at similar price points. Some of the premium laptop protection plans also covered accidental damage and handling, theft, hard-drive recovery, and even AI-powered predictive diagnostics.

Amazingly, we even found two service contracts that cost even more than the laptops themselves: a $375 two-year Accidental Damage and Theft Protection from HP, with underwriter AIG, on a $300 laptop, and a five-year $250 P.C. Richard & Son Extended Protection Warranty on a $200 laptop. Each of these plans cost 125% of the total product price; the former covered accidental damage and handling, along with theft, while the latter did not.

On the flip side, we found a $33 one-year Accidental Damage Protection plan from Dell, with underwriter Starr Indemnity & Liability Co., on a $1,658 laptop. This service contract cost just 2% of the total product price, and added accidental damage and handling protection onto the existing manufacturer's warranty that came with the laptop.

Overall, the average laptop protection plan cost 22% of the total laptop price. That's a little higher than the average for TVs, 15%, or the average for video game consoles, 16%.

Methodology

The laptop extended warranty options were wide and varied, reflecting the expansiveness of the market.

With the sheer amount of laptop makes and models on the market, we set to narrow the scope of this survey to aid in our data collection. We chose to limit our data collection to three brands: HP, Lenovo, and Dell; and to six general price points: $200, $300, $500, $750, $1,000, and $2,500.

We only collected data for new-in-box laptops, and excluded all refurbished or open-box laptops. The majority of refurbished laptops did not offer service contracts, with the exception of the Consumer Priority Service plans offered by Tech for Less.

In total, we collected data on 245 different extended warranties, sold by 24 different online retailers. These extended service contracts represented 11 different obligors and administrators, and nine different insurance underwriters.

The 24 online retailers from which we collected data were: Abt Electronics, Amazon, B&H, Best Buy, BrandsMart, BuyDig, Costco, DataVision, Dell, eBay, Electronic Express, HP, HSN, Lenovo, Micro Center, newegg, Office Depot, P.C. Richard & Son, QVC, Sam's Club, Staples, Target, Tech for Less, and Walmart.

We also searched hhgregg, which only sold Apple laptops. We did not include Apple in this study because most online retailers sell the manufacturer's AppleCare plans rather than their own unique plans. In addition, we searched Sears, which did sell laptops, but did not sell extended warranties.

Survey Results

For this survey, we collected data on extended warranty plans offered for three different brands of laptops, HP, Lenovo, and Dell. Figure 1 shows the brands of each of the laptops associated with the 245 service plans we found.

We found 123 service contracts for HP laptops, 74 plans for Lenovo laptops, and 48 plans for Dell laptops.

Each of these three laptop manufacturers have online retail shops that offer extended service plans administrated by the manufacturers.

HP offered a wide range of plans, including some that cover accidental damage, handling, and theft protection, some that cover on-site support and repairs, and even some that include "predictive AI-powered insights and proactive support." HP is the obligor and administrator of its own extended warranties, with underwriter AIG.

Lenovo offered plans that cover accidental damage and handling, and its highest tier of plan, Premier Support Plus, also covered hard drive retention. Lenovo's plans use underwriter Assurant.

Dell offered plans that cover accidental damage protection, onsite service, predictive hardware diagnostics, hard drive retention, and even a dedicated Service Account Manager for offices with more than 500 units covered under the Dell ProSupport Suite. These plans use insurance underwriter Starr Indemnity & Liability Co.

Service Contract Administrators

Another 21 third-party online retailers offered their own extended warranties on the HP, Dell, and Lenovo laptops they sold.

One retailer, B&H, based in New York City, sold HP/ AIG and Lenovo/ Starr plans, along with Allstate Drops & Spills Protection Plans. B&H was the only retailer of the 24 to offer extended warranties from more than one administrator/ obligor/ underwriter team.

