Applecare - Did you go for it?

[edesignuk]

After having had my QS for a few months now I have decided to go for Applecare on it.
Did you purches Applcare with your Mac, did you buy it after, are do you think it's a waste of money?

 

[billiam0878]

I purchased it with my PowerBook as I knew that problems with laptops tend to be more complicated (and expensive) than with desktops. After about a year and a half, I've used it twice, one for a video mirroring question, and one for a battery problem (where I send out my laptop and recieved a new battery), so I think it'll be worth the extra money.

Bill

 

[iGav]

Originally posted by billiam0878
(where I send out my laptop and recieved a new battery),

Bill

That doesn't sound like a good deal........

Applecare is a must......... I also have special laptop insurance on my TiBook to cover it if it get's damaged outside the realms of Applecares coverage...... like if some crazy fool tries to steal it from me in the street.......... (which would result in the swiftest broken arm in the world to the poor unfortunate......)

 

[blackpeter]

Yeah. My rule of thumb is an extended warranty or service agreement on anything that costs more than $1000. My MiniDV camera, my Mac, and my car all have one. Each one has saved me cash and headaches..

-MiniDV Cam 3 years extended ($150): Repaired once. Cost = $300.
-PowerMac G4 3 years extended ($250): Replaced HD. Cost = $300.

 

[big]

I guess I've lucked out and never needed it....Apple's hardware is very impressive

 

[saabmp3]

I just purschased my TiBook. At the moment I don't have the money to spend on it, but as there is a one year warrenty, I'm covered for a while. Because of the complicated nature of the powerbook, I'm going to see what I can muster around christmas time.

BEN

 

[Ensign Paris]

We have AppleCare with our XServes at our london base (which are coming to manchester real soon ) and I have seriously considered it with my TiBook before it goes out of warrenty but I just can't afford it at the moment

ENsign

 

[pimentoLoaf]

Had a Toshiba in the shop last year about this time when a keyboard chip went flakey, and the warranty covered the $950 cost to fix (both the keyboard and main circuit board were replaced). Had I been forced to pay that, I would've tried to extract stuff off the drive onto a new Toshiba I would've bought to replace it...

Several months later I bought an iBook, but the BS-spouting CompUSA salesIdiot had to be informed by the visiting Apple Rep that YUP! Comp only need fill out a special form and then fax it to Apple for me to get AppleCare. The salesIdiot said that Comp didn't carry AppleCare and I'd have to purchase a TAP (Technology Assurance Program) warranty like I have on my Toshiba.

 

[AlphaTech]

Yet another reason I call it [in]compusa...

No matter where you purchase your new Mac, you can get Applecare for it. You can even do it all online, or over the phone. You no longer need to mail in anything. I picked up a policy for my TiBook not too long ago, which I just have to call in to get the coverage started.

You have until the 1 year warranty runs out to get the Applecare, so don't let any sales weanie try to scare you into getting any other kind of coverage. Especially from [in]compusa which charges MORE then Apple does for it's coverage, which is not as good as what you get from Apple. With the Applecare, you call them up, if the laptop issue can't be resolved over the phone, they ship you an overnight box (Airborne Express) which you pack the laptop into and then call Airborne to have them pick it up (all free to you). Every time (except for one) that I have sent in a laptop for repair, it has been just one full business day between when I ship it out and get it back. That one time, it was out for almost a week... Mainly because Apple was waiting for some parts to come in.

Look at it this way, to get the logic board on the TiBook replaced will cost you ~$800 (plus shipping) if you need it done after the one year warranty is up (if you don't get Applecare). That alone pays for the Applecare policy, a couple of times over.

 

[Shrek]

Hey, I had no idea I could buy Apple Care after I purchase my computer. Hmmm. Interesting. . .

 

[big]

Yeah, unfortunatly AppleCare will not pay for things like sitting on your lap top, or using the cd tray as a cup holder....

there should be an idiot insurance policy, why I think I'll start one.

send me your money

 

[awrc]

We got AppleCare for my wife's TiBook, and I suspect we'll need it fairly soon as her machine appears to periodically have problems seeing the hard drive. I'd consider it pretty much essential for a laptop.

Got it for my PowerMac too, just in case, although I was a little annoyed at their policy re PowerMacs and displays. I got my Studio Display a couple of weeks after my PowerMac, so it's not covered. if I'd bought them together, the Studio Display *would* have been covered, and I consider it much more likely that the Studio Display's going to have backlight issues than that anything's going to happen to my PowerMac.

I'm also in the process of trying to persaude my mother back in the UK that she really needs a computer to keep in touch with her sons (I'm in the US, my brother's about to move to Adelaide) and that she should really buy an iMac - both because I think she'll find it easier to use and because it'll be easier for me to troubleshoot any problems she might have. I'm going to try to make sure she gets AppleCare though - she relies on public transport, isn't getting any younger, and the on-site support provided by AppleCare will definitely be worth it.

