Does anyone strongly recommend purchasing AppleCare with my PowerBook? I'd just like to hear some cases where it has come in handy... and I'd like to see if a number of the issues are Apple's fault... 🙄
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Spend the money on AppleCare?
- Thread starter kwaite2
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I would...
I think it's a good idea, I purchased AppleCare with my new Imac, but I'm hopeful I won't need to use it. 🙂
kwaite2 said:
I think it's a good idea, I purchased AppleCare with my new Imac, but I'm hopeful I won't need to use it. 🙂
hcuar
macrumors 65816
I keep going back and forth with this one. I still have 11 months to decide. 😉 I'm trying really hard not to buy extended warrenties. I have never used one. I'm afraid that I'll regret it though. 🙁 I wouldn't buy it for a desktop, but I'm considering it for my PB. It sitll seems too expensive though. It's 25% of the price of a new PB. It might make sense saving that 25% over the next 3 years. You're almost to the price of a new PB.
Well, I bought my powerbook about 3 months ago now, and i'm really considering getting applecare before the end of the year... Why? Well, my pbooks being doing a *lot* of travelling, and will carry on doing so...and during my last trip away, something happened to my modem 🙁
I'll be getting it fixed before the warrenty runs out, and something like that *shouldn't* happen with a laptop (they're made for travelling, for goodness sake!), but I wouldn't want something to come a little loose in a years time that i'm actually going to use...
Hopefully nothing will happen to it, but I figure getting applecare is good protection for having a happy powerbook.. 😉 nothing ever goes wrong whilst you have an extended warrenty...
Still, my paranoia is simply because my pbook *will* be travelling....... its a little harder to replace or check something in a laptop if it goes a bit wrong... :/
I love my powerbook, and I'd like it to live a long healthy life. 🙂
I'll be getting it fixed before the warrenty runs out, and something like that *shouldn't* happen with a laptop (they're made for travelling, for goodness sake!), but I wouldn't want something to come a little loose in a years time that i'm actually going to use...
Hopefully nothing will happen to it, but I figure getting applecare is good protection for having a happy powerbook.. 😉 nothing ever goes wrong whilst you have an extended warrenty...
Still, my paranoia is simply because my pbook *will* be travelling....... its a little harder to replace or check something in a laptop if it goes a bit wrong... :/
I love my powerbook, and I'd like it to live a long healthy life. 🙂
Jovian9
macrumors 68000
I had an iMac G4 whose 1-year warranty expired in Feb '04. Right before it expired I purchased the AppleCare warranty to extend it for 2 more years. Shortly after that 1 year was up my display became hot and warped and my superdrive went out. This was covered under AppleCare so luckily I had just purchased it. I had ZERO problems with my iMac up to that point. I will definitely be buying it for my PowerBook in March '05 and my iMac G5 in September '05! I think $150-$300 is well worth it to give you 2 years of added security on things going wrong.
If you can afford the loss, skip it.
Applecare is like other forms of insurance - Apple makes far more from the premiums than it cost to service the computers (even allowing a markup percentage to the stores that sell it).
Any consumer magazinw will tell you that extended warrranties are not the best way to spend money. Over time, if you set aside the various premiums for all the extended warranties you "chose not to buy" into a separate bank account, you'd have enough to pay repairs and still be far ahead.
Problem is, can you afford the loss on any one item, especially at the beginning? If your Mac is critical to you, expensive (replacing a $3000 PB vs a $1000 iBook), and you can't affford to get it replaced, then buy the Applecare, knowing that most buyers will never use it but that you can't afford to not have it.
Don't forget to figure in that a 2 year old $3000 PB is not worth $3000 when it breaks - you could replace it with a used, identical model for $1000 from eBay.
Best insurance advice - get policies with the HIGHEST deductable, to cover MAJOR liability ($200,000 emergency operations, etc) that would otherwise bankrupt you, and pay for the smaller claims out of your own pocket. And skip all extended warranties ($70 to insure a $300 washer, etc.)
Also, if you bought with a credit card, look into whether they have any extra warranty protection. I have a Platinum Visa that gives an extra year for free - that's half the Applecare coverage, for no cost.
Applecare is like other forms of insurance - Apple makes far more from the premiums than it cost to service the computers (even allowing a markup percentage to the stores that sell it).
Any consumer magazinw will tell you that extended warrranties are not the best way to spend money. Over time, if you set aside the various premiums for all the extended warranties you "chose not to buy" into a separate bank account, you'd have enough to pay repairs and still be far ahead.
Problem is, can you afford the loss on any one item, especially at the beginning? If your Mac is critical to you, expensive (replacing a $3000 PB vs a $1000 iBook), and you can't affford to get it replaced, then buy the Applecare, knowing that most buyers will never use it but that you can't afford to not have it.
Don't forget to figure in that a 2 year old $3000 PB is not worth $3000 when it breaks - you could replace it with a used, identical model for $1000 from eBay.
Best insurance advice - get policies with the HIGHEST deductable, to cover MAJOR liability ($200,000 emergency operations, etc) that would otherwise bankrupt you, and pay for the smaller claims out of your own pocket. And skip all extended warranties ($70 to insure a $300 washer, etc.)
Also, if you bought with a credit card, look into whether they have any extra warranty protection. I have a Platinum Visa that gives an extra year for free - that's half the Applecare coverage, for no cost.
I never buy extended warranties either, but I am thinking about Applecare for my new iMac (when it eventually arrives!). I know I will be selling it within a couple of years - so won't an active Applecare contract make it a more attractive proposition for the new buyer? I know if I were buying a second-hand Mac a valid Applecare contract would seal the deal and command a small premium.
solvs
macrumors 603
If I don't buy the warranty, something bad will happen. If I do, it will be fine. I like to get the warranty for larger items because you never know what might happen. Drives fail, logic boards have issues, stuff happens. Sometimes, you just have a stupid question past the 90 days. It couldn't hurt if you can afford it. And there are places that sell it even cheaper, like MacSolutions. Since you have up to a year, you might as well buy it eventually. Better safe than sorry.
slooksterPSV
macrumors 68040
OK, lets say I buy a new iBook and buy AppleCare with it, about 3 months down the line I trip and drop it while going down stairs, I'm able to hold my balance, but the iBook goes crashing to its doom *cries*, will AppleCare fix those conditions of it accidently falling and breaking?
I think one of the best reasons to get Applecare is the tech support you get. Apples one year warranty only provides 90 days of tech support.
i hate extended warranties usually. they rarely come through or are wasted. that being said i will purchasdes apple care within the one year once i get my PB. its just to big of a purchase not to secure it...especially since its a laptop. the money is worth it if just fopr the piece of mind.
plus i have had too many instances where my dvd player, monitor.. or anything else has just died and i was too poor to replace it right away
plus i have had too many instances where my dvd player, monitor.. or anything else has just died and i was too poor to replace it right away
Nope. Applecare is an extended warranty. Dropping your computer isn;t covered by your normal warranty either.slooksterPSV said:
Tech support is INDEED one great reason to get Applecare for beginning users.stillwater said:
But for many powerusers, the quality of support is so low that one has to go through SEVERAL layers of people to get to someone with extensive knowledge.
Mechcozmo
macrumors 603
Usualy, if a desktop dies in 2 years, its outdated and will be cheaply replaced.
If a laptop, which does a lot of traveling, has something minor (lets say that due to using it everyday for 2 years the hinge for the screen cracks) you want it fixed, because it is not as outdated and will be expensive to replace.
I wouldn't buy it for a desktop computer, but for a laptop it is a good idea, just in case...
If a laptop, which does a lot of traveling, has something minor (lets say that due to using it everyday for 2 years the hinge for the screen cracks) you want it fixed, because it is not as outdated and will be expensive to replace.
I wouldn't buy it for a desktop computer, but for a laptop it is a good idea, just in case...
wdlove
macrumors P6
I highly recommend AppleCare with a PowerBook or any Mac for that matter. My wife purchase a PowerBook October 2003. They have already replaced the motherboard and lid. Now coming up on the year mark the SuperDrive has to be replaced, with labor almost $400. If it happened just 20 days later then without AppleCare it would have been out of our pocket.
woo
I appreciate all the feedback; so many signs point to -->yes<--
I'll remain a broke college student for the next three years; I'd be stupid not to get it.
Now if only the damned thing would get here. 😎
I appreciate all the feedback; so many signs point to -->yes<--
I'll remain a broke college student for the next three years; I'd be stupid not to get it.
Now if only the damned thing would get here. 😎
oh my.
😀 And the wait is over. Ladies and gentlemen, meet LC. That's right, this is my first post from my PB. It's beautiful. hehe Thanks again for the feedback... and you're right; the wait wasn't that bad. 🙄
😀 And the wait is over. Ladies and gentlemen, meet LC. That's right, this is my first post from my PB. It's beautiful. hehe Thanks again for the feedback... and you're right; the wait wasn't that bad. 🙄
I bought my PB last week, there was a special offer for $200 off of the applecare... so i thought it was worth it.. normally its $364?
eventualdave
macrumors newbie
I'd get it
I had an iBook a few years ago that worked flawlessly for 2 years until the network port got shoved back into the case. It still worked, except that you couldn't get a cable plugged in properly. Would have been a VERY simple fix, but I hadn't got Applecare and Apple charges a flat rate of almost 400 bucks for anything you send them (or so their site said). I ended up selling it to someone who used it on a wireless network (like I said, nothing else wrong with it).
When I get another iBook - as soon as the new ones come out! - I'm going to get Applecare without a second thought. YMMV, obviously.
I had an iBook a few years ago that worked flawlessly for 2 years until the network port got shoved back into the case. It still worked, except that you couldn't get a cable plugged in properly. Would have been a VERY simple fix, but I hadn't got Applecare and Apple charges a flat rate of almost 400 bucks for anything you send them (or so their site said). I ended up selling it to someone who used it on a wireless network (like I said, nothing else wrong with it).
When I get another iBook - as soon as the new ones come out! - I'm going to get Applecare without a second thought. YMMV, obviously.
slooksterPSV
macrumors 68040
Do you think new Powerbook and iBooks will be out by February? I'm thinking they will be, because after the iMac's they should update the eMac's (now if they could put a G5 in there, that'd be awesome). So I wanna say Feb. or Mar. for new iBook or PB's. Do they up the price on AppleCare when new models come out?
I'm surprised at all the positive talk about Applecare. I didn't even consider it when I bought my Powerbook because of problems I had heard people had trying to actually get something repaired by Apple.
I just added my Powerbook to our home insurance policy as an extended risk, so it's covered outside my home (and away at college) against failure, theft and accidental damage. It cost me 24 Euro ($30ish) for the year.
As for tech support, I've found the Apple site, Google and forums like this one are much better than talking a tech support guy 🙂
I just added my Powerbook to our home insurance policy as an extended risk, so it's covered outside my home (and away at college) against failure, theft and accidental damage. It cost me 24 Euro ($30ish) for the year.
As for tech support, I've found the Apple site, Google and forums like this one are much better than talking a tech support guy 🙂
solvs
macrumors 603
No.slooksterPSV said:
e/iMac = $169 (was a little cheaper awhile ago, but hasn't changed through the last few revisions)
PowerMac/iBook = $249
PowerBook = $349
iPod = $59
You'll find it cheaper other places or for education, but those are the standard rates and have been for awhile.