Do-It-Yourself Fixes Risk Your Warranty

It was a handyman's nightmare. David Jablon of Pompano Beach, Florida, had bought a Hewlett-Packard Vectra PC at the urging of his friend, Dr. Lester Shalloway of Miami. Both men felt able to do minor upgrades, so within a year they replaced the video card. But when the part died and they called HP's support line, "the rep implied that opening the case would nullify the warranty," Shalloway recalls. The two men were shocked.

Does popping the hood void the warranty? Only if you screw up. HP owners can add third-party hardware such as RAM, modems, and audio or video cards--as long as they do the job right. "But if they damage the PC while upgrading it, the repair costs will not be covered," says Dominick Robertson, consumer products manager in HP's customer support division. Basically, if you break the part, you buy the repair. According to HP, the warranty on that part is cancelled temporarily, until you cough up your dollars to get it fixed. (The guarantee covering all other components remains intact.)

We wondered how HP determines whether damage to a part resulted from a user's upgrade attempt or from a preexisting problem. Robertson explains that a technician walks you through diagnostic tests over the phone, then determines on a case-by-case basis whether the problem is your responsibility. If it isn't, HP (or the third-party manufacturer of a non-HP component) springs for the repairs. Otherwise, you pay for those immediate repairs and for any subsequent repairs stemming from the original damage.

Hewlett-Packard is not alone in enforcing such a warranty-cancellation policy. Compaq, IBM, and Sony allow users to tinker with the innards of their desktops without voiding the warranty--until they make a mistake. Our rule of thumb: If you aren't comfortable performing computer upgrades or maintenance yourself, drag your system to an authorized service center--or you might be kissing free warranty repairs good-bye.