Over the past five years, the price points on notebook PCs have been driven down dramatically. However, lower purchase prices not withstanding, notebook PCs still have a rather unique warranty service dilemma.

If a keyboard, mouse-equivalent (tracking-stick or touch-pad) or display fails on a notebook PC, you wont find inexpensive, third party replacements parts readily available at local retail stores.

Study the Warranties

So as your clients virtual CIO who decides on what particular brands and models of notebook PCs to recommend, its important to scrutinize notebook PC warranties. With notebooks, individual hardware components are much more specialized than components used for desktop PCs.

For example, notebook hard drives are not as generic as desktop PC hard drives (although notebook PC hard drives are getting more standardized).

Parts Not so Common

As your clients virtual CIO, you would have great difficulty trying to find a replacement notebook PC hard drive locally at a warehouse club or office supply superstore.

And even if you or your clients miraculously could find one, the price likely would be at least double the cost of a comparable desktop PC hard drive. As a result, the value of hardware component warranty coverage on a notebook PC is substantially greater.

The Bottom Line about the Notebook PC

Unlike desktop PC hard drive replacements, notebook hard drive replacements can be expensive, both from a soft cost perspective as well as the cost of the actual replacement part. Moreover, because notebooks require specific parts, its pretty difficult to quickly obtain appropriate replacement parts on your own.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}