ThinkPads, Elitebooks, Latitudes already fall under the category where you can extend the - normally 3 years warranty - to 5, but they are significantly more expensive than a laptop in [random local PC store].
The first step would be to make people understand that the shiny new is most probably nothing better - not in power, keyboard, etc - than a 3-4 years old business rugged one (there are always exceptions, we're talking generic category here), so just go and get a used, perfectly functioniong business tank instead.
> ThinkPads, Elitebooks, Latitudes already fall under the category where you can extend the - normally 3 years warranty - to 5 [..]
I think this is a great solution. I don't see the purpose of preventing people from purchasing the laptop with a 3-year warranty by mandating a 5-year warranty. Why not just let the people who prefer the 5-year warranty pay for it?
Yup. But sometimes sourcing an old thing at a good price is hard. It's further made difficult by misguided environmentalism like e.g. cash for clunkers that end up removing a ton of functioning old stuff from the market and forcing extra manufacture and purchase of new stuff.
The first step would be to make people understand that the shiny new is most probably nothing better - not in power, keyboard, etc - than a 3-4 years old business rugged one (there are always exceptions, we're talking generic category here), so just go and get a used, perfectly functioniong business tank instead.