Which models are you looking at.

I would be more concerned about the reputation than the warranty. The
warranty will not do you any good if it fails while diving.

Any chance you can try them out first? How well do they breathe? Are they
color coordinated with the rest of your kit? Its important to look cool.

.

A warranty won't necessarily cover parts that are supposed to be replaced as a matter
of routine. Unless the cheaper reg comes with free parts for two years the  break
even cost is $23.33 for each of 6 years, and the best source of info on the cost of
the parts is the person you'll be buying them from. Assuming both regs have equal
performance, the cost of annual servicing might be a good criteria, but otherwise it
should be a secondary consideration. If you keep the reg longer the annual cost will
drop for the one with free parts. At least in theory, annual service and a lifetime
warranty mean the reg will continue to perform for much longer than 6 years, so why
makes plans for retiring it before you even buy it?

without knowing the warranty details, and the annual service costs per
unit it's hard to tell.

But why guess ... the folks you're buying from should be able to
define the annual out of pocket  for both units

if both regs meet your needs (not comparing apples and oranges)
a lifetime warranty might be a good idea  

**IF**

1)  it includes annual service parts (labor extra)

and

2)  you get the reg serviced according to the warranty requirements
.. this might limit your choice of service locations and would
eliminate self-service. Some annual parts paid units need to go back
to the mfg, some allow specific dealers to deal with the annual.

3)  you don't miss a scheduled service point (which will void the
lifetime warranty)

4) you intend to keep the reg for a long time.   ( not your plan )
   
You expect 6 years on the reg ?
If after that time you intend to dispose ... without the real out of
pocket cost breakdown, I'd personally ignore the lifetime warranty
as a deciding factor.  

It wouldn't eliminate the reg from my selection process, a lifetime
warranty wouldn't be important in my decision in that case.

If you intend to sell it after 6 yrs ... and IF the warranty is
transferrable it might be worth the cost for resale value (?) might
not recover your extra cost, but it might sell the reg easier.

one of my regs has been with me for 26 yrs. Would have been a good
candidate :)  Actually it might have a lifetime warranty but I'd be
hard pressed to prove I paid for annual service along the whole 26
years.

                    - Ed

--
refillable drysuit talc bag $9.95 ppd
http://www.underwaterusa.com

That's a good start at the question of cost-benefit analysis!

The answer depends very much on many factors pertaining to YOUR diving,
or expected diving during your life time.

For ME, two factors dominate:

1.  A regular is the single most-important piece of one's life=
   support dive equipment.

2.  The cost of a SINGLE dive trip of mine (nearly all of them) far
   exceeded the most-expensive regular in the market.

Given those two considerations, the answer was quite simple for me --
I bought the best (at the time; still among the best) available at
the market -- Scubapro Mark 10 (1st stage) with a G250 2nd stage),
which had all the desirable characteristics and ratings in NEDU
testings (late 1980s) of a few dozen regulators.

The reputation of the company (Scubapro) as well as its history in
honoring in the "life time warranty" also came into play.  A life
time warranty of a product by a company whose life time may be less
than 2 years may be one of your points of consideration.  :-)

In any event, the G250/Mk10 combo served me well, in OUR life times.
Scubapro had already replaced them (under the life time warranty
coverage) almost 10 years ago, when the 1st stage began having
corrosion problems after about 1,000 salt-water dives, often not
fresh-water rinsed except ONCE every 25 dives (in a week) on
liveaboards, which is customary and standard on many.  :-)

The regs have gone well-over another 1,300 of such salt-water
dives without any visible defects in the annual service/maintenance.
If defects should arise, I expect Scubapro would give me ANOTHER
new set under the original Life Time Warranty.

So, the decision was simple for me, and it worked well in practice.

YMMV.

-- Bob.

My reg is an Oceanic and they are strict about having to maintain yearly service within a
time of anniversary. If you miss the persiod just one year the warranty is void. Needless
to say my warranty voided a long time ago as I'm not that punctual.

Adam