iPod touch anyone not have applecare for ipod touch?

[840quadra]

Actually, Ivan is correct.
The Applecare warranty starts as soon as you register it.
You see, without it, phone support is free for only 3 months.
With Applecare, you get free phone support for 2 years.
So saying Applecare starts after the factory warranty expires, to me is incorrect.

In fact, it clearly states this from the link that you provided.

Well actually, we are all correct (sorry Ivan I stand corrected). Though I think we are splitting definitions a bit here. The context of the question was within the subject of the warranty coverage within Applecare. The link clearly states that the Applecare portion of hardware (Repair or replacement) coverage begins after the included 1 year warranty. However, you are correct with regards to the phone support beginning the moment you activate Applecare. I interpreted the context of the OPs question was only in regards to hardware warranty, however I may have incorrectly comprehended their question.


With that said, I still stand behind my earlier school of thought (not sure if that sentence works). If you do not need to use phone support (or otherwise) within the first year, it makes total sense to postpone buying Applecare until the 11th hour, or not at all. Also, if you did happen to buy Applecare on your purchase date, and decided not to activate it, you will still be able to sell your unused Applecare, or simply apply it to your next iPod that is compatible with that warranty. A good example would be an experience my friend had. He bought the first generation iPod touch 16gb and Applecare. He never activated Applecare on the iPod, sold his iPod Touch, and got an iPhone 3G. Still having Applecare, he then sold the unopened (unused) Applecare protection plan to a friend for what he purchased it for. While you may not be able to get all your money back in every example, it is still not a bad option to consider.

So to me, we are both correct, but I like the idea of waiting to activate (or purchase) Applecare until the 11th hour, especially if you never need phone support within the 1st year, or outside of the first 90 days.

 

[HLdan]

With that said, I still stand behind my earlier school of thought (not sure if that sentence works). If you do not need to use phone support (or otherwise) within the first year, it makes total sense to postpone buying Applecare until the 11th hour, or not at all.

This is where you are completely wrong. Anyone who has purchased Applecare and used it KNOWS that Apple goes out of their way for people that have the Applecare protection plan. Yes, the product comes with a built-in warranty however when a customer has the Applecare Apple goes the extra mile such as upgrading your older model to the current one with no cost, getting it fixed faster or just swapping it over the counter. They did that for me with my Powerbook and iPod.

It's bad advice to tell someone to wait until the 11th hour, are YOU going to exchange their iPod? NO. Also there are a lot people that need the phone support since they don't live near an Apple retail store.
When the 90 days support is expired you can't just call Apple and tell them to send you a box to mail your iPod to them to look at since it's under warranty, they will want to do troubleshooting over the phone first. If you don't have Applecare they will charge you $50.00 per call.

 

[kwk1]

To me, the only benefit of not registering your Applecare right away is in case your iPod gets stolen or damaged and you have to buy a new one.

But even in that case, I'm not sure, maybe Apple would let you use the remainder of it towards the new iPod.

And 840quadra, don't mind me, I'm just nitpicky when it comes to warranties and stuff.

 

[pismodude2]

I would have bought AppleCare, but I can't help but buy a new one every year anyway, so what's the point, right?

 

[kwk1]

I would have bought AppleCare, but I can't help but buy a new one every year anyway, so what's the point, right?

Nope, wouldn't make sense for you to get Applecare Pismo.
I plan on keeping mine for a long time.

 

[840quadra]

This is where you are completely wrong. Anyone who has purchased Applecare and used it KNOWS that Apple goes out of their way for people that have the Applecare protection plan. Yes, the product comes with a built-in warranty however when a customer has the Applecare Apple goes the extra mile such as upgrading your older model to the current one with no cost, getting it fixed faster or just swapping it over the counter. They did that for me with my Powerbook and iPod.

It's bad advice to tell someone to wait until the 11th hour, are YOU going to exchange their iPod? NO. Also there are a lot people that need the phone support since they don't live near an Apple retail store.
When the 90 days support is expired you can't just call Apple and tell them to send you a box to mail your iPod to them to look at since it's under warranty, they will want to do troubleshooting over the phone first. If you don't have Applecare they will charge you $50.00 per call.

Please explain the error in my logic. I am human and make many mistakes, however I believe I was totally clear in my post with the following sentence.

If you do not need to use phone support (or otherwise) within the first year, it makes total sense to postpone buying Applecare until the 11th hour, or not at all.

In your post, it makes it sound like we all should buy and activate Applecare regardless of any need for said Phone support. I think that is quite silly. Why would I spend $59.00 and activate something I don't even need to use.

I simply posted to provide an option for people somewhat on the fence about this. If they have true concerns about their iPod, I suggest they buy Applecare 100%. However, I add to that by bringing up a point that they do not need to immediately activate their protection plan the moment they get it, if they don't need to. There is nothing stopping that person from going online, or calling into Apple to register their Applecare if and when a problem comes up within that first year (after the 90 day period). This gives them the option of applying that Applecare to a new purchase (if they upgrade to a newer version) or sell the warranty separate or with an iPod they are no longer using in order to take less of a loss on the value of the protection plan. I see unopened protection plans on Craigslist (in my area) quite often, and most go for more than $45 (most times $50 or full price). On that subject, iPod touch or otherwise devices don't usually sell for more than than similar models without Applecare included. If they do sell at a higher price than devices without a protection plan, it is usually only $10 - $20 more than a model without.

That way of "working the system" doesn't work for everyone, but it can and does for many. If you don't see the logic behind that I am sorry, I don't know how to explain it any better. It is also not my idea, it was actually suggested by someone in a local Apple store when I (myself) was looking at getting Applecare on my first iPod touch. I followed her advice and glad I saved my money.

An other example
I still have my un-activated Applecare protection plan that I purchased for my first iPod touch (which I recently sold). It is still valid for the current 2nd generation that I own, and I haven't needed to call into Applecare for support, thus have no need to activate it until September 2009 unless I do have a support issue.

Sorry to be long winded, and if I was confusing in any way.