AppleCare Dilemma...

[iGary]

So I have this handy little Aperture rebate for $200.00. I have to spend it by 9/30.

I got my PowerBook in May, so I have a good eight months left on its warranty. AppleCare for two additional years is $350.

By the time the standard warranty runs out, it will be worth about $600.00. Now I kind of have a problem throwing more than half of what the thing is worth at it in warranty, but obviously a replacement MBP would run me about $2,000.

I also have my Power Mac, which I got in June, the warranty for that is $250.00. The replacement cost for it is obviously pretty high (about $4,000 with RAM, etc.)

Am I thinking right to think that geting AppleCare on the PM is smarter than getting it for the PB, even though the PB is more likely to break?

What say you?

 

[emw]

Given your track record on PMs, perhaps you're best to go with AppleCare on it instead of the MBP.

Of course, you could also do both of them, but just apply the rebate to the PM now, then save up for the MBP warranty over the next 8 months ($45 a month isn't too bad, is it?). might have to cut down on Lube, though

 

[iGary]

Given your track record on PMs, perhaps you're best to go with AppleCare on it instead of the MBP.

Of course, you could also do both of them, but just apply the rebate to the PM now, then save up for the MBP warranty over the next 8 months ($45 a month isn't too bad, is it?). might have to cut down on Lube, though

It's a PB, but yeah, I hear you.

My original intent was to buy the PB warranty with the Aperture rebate, but farck its expensive.

 

[brad.c]

My thinking would be to extend the warranty on whatever you will have the longest. So the sub-question is: are you more likely to be wooed by a sexy new Merom MBP in the future (or any new-to-you portable)? If so, put the money towards an Applecare warranty on your desktop.

 

[iGary]

My thinking would be to extend the warranty on whatever you will have the longest. So the sub-question is: are you more likely to be wooed by a sexy new Merom MBP in the future (or any new-to-you portable)? If so, put the money towards an Applecare warranty on your desktop.

I'll be more likely to keep the desktop - it's got a good two years left in it easy.

Just hate to think of repairing the notebook, though.

 

[brad.c]

I understand you there. It was that line of thinking that prompted me to get the Applecare on my MBP straight from the beginning (mainly because I'm leasing). But if I was in your shoes, looking at topping up the warranty on older machines, I'd think this:
- if my powerbook breaks, I'd HAVE to fix it, warranty or no. If my desktop breaks out of warranty, I'd probably let it stay dead. So spending money on the desktop warranty means that I'll be keeping two machines alive.

That may be screwy logic, but that's me.

 

[solvs]

Choice is easy, go with the PM AppleCare.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Am I thinking right to think that geting AppleCare on the PM is smarter than getting it for the PB, even though the PB is more likely to break?

absolutely.....spend your insurance money on protecting your high cost items, on on the less expensive stuff. Paying $350 to "protect" something that only has a value of $600 (and decreasing over the 2 years of applecare extension) doesn't make much sense to me

 

[Mackeyser]

hey Macky, I got some of your spam...lol

Do you have a dot mac account? I ask because I've received a number of spams with a Macky (or was it mackey) in it.

my user name is pretty close and I just thought it was kinda funny.

Okay, that was it.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Definitely spend it on the PM warranty. If you were going to spend it on the PB then you'd have to conside the fact that the value of your PB (lets say $600) + the cost of the Applecare ($350) = $149 shy of a stock MacBook.
Also I think the $600 for the PB is quite a low estimate, $750 isn't unreasonable.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Do you have a dot mac account? I ask because I've received a number of spams with a Macky (or was it mackey) in it.

my user name is pretty close and I just thought it was kinda funny.

Okay, that was it.

that is funny but just a coincidence as I don't have "macky" or anything like it on my .mac account

 

[jessep28]

Sorry to attach on here, but this is a relevant topic:

How about the $119 for an iMac?

 

[twoodcc]

i also say go for the PM, mainly b/c it's worth more money

 

[iGary]

i also say go for the PM, mainly b/c it's worth more money

I think that's what I'll do, and if I have some extra cash next May and want to keep the PB long-term, I'll cover it, too.

Just have to spend this rebate before the 30th, hence the urgency.

Thanks guys.

