Hi. In a month or so, I am going to be purchasing a camcorder from either Sony or Canon, and was wondering what I should do to protect my investment. I was told by several people at camera shops that companies don't often offer extended warranties with more expensive cameras, and even if they do that they are usually just a waste of money. I am concerned about what happens, say, if I purchase a camera, and one month after the typical 1 year manufacturer's warranty expires, the camera calls it quits. Have I completely lost my several thousand dollars, or can one use things like insurance etc? I know this is all really newbie stuff, but I am a newbie at this present time and don't know where else to go for advice on such a subject.

Some credit cards like CIBC dividends will extend the warranty 1 year as long as the purchase meets certain conditions (not used, not for business, the whole purchase is paid off on that one card, etc.). That might be worth looking into.

Hi. In a month or so, I am going to be purchasing a camcorder from either Sony or Canon, and was wondering what I should do to protect my investment. I was told by several people at camera shops that companies don't often offer extended warranties with more expensive cameras, and even if they do that they are usually just a waste of money. I am concerned about what happens, say, if I purchase a camera, and one month after the typical 1 year manufacturer's warranty expires, the camera calls it quits. Have I completely lost my several thousand dollars, or can one use things like insurance etc? I know this is all really newbie stuff, but I am a newbie at this present time and don't know where else to go for advice on such a subject.

Best Buy - $934 for HG10 on sale, about $159 for 4 year protection play with accidental coverage ( 1 time replacement for a screw up )

What is an hg10?

What is an hg10?

It's basically a Canon HV20 with a hard drive instead of tape. I bought the 4 year extended warranty from Best Buy for my HV20. In this case I thought it was worth it because the tape mechanism could certainly fail within four years. If an item has problems and it's been discontinued, Best Buy will usually give you full credit which you can use to purchase a current model instead of sending the unit off for repairs. Of course, it's up to their discretion and may not always be the case. But in any event, you have to weigh what it costs for the warranty vs. how likely it will need repairs.

For items with little or no moving parts (digital point and shoot cameras, GPS units, etc.), I always buy the item with my Visa card which, as someone mentioned above, will extend the manufacturer's warranty period by an extra year in most cases.

Do we even have Best Buy outlets in Canada? The visa thing is really cool. Do you know of where I could go to get more detailed information on the subject? I would assume Visa's website, but are there any other sites with relevant info?

Have a look on google for video equipment insurance. There's quite a few specialists out there, and you should find a plan that suits your needs. They aren't warranties, but they'll pay out for accidental damage etc (if you get cover with that included, of course).