Plans from Allstate, using obligor CE Care Plan Corp., administrator SquareTrade Inc., and underwriter Allstate Insurance Co., were found at 12 different online retailers: Abt Electronics (Chicago), B&H (New York City), BrandsMart (Florida & Georgia), BuyDig (New Jersey), Costco, eBay, HSN, Office Depot, QVC, Sam's Club, Target, and Walmart.

Along with HP, Best Buy used plans underwritten by AIG. However, HP was the obligor and administrator of its plans, just using AIG for insurance underwriting, while Best Buy used AIG as the obligor, administrator, and underwriter of its Geek Squad plans. Best Buy supplies its own service network, but lets AIG do all of the rest.

Along with Lenovo, Micro Center used insurance underwriter Assurant. Micro Center is the obligor and administrator of its own plans, and has its own service network.

Amazon and Staples sold Asurion protection plans, with obligor Asurion Service Plans, Inc., administrator Asurion Services, LLC, and underwriter Continental Casualty Co.

DataVision and Tech for Less both sold Consumer Priority Service plans. DataVision offered Accidental Protection from CPS plans, which cover accidental damage, and start at the date of purchase, while Tech for Less sold CPS Extended Warranty Plans, which start after the manufacturer's warranty ends, and do not cover accidental damage. However, the Tech for Less plans cover new, factory sealed, open box, and refurbished laptops, for the same price.

Newegg sold Laptop Accident Protection Plans from obligor and administrator Likewize Device Protection, LLC, and insurance underwriter Universal Underwriters Insurance Co., owned by Zurich American Insurance Co.

And then there were two local, regional online retailers that were the administrators and obligors of their own extended warranties, with unknown insurance underwriters: Electronic Express, based in Tennessee, and P.C. Richard & Son, based on Long Island, New York.

More Survey Results

Figure 2 shows the price range of the laptops associated with the 245 service contracts we identified for this survey.

There were 63 laptops under $400, 45 laptops priced from $400 to $699, 55 laptops priced from $700 to $999, 55 laptops $1,000 to $1,999, and 25 laptops from $2,000 to $3,000.

Figure 3 shows the length of the service contracts we found in this survey.

The most popular length for laptop service contracts was two or three years, with only a few extended warranties lasting just one year, and a handful lasting four or five years.

The 27 one-year plans mostly added accidental damage and handling protection onto the one-year manufacturer's warranty, and a few of them were warranty extensions that started when the manufacturer's warranty expired. Some, however, were one-year plans that fully overlapped with the manufacturer's warranty, offering on-site service, next-day service, proactive diagnostics, and other benefits not covered by the base product warranty.

Of the 27 one-year plans, 17 covered accidental damage and handling.

Of the 98 two-year extended warranties, 74 covered accidental damage.

Of the 88 three-year plans, 58 covered accidental damage. And of the 32 four- and five-year plans, 20 covered accidental damage and handling.

Overall, 169 out of 245, or 69%, of the plans in this survey covered accidental damage and handling.

Figure 4 shows the start date of these 245 extended warranties. The majority started at the date of purchase of the laptop, especially those that covered accidental damage and handling.

Just 16 of the protection plans started once the manufacturer's warranty expired. These plans were the Extended Warrant Plan from CPS sold by Tech for Less, which came in one-, two-, and three-year lengths, and the Extension Protection Plan for Desktops, Laptops, and Tablets from Micro Center, which were one-year plans.

One-Year Service Contracts

Our next four charts show the prices of the extended warranties divided by the corresponding laptop prices, as a percentage, compared to the plan price. Each of the four charts details one of the lengths shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 depicts the 27 one-year protection plans.

The price pairings started from a low of $33 for a one-year Accidental Damage Protection plan from Dell, provided by Starr, on a $1,658 laptop (2%), closely followed by the $41 one-year Basic Onsite Service after remote diagnosis with hardware-only support plan, also offered by Dell and Starr for the same laptop (2%).

The high side of the pairings was a $150 one-year Geek Squad Laptop Protection plan from Best Buy, provided by AIG, on a $500 HP laptop (30%).