 

[rdowns]

I think you should use the rebate for something else and live dangerously on both the PM and PB. Forums just aren't the same without iGary's Hardware Rant of the Day threads.

Seriously, get it for the PM. If I'm not mistaken , you use it way more than the PB.

 

[generik]

My vote is for "neither" and instead put it towards a new Mac... and reselling the old ones.

 

[IJ Reilly]

You've already stated the case against buying AppleCare, and the reason why I never buy it. They way I figure it, insuring a depreciating asset is not a good deal if by the end of the policy's term, the cost of the insurance is anywhere close to the asset's replacement value. That's really a bad bet, IMO.

 

[Mackeyser]

Unless something goes wrong after a year.

I've bought the AppleCare with my Laptop and MacPro. I know for a fact that it paid for itself. As soon as I told the genius that I had a current AppleCare, he just handed me a replacement power supply for my Powerbook. That happened twice (it keeps cracking just past the lighted plug that plugs into the powerbook).

I also plan on getting ProCare. Getting to the head of the line ONCE, vs. having to wait for several days (and go each day) is worth it to me. Better yet, just waive that card and it's like being a VIP. Tough to get VIP anything these days, especially for only $99.

Without AppleCare, if anything happens after a year, they just quote you a price. If you have AppleCare, they just fix it (at least that's been my experience and I've purchased 40 machines over the years).

 

[FFTT]

I would be asking myself, SELF which machine is more likely to bring my business to a screeching halt if something goes wrong and I need to take it to the shop?

The Power Book might lose an optical drive or a hard drive.
ifixit.com can walk you through those repairs.
If you drop it, Apple CAre won't cover it anyway

You've had unusually bad luck with your G5, so IF you're going to buy Apple Care
at all, that's where, I'd put it.

Actually, I'd sell the G5 as soon as CS3 is released and get a MacPro Leopard.

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

iGary, I thought you mentioned before that things ran slowly on your powerbook. After CS3 is released, won't you buy a macbook pro instead? I thought you would upgrade to the rev B Mac Pro and whatever macbook pro is out at the time.

Also, if you sell your current powerbook can I have dibs on it? Haha, whatever you do good luck!

 

[zerolight]

I don't really understand why everyone seems to buy into Applecare. It's just a warranty package, the Apple version of the stuff that stores try to sell you with everything you buy.

To my mind, most failures occur within the first year. If you get through that first year then the chances are that it's a reliable product and so you probably won't ever use the warranty you pay for. If it fails within the first year then its covered with the standard 1 year warranty that comes with the product in the first place.

As a rule, I never buy extended warranty. I bought (and often built) PCs from scratch since '95 without any issues, nevermind worrying about extended warranties. I do hope Macs aren't so fragile that they start failing after a year. I'll take my chances that costs for repair should the unlikely happen, do not exceed £139. It's not a cost for replacement you need to compare the cost of Applecare to, because that's not what will happen. It's the cost of repair, should it fail outwith warranty.

In a year, is a new CPU going to cost more than £139. Maybe, but not by much. What about a new motherboard? Far from it. New HDD? Not by much. Power supply, etc? These are pretty much the only things that are likely to fail anyway. And it's unlikely that everything will fail. If any of it.

 

[Mackeyser]

Worked for me

In my case, I bought the first 17" Al Powerbook. The power cord just off the connector near the computer cracked AFTER the first year. With AppleCare, they replaced it free. Twice. As well, I've had several AppleCare incidents. I figure even if I broke even, I was able to budget.

ESPECIALLY with a laptop or an iMac with an integrated LCD, ANY issues after a year will be really expensive to fix.

Some people will never use ANY warranty. Others will use the snot out of it. I buy all sorts of insurance for those things important to me.

Not buying AppleCare is like self-insuring and I don't have the budget to do that. Neither do many others.

 

[Keebler]

if it were me...applecare for both.

to me, personally, applecare is kind of like car insurance....would you drive a car without insurance?

the cost to replace/repair any mac is worth the cost of applecare imho.

it's a hit in the pocket, but if you're using them for business, it's also an easy tax write off (and if you have a financial wizard in the family, they might be able to figure out an approximate tax savings to make you feel better about it

 

[ThunderLounge]

Not buying AppleCare is like self-insuring and I don't have the budget to do that. Neither do many others