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iTone

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 12, 2007
149
76
CA
I bought a MacBook at Best Buy today. I'm super excited, i'm in love with it. It's working flawlessly. But now i have some questions. Before anything i would like to say i am new to the Mac world so this is totally new for me.

At Best Buy i was offered their protection plan with accidental, i was wondering if that was a good idea or should i get Apple Care? The Best Buy guy said their protections plans were better :rolleyes: lol. I dunno, i need the advice from you experienced Mac users. :)

Even if i bought the MacBook at a Best Buy can i still bring it in to an Apple Store if anything ever goes wrong with it?

Do i have to get Apple Care now? or can i get it later?

Is there a way i can protect the keyboard/track pad area so it doesn't get dirty?

Thanks in advance! :p
 

lostfan916

macrumors 6502a
Dec 23, 2007
870
2
NorCal
I don't know about Best Buy's plans, so I can't help you out there.

I think if something goes wrong and you want the Genius Bar to take a look at it they will. I *think*

I know for sure that you don't have to buy Apple Care right now, you can get that whenever.

I think iSkin is pretty good, but I don't use one so someone who does could give you better input.
 

I3eXa

macrumors 6502
Aug 24, 2004
308
0
IdaPIMP
I don't know about Best Buy's plans, so I can't help you out there.

I think if something goes wrong and you want the Genius Bar to take a look at it they will. I *think*

I know for sure that you don't have to buy Apple Care right now, you can get that whenever.

I think iSkin is pretty good, but I don't use one so someone who does could give you better input.


Best Buy takes like weeks (3 or so) to fix computers, been there done that. You have a year from your purchase date to by AppleCare for you macbook. I have a Rasfox keyboard and palm silicone cover that works great. Look on amazon for it.
 

pfarag

macrumors newbie
Feb 17, 2008
9
0
I don't know if it will work the same way with a laptop, but, I bought an iPod at Best Buy and it broke. Best Buy claimed that it was clearly my fault and not a defect so they wouldn't return it or fix it. I took it to the genius bar with my BB receipt and the gentleman at the counter took a look at it, told me it was easier to just swap it out, and simply took the iPod, went in the back and brought me a new one. Didn't even matter that I had not bought through them. From my experiences, I'd say that the Geniuses generally don't care where it was sold, as long as it is an Apple product within Apple's warranty. (This happened to me three times).

As for buying Apple Care, it couldn't hurt if you're willing to shell out the money, I personally would choose it over Best Buy because I don't trust Best Buy. Had a terrible experience with them and laptop repairs (they sent my HP to Gateway....). Also, I believe that you have until you're original warranty (1yr) expires to buy the Apple Care Protection Plan, but I am not entirely sure.
 

Italchef

macrumors 6502
Nov 3, 2003
295
0
Maple, Ontario
Personally, I never buy extended warranties. Having said that, the one extended warranty that I would/have bought is Applecare. You have 90 days support with the purchase of a new Mac and 1 year parts. Applecare will extend that to 3 years support and parts. Don't get the Best Buy one as its much better to deal with Apple directly. Get Applecare and protect your investment. Trust me on this.

Mick
 

lostfan916

macrumors 6502a
Dec 23, 2007
870
2
NorCal
As for buying Apple Care, it couldn't hurt if you're willing to shell out the money, I personally would choose it over Best Buy because I don't trust Best Buy. Had a terrible experience with them and laptop repairs (they sent my HP to Gateway....). Also, I believe that you have until you're original warranty (1yr) expires to buy the Apple Care Protection Plan, but I am not entirely sure.
You could go with BB insurance, hope they lose your Mac and then sue them for 54 Million dollars.... :eek:
 

gothamm

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2007
844
3
what do you expect, coming on a site like macrumors.

To be blunt, and some may disagree with me...applecare is a ripoff.

I understand your concern for protecting your mac but to be honest, I would not get an extended warranties. But if I absolutely needed it, i would opt for the best buy warranty...the sole reason being that they offer accidental protection.


other than that, hope you enjoy your macbook, and more importantly OS X.


=]
 

iTone

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 12, 2007
149
76
CA
Thanks so much everyone for your advice. It helped allot and i have decided to purchase Apple Care within the next few months. I used to work at Circuit City so i know what crap they come up with when it comes to people actually using their pricy extended warranties, i just wanted to double check. ;)

BTW, isn't there some clear film sticker thing that u can put on your palm rest area to protect it? I can't remember the name but i recall seeing it here some time ago.
 

ripplet

macrumors member
Sep 6, 2007
55
0
Are you referring to InvisiShield?

For non-clear stick ons, you have moshi palmguard and marware palmguards. :)
 

hughfan

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2007
13
0
Shop around for AppleCare. I bought it off ebay and saved over $75. Amazon.com sells it for $50 less than apple.com.

I have the Moshi palmguard and really like it. The jury is still out, though, on the clear touchpad cover - it seems to make the cursor "fly" all over the screen. I want to keep the touchpad from showing wear, but the cursor issue gets annoying. I have a ZCover on the keyboard which I don't like nearly as much as the iSkin that's on my iMac's wireless keyboard. I'm going to replace it with an iSkin, although maybe it won't really make much difference since the keys on the MB aren't as "high" as those on the other keyboard and the cover just won't hug the keys as nicely. But the ZCover really slows down my typing. :( And lastly, I've got the clear Speck see-through case. (I share my home with 4-footed furkids and need all the help I can get to protect against flying fur.)
 
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