The average cost of a one-year laptop protection plan was 13% of the laptop cost. By this measure, 14 of the plans were below average, and 13 plans were above average.

The most expensive one-year extended warranty, furthest to the right in Figure 5, was a $340 Accidental Damage-Handling Protection Plans for Laptops from Micro Center, provided by Assurant, for a $2,500 Dell laptop (14%).

The next most expensive one-year plan was a $280 Geek Squad Laptop Protection plan from Best Buy, provided by AIG, for a $2,500 Lenovo laptop (11%).

Two-Year Service Contracts

Figure 6 shows the prices of the 98 two-year protection plans as a percentage of the laptop price, compared to plan price.

The low side was a $103 two-year Extended Warranty Plan from Tech for Less, provided by Consumer Priority Service, for a $1,500 HP laptop (7%).

The high side, the outlier at the top of Figure 6, was a $375 Accidental Damage and Theft Protection plan from HP, provided by AIG, for a $300 laptop (125%). That's right, this two-year extended warranty actually cost more than the laptop itself. While this plan does cover accidental damage along with theft, at that point, it's actually cheaper to just buy a new one if the laptop is stolen. However, this HP Care Pack plan can also lock the laptop if it is stolen, track it, and even wipe the laptop's hard drive if it is unrecoverable.

The average cost of a two-year extended warranty was 21% of the laptop price. 61 of the plans were below average, and 37 were above average.

The most expensive two-year plan, the outlier furthest to the right of Figure 6, was a $500 Accidental Damage-Handling Protection Plan for Laptops from Micro Center, provided by Assurant, for a $2,500 Dell laptop (20%). This is the two-year version of the most expensive one-year plan, for the same laptop.

Three-Year Service Contracts

Figure 7 shows the price pairings for the 88 three-year service contracts.

The lowest percentage three-year protection plan was an $80 HP Care Pack Active Care Next Business Day Onsite plan from B&H, administrated by HP and provided by AIG, for a $2,500 laptop (3%).

The high end of the spectrum, the outlier at the top of Figure 7, was a $150 P.C. Richard & Son Extended Protection Warranty plan, for a $200 HP laptop (75%). This plan does not cover accidental damage and handling, unlike the other plans we found that cost more than half of the product price.

The average three-year service contract cost 23% of the total laptop price. 46 plans were below average, and 42 were above average.

The most expensive three-year plan, furthest to the right in Figure 7, was a $530 SquareTrade Accident Protection plan from BuyDig, provided by Allstate, for a $2,535 HP laptop (21%).

Four- and Five-Year Service Contracts

Finally, Figure 8 shows the percentage and price pairings for 32 the four- and five-year laptop extended warranties.

The low end of the spectrum was a $119 four-year Walmart Protection Plan, provided by Allstate, for a $2,525 Dell laptop (5%).

The high once again cost even more than the laptop itself. This was a $250 five-year P.C. Richard & Son Extended Protection Warranty, for a $200 HP notebook (125%). However, unlike the two-year HP plan that cost 125% of the product price, this P.C. Richard & Son plan does not cover accidental damage, theft, or beyond.

The next-highest percentage plan was also a $250 five-year P.C. Richard & Son Extended Protection Warranty, for a $350 HP notebook (71%). These P.C. Richard & Son plans could perhaps use a more dynamic pricing model, considering they don't offer the same breadth of extra coverage that the HP Accidental Damage and Theft plans do. There is not much driving the value proposition of an extended warranty that costs three-quarters, or even more, of the product price, when simply replacing the product in the event of failure is the cheaper option.

The average four- or five-year service contract cost 33% of the laptop price. 17 extended warranties were below average, and 15 were above average.

The most expensive plan in this category was a $590 four-year Geek Squad Laptop Protection plan from Best Buy, provided by AIG, for a $2,500 Lenovo laptop (24%). This was the most expensive extended service contract we found overall, out of the 245 data points we gathered for this survey.