System and method for establishing computer warranty costs

• US 20050273349A1
• Filed: 06/08/2004
• Published: 12/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Rutledge, Stephen, Laltrello, Joseph Nicholas, Wong, Tin-Lup, Abedi, Scott Sina, Killebrew, Brian Woodall, Painter, Alan Ladd
• Application Number:
  US10/863,137
• Publication Number:
  US 20050273349A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/302
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/012 Providing warranty services

Abstract

Operating parameters and potentially related malfunctions are gathered from end users of computer systems and used to develop models which can be used to subsequently establish warranty costs for customer computers based on their actual usage.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a warranty cost for a user computer at least in part based on operating parameters of the user computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating parameter is selected from the group of parameters consisting of:

temperature, hours of operation, number of on-off cycles, number of temperature alerts, number of fan alerts, power consumption, humidity, voltage, and application factors.

2. The method of claim 2, comprising:

using information from plural user computers of a given type, establishing operating parameter weights; and

establishing the user warranty cost at least in part based on the weights.

4. A general purpose computer system executing logic comprising:

receiving first data representing at least one computer system operating parameter and associated computer system malfunction;

generating at least one model based on the first data; and

establishing at least one warranty cost at least in part using the model.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the operating parameter is selected from the group of parameters consisting of:

temperature, hours of operation, number of on-off cycles, number of temperature alerts, number of fan alerts, power consumption, humidity, voltage, and application factors.

6. A general purpose computer system comprising:

means for establishing at least one warranty cost for a user computer system based at least in part on operating parameters of the user computer system.

7. The system of claim 6, comprising:

means for using information from plural user computers of a given type to establish operating parameter weights, the means for establishing the user warranty cost using, at least in part, the weights.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the operating parameter is selected from the group of parameters consisting of:

temperature, hours of operation, number of on-off cycles, number of temperature alerts, number of fan alerts, power consumption, humidity, voltage, and application factors.

9. A service, comprising:

providing, to a vendor of computers, warranty costs of user computers as a function of operating parameters of the user computers.

10. The service of claim 9, wherein the operating parameters are selected from the group of parameters consisting of:

temperature, hours of operation, number of on-off cycles, power consumption, number of temperature alerts, number of fan alerts, humidity, voltage, and application factors.

11. A method, comprising:

establishing secondary market pricing for computers that are or that have been the subject of leases based at least in part on end of lease operating parameters of the computers.