Insuring Your Gadgets Article

I know that protecting your gadgets is important to a true Gadgeteer. I have a
fantastic Palm Tungsten | C that has saved my sanity.

This little guy is my workhorse. I am your typical graduate student
overachiever that does everything on campus, so my life depends on my Palm
calendar. I keep books, notes and movie scripts with TealDoc so I always have
things to read. I listen to hours of audio books a day using the Audible.com
software, and too many other things to mention. I spent about $450 dollars on
the PDA, and roughly another $200 on gadgets like cases, memory cards,
and the elusive headphones (is there anyone in America willing to make stereo
headphones for the Tungsten???)

There is not a breakout case for the Tungsten | C. Sure, there’s the Palm flip
cover and belt clip, but nothing like the legendary good old metal case for my
Palm 5x, the perfect case. This idea occurred to me when reading the review for
the new $124.90 dollar Tungsten | C
Vaja I-Volution Case, which looks fantastic. I
wanted one immediately.

But something occurred to me when going to buy the case. Why am I buying it?
The answer, duh, is to protect it. I love my little soldier, and can’t help but
believe that gorgeous color screen is easy to break. An extra $500 bucks is a
lot of money for a starving student.

Still, cases are inevitably bulky. In Judie’s review she said "I believe that
the Tungsten | C should easily escape being labeled a brick." but it’s close. With
the case on, this thing bulges through my leather portfolio.

Then it occurred to me. My Tungsten | C is covered through my renter’s
insurance policy. Better yet, it’s also covered in the $12,000 special policy I
have on my computer equipment, with a $100 deductible.

If you don’t have a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy, you are insane.
Accidents happen all the time, and it’s dirt cheap. Here’s an interesting note.
If you are under the age of 25 you are covered by your parent’s insurance policy
in an apartment or dorm for most insurance companies.

Let’s say you’re Joe Blow and you have a renter’s insurance policy. If you
want to add on a special policy covering $3000 of equipment (the minimum my
insurance company will insure) with a $0 deductible it will cost you $56 dollars
a year.

I don’t know about you, but spending $56 dollars a year to know that either
my computer, printer-fax-copier, Playstation (it counts because it has its own
OS, and any true Gadgeteer will be able to argue that even a VCR has an OS),
$2000 pen digitizer, digital camera, and all the other countless expensive
gizmos and gadgets are insured in case I spill coffee on them. They’re covered
if things break when you’re moving (if you pay someone to move you, "pay" your
friend $10.) It covers you if you throw your Windows 95 machine down the stairs,
my ultimate fantasy. Worth $56 dollars a year? Absolutely, I feel.

I know a case protects you from scratches but do they really matter? I mean
honestly, can you imagine a situation in using your PDA where someone would
notice the scratches? And if they did, and were someone other that Julie or
Judie would
you care?

I have to admit, I feel differently than Julie, who is in therapy right now
for her obsession with scratches and fingerprints on her PDA. 🙂 Having a beat
up Palm PDA to me is the sign of a true workhorse. It says "I use this thing
enough to have a few scratches." Besides, realistically people like us don’t
keep our main PDA for more than a year, two years at best. When I pull out my
beat up Panasonic Allure cell phone that looks like it came from the Millennium
Falcon I say, "Yeah. She’s been a good horse."

So, for my precious Tungsten | C, I will continue using the flimsy flip cover,
to protect the screen from scratches. And instead of spending $124.90, I will
continue to take these kind of risks in life. 🙂

These figures have been taken from my insurance company, USAA. USAA is a special
insurance company for families of naval officers, and I use them because they
are the "Cadillac SnoopDeVille" of insurance companies (Snoop actually makes
those) . No BS, great customer service, no waiting for claims. There are plenty
of insurance companies that will insure you for less, but remember you get what
you pay for.

One last word, spend five minutes and talk to your insurance company. You
will be amazed at the things you are insured for. I know people all the time
that blow money on things they are insured for, and I reluctantly have to tell
them they are ripped off. Think about insurance, and Happy Gadgeteering!