warranty Best Buy vs Apple?

Can't beat apples IMHO

mike8717189 said:

I'm wondering what would be better as extended warranty, Best Buy or Apple or other 3rd party?
Apple can be purchased with in 1st year I believe, but other places has to be done right away. Thanks...

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My friends that worked at Best Buy told me to NEVER purchase their extended warranty on computers

Gav2k said:

Can't beat apples IMHO

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this seems like a mindless answer. any reasons as to why apple's warranty is better?


seeing as how best buy has has accidental protection, I'm going with bb. i've had friends whose laptops have had shattered screens, keyboards, and various other problems..fixed no questions asked...a couple of times replacing the laptop with a new one altogether.

AppleCare is the best of the two. Service is top notch and they normally don't challenge a repair or replacement like Best Buy would. Plus Best Buy only gives you current market value as a replacement so three years from now, your MBP may only be worth a MacBook. Apple usually replaces item for item regardless of age. If you choose Best Buy then you are lumped into a price category and receive the typical numb service. Apple treats you right and their service is product focused along with troubleshooting tips to your product versus being lumped in with the other products Best Buy sells.

phrint said:

AppleCare is the best of the two. Service is top notch and they normally don't challenge a repair or replacement like Best Buy would. Plus Best Buy only gives you current market value as a replacement so three years from now, your MBP may only be worth a MacBook. Apple usually replaces item for item regardless of age. If you choose Best Buy then you are lumped into a price category and receive the typical numb service. Apple treats you right and their service is product focused along with troubleshooting tips to your product versus being lumped in with the other products Best Buy sells.

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It may be in their fine print that they only give you current market value, but in my experience they have always replaced like for like, or like for similar specs (and macbook pro for macbook pro, macbook for macbook, etc.) If that doesn't work, they have also just given me a "credit" for the original purchase price of the unit, which I could then use towards the purchase of any other system at Best Buy. I think the accidental protection policy may be worth it from them, but based on reports on this forum and throughout the web, BB warranty is so dependent on the BB you take it to, the geek squad person you speak with, etc. So YMMV.

My advice would be to get the BB warranty. Remember that you can cancel it at any time, and you will be able to receive a prorated refund. You also have the ability to purchase Apple Care within the 1st year. So try out the BB warranty during the first year (if something breaks, etc. take in to BB and see how you like their service); if its not satisfactory, you can still cancel it and buy the Apple Care. Your net loss may be around 60-70 bucks depending on how long it takes for you to need to take your system to Best Buy.

My friend bought a warranty for his MacBook Pro from Futureshop, owned by Best Buy, and then his 9600 failed so he brought it to get fixed. When he got his computer back it was covered in dirt and half the ports not working.

I had a 4gig iPod nano, the menu button stopped working. I took it back to bestbuy (I had the warranty) and they replaced it with a new 6 gig iPod nano.

bananaboi said:

My friends that worked at Best Buy told me to NEVER purchase their extended warranty on computers

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+1
Having worked for Best Buy I would suggest against their warranty, have loved AppleCare though.

And make sure you are paying attention to BB's prices, accidental is usually really expensive like half the price of the laptop (last time I checked, about 9 months ago). They have so many wonky tiers and what not, you really need to know what kind of protection you are getting.

Aboo said:

It may be in their fine print that they only give you current market value, but in my experience they have always replaced like for like, or like for similar specs (and macbook pro for macbook pro, macbook for macbook, etc.) If that doesn't work, they have also just given me a "credit" for the original purchase price of the unit, which I could then use towards the purchase of any other system at Best Buy. I think the accidental protection policy may be worth it from them, but based on reports on this forum and throughout the web, BB warranty is so dependent on the BB you take it to, the geek squad person you speak with, etc. So YMMV.

My advice would be to get the BB warranty. Remember that you can cancel it at any time, and you will be able to receive a prorated refund. You also have the ability to purchase Apple Care within the 1st year. So try out the BB warranty during the first year (if something breaks, etc. take in to BB and see how you like their service); if its not satisfactory, you can still cancel it and buy the Apple Care. Your net loss may be around 60-70 bucks depending on how long it takes for you to need to take your system to Best Buy.

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You are right that they do like for like exchanges but that can be disappointing later on in the warranty depending upon what's out. You buy a C2D MBP now and maybe a few years down the road a new Apple laptop product uses similar tech but is not a premium product your MBP is. BB will try to get you into the like for like clause with the lower premium tech because the specs are a better match.

For example, I purchased a Samsung LCD TV four years ago for $3k. It was a 60 hertz model with 1080i and one HDMI connection which was all considered high-tech for the time. Four months ago, the TV crapped out and parts could not be ordered. I was offered a new 60 hertz LCD Samsung that cost $600 new for a replacement. I about fell out of my chair and was able to convince the guy to let me upgrade to a 120 hertz model because my old TV was considered premium tech.

The caveat is you can exchange like for like not to exceed the original purchase price but that will never happen because tech prices consistently decrease every year. I couldn't find a comparable TV for $3k today because those are all LED products and were not comparable to my older Samsung.

Apple won't fight you at all. If you buy a top of the line MBP now with a C2D chip and something happens to warrant a replacement then you will likely get into a top of the line Arrandale or Sandy Bridge model.

mike8717189 said:

If MacBook pro purchased from some one can apple care still be purchased or do I need original reciept?

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Yon don't need the original receipt to purchase AppleCare. You just buy the AppleCare box, take it home, and use the registration number in it (plus your serial number) to activate the coverage. Remember that you have to activate it before your one-year complimentary Apple coverage expires.

IMO:

Repair times via AppleCare are almost always quicker. The Apple Store near me completes pretty much all repairs in-house, most with a 2-3 day turnaround. A lot of Best Buys ship Macs off to a depot to get repaired, so it can be 2 days in shipping alone.

AppleCare includes telephone support, where you can call Apple directly for any type of problem or "how to" question. If you don't have time to make the call then, you can use the Expert system and pick a time for them to call you back.

If you're in college or work for the gov't, Apple gives a fairly big discount off AppleCare's price -- bigger than they give to their own employees.

Customers that have used AppleCare consistently rate it way higher than other:
http://www.slashgear.com/consumer-reports-apple-has-best-tech-support-1077322/

Here's the answer:

BUY the actual computer from Best Buy since you get a better return policy (45 days with no restocking fee if you are premier silver), 18 months no interest, and reward zone points (at least 20$, probably closer to $40+).

Get the 1 year accidental for 99$ through Best Buy.

Get Apple Care through Apple.

phrint said:

Apple won't fight you at all. If you buy a top of the line MBP now with a C2D chip and something happens to warrant a replacement then you will likely get into a top of the line Arrandale or Sandy Bridge model.

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I agree with almost everything you said except this line. Apple will also do a spec-for-spec match. From personal experience and from several people who have posted on these forums, Apple tends to match spec for spec also. You may have had the top of the line 15" MBP in 2008 for instance, based on its specs (processor, hard drive, graphics card, screen type, etc) will get replaced for a corresponding unibody MBP today.

That being said, Apple has been able to grant some folks the benefit of the doubt and upgraded their systems to the next level mostly as goodwill gestures.

mike8717189 said:

thanks, I'm looking for 13" pro' (if I find amazing deal I'll take it), if not I'll wait till new one released and buy new one. Looks like I'll be going for apple care.
Will be my 1st. mac

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I think regardless of which option you end up taking, an extended warranty is a good choice. Enjoy your new (future) purchase!

Extended warranty are great -- except

With Apple they will replace your old dead system with "like for like". If you had a 2.8 dual quad core Mac Pro and it dies and the 2.8 dual's are no longer available they will replace it with a processor of the same processing power. For example with me my 2.8 dual quad core went to keyboard heaven and they replaced it with a 2.93 single quad because they stated the two were the same "processing power - through put" or what ever it is called.

Still doesn't sound right to me but Apple understands and they what counts -- at least to them.

W/O the warranty they would have been even happier since I would have had to buy a completely new system.