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Which warranty plan? AppleCare or Best Buy?

thatoneguy82

thatoneguy82

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
1,895
2
Beach Cities, CA
Hi,

So in the next couple days, I will be upgraded my 3.5 year old MacBook that's on its last leg to a 15" MBP (i7). I'll be purchasing it at Best Buy since I have over $300 worth of RZ certificates. Anyway, in the past, I've purchased AppleCare since I've usually purchased directly from Apple. Now that I'll be purchasing from a reseller, Best Buy, which would you recommend? Why?

Prices:

3-year AppleCare for 15" and above: ~349 (~316 on amazon)
2-year Advanced Protection Plan at Best Buy: ~349
2-year Standard Protection Plan at Best Buy: ~249


Thanks,
Christian
 
I would always buy maintenance from the manufacturer over the reseller - so I would have to say AppleCare.
 
Consider doing nothing if you paid by credit card. The card may cover repairs for the second year. You should evaluate whether the additional coverage provided by Best Buy is worth $250 to $350 more than the warranty and credit card benefit over the same two-year period.
 
7thMac said:
Consider doing nothing if you paid by credit card. The card may cover repairs for the second year. You should evaluate whether the additional coverage provided by Best Buy is worth $250 to $350 more than the warranty and credit card benefit over the same two-year period.
Click to expand...

Amex is great about that, but you may want to check if you bought it with a different card.
 
Applecare, hands down.

If nothing else - have you ever heard about Apple support having servers of customer drive content a la Geek Squad?

The story's a few years old - from Consumerist - but I haven't seen any changes for the better at San Francisco Best Buys in well over that time, as recently as last week (Harrison St.).

http://bit.ly/aanOPU

and

http://bit.ly/cycJQ0
 
bamf said:
Amex is great about that, but you may want to check if you bought it with a different card.
Click to expand...

I read that AMEX will honor their additional year of manufacturer warranty even if you purchase the extended AppleCare warranty. However, if you purchase a warranty from a third party such as Best Buy, AMEX will not "stack" their additional year warranty on the third party warranty. So if you purchase a laptop AND AppleCare with the AMEX, you should have 4 years warranty coverage.
 
NOTORIOUS187 said:
I read that AMEX will honor their additional year of manufacturer warranty even if you purchase the extended AppleCare warranty. However, if you purchase a warranty from a third party such as Best Buy, AMEX will not "stack" their additional year warranty on the third party warranty. So if you purchase a laptop AND AppleCare with the AMEX, you should have 4 years warranty coverage.
Click to expand...

Wait, so AMEX will give you a FOURTH year of warranty coverage if you buy applecare?
 
hypermog said:
Wait, so AMEX will give you a FOURTH year of warranty coverage if you buy applecare?
Click to expand...
As I understand it, if you purchase both the computer and the warranty from the original manufacturer, AMEX will still extend the warranty another year since the 3 year AppleCare warranty is, in essence, the "original manufacturer's warranty." I believe it only applies if you purchase AppleCare, and not a third party warranty, since Apple is the manufacturer.
 
I rarely buy extended warranties. With one exception: AppleCare

Each of the new Apple Laptops I've purchased over the years, I have bought AppleCare for and it's been well worth it.

While I've only had one major failure (dead hard drive after two years) it's been good for the little things as well. I will not buy an Apple Laptop without it.
 
even if applecare was 3x more than best buy's warranty, i would go with applecare.
apple's customer service is amazing.

i would also recommend looking around on ebay for applecare.
i know there's a lot of people of talk and debate on here weither ebay for applecare is a good idea, but it really is. at least to me. i've had good experience with it, and a lot of / most other people have too.

but, for your question: applecare. definitely.
 
I'm voting for Best Buy, and want to make a point that no one has pointed out yet:

Best Buy offers coverage for accidental, physical damage.
AppleCare will not cover anything physically damaged.
I don't know if AMEX or other credit cards do.

If you're not accident-prone, which - I know, I know - a lot of people on here "aren't" - then that's fine. But, remember - an accident is called an ACCIDENT because it's an accident.

Geek Squad service doesn't always get the best reviews, but I have been able to exchange (not EXTREMELY easily, though) a MacBook that wasn't able to be serviced/repaired at Best Buy. It's more comforting for me to know that I am fully covered in that regard. You'd also still have the first year of AppleCare that comes with the computer, in which you're doubly covered by Apple and Best Buy, so you could always go to Apple for your non-physically-damaged-related problems and have Best Buy as a backup and past the first year.

I will admit that Apple has better customer service, but if physical damage is at all a concern for you, go with Best Buy.
 
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