 

[kevinibook]

I think AppleCare if essential for laptops, they take quite a bit of a beating if you lug it around with you everday, I'm going to send mine in and 'cause of AppleCare, i saved 600$. It's quite nifty when you have a laptop but I think it's quite useless when you have desktop

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by kevinibook
It's quite nifty when you have a laptop but I think it's quite useless when you have desktop

You say that, until your optical drive goes south. A coworker here has a G4 tower at home, that the dvd-rom drive died on. Because he didn't get the Applecare, it cost him over $250 to get a replacement drive (the Applecare costs $150).

I also have an iMac here at work that the optical drive has stopped working on... Because of the Applecare policy, it won't cost anything to get the replacement.

If you use the computer more then just a little bit (<5 hours a week is a little bit) you are better off getting the protection on any new Mac.

 

[djniche]

Tibook

Today I just got my Tibook and will definetaly get the applecare Can take a chance with the beautiful laptop. I think you have to see apple products as investments not just as another purchase.

I love It btw that screen is just amazing, runs excellent and it radiates style!!

 

[ShaolinMiddleFinger]

Yes, Applecare is definately worth it! I bought Applecare with my iBook at the same time. So far I've used it twice...once to get the HD changed and just recently for a broken foot off the battery...they're gonna send me a whole new battery in it's place. Great, huh?

I'm happy.

 

[kevinibook]

Originally posted by AlphaTech


You say that, until your optical drive goes south. A coworker here has a G4 tower at home, that the dvd-rom drive died on. Because he didn't get the Applecare, it cost him over $250 to get a replacement drive (the Applecare costs $150).

The AppleCare doesn't cost 150 for G4 Tower, it's i think 249 same as the Powerbook. Only the iMac cost 150

 

[Raiden]

I thought my mom purchasing it was stupid, but when my iMac's hardrive fried when d/ling Quicktime 6, I was happy I had it. In stead of paying a couple hundred, I only had to pay 90.

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by kevinibook
The AppleCare doesn't cost 150 for G4 Tower, it's i think 249 same as the Powerbook. Only the iMac cost 150

With three price sets for Applecare (i/eMac being $149, PowerMac and iBook being $249 and PowerBook being $349) I mixed up the lower two... So give me a drink already...

Point is, he wouldn't have had to pay anything for the repair IF he had picked up the AppleCare for the tower before the one year warranty ran out... The part alone ran more then the AppleCare (even at $249), especially after sales tax and shipping on the part.

 

[jelloshotsrule]

hmm... i got my quicksilver last late august... no apple care. since then my feelings about it have changed..

someone inform me of what would happen if say, a year-2 years down the line i sold this one and got a new powermac?

could i transfer it to the new person, or apply it to the new one, or what?

 

[jefhatfield]

yes and no

as a home user who will use any computer brand new for three or more years, really, he he, i will get it for my next...imac or ibook purchase

two important things:

1) don't get applecare if you are going to keep your machine only one year

2) apple should have a two year option like dell, compaq, ibm, and others for those of us who keep their machines two years

and one other thing, probably irrelavant, but:

*) perhaps apple should have a four year option, too for those who plan to use just one computer thru all of college for four years

and for high end pro gear that a cash strapped company needs, so as to use a computer for four years and have it be protected...ibm has/had a four year option for such people...err...cheapskates

a four year old mac being used in the home or business would be a beige g3 233 desktop and while good, many users here would not get caught dead with one

but then again, i have a 300 mhz ibook with a stunningly small 3 GB hard drive...and yes, folks, i am a cheapskate...i could buy a better machine and buy more often, but i rather like other things like clean clothes, well maintained car, and vacations

my next mac, of course a consumer level one, will be my next machine for three years and i know when that time comes, people will be laughing at me like they do when i am seen in public with a 6.5 lb clamshell blueberry behemoth ...while the kid next to me half my age has an ibook 700/tibook 800 that daddy bought for him...unless they are now paying 19 year olds 50k a year

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule
hmm... i got my quicksilver last late august... no apple care. since then my feelings about it have changed..

someone inform me of what would happen if say, a year-2 years down the line i sold this one and got a new powermac?

could i transfer it to the new person, or apply it to the new one, or what?

The AppleCare stays with the computer it is set for... It does transfer to a new owner should you sell the computer while the AppleCare is still in effect. They will get however much of the AppleCare plan remains on the computer, NOT any more. So if you sell the 1 year old system in another two years you have no warranty left (even with AppleCare since that only extends the warranty period by another two years giving a total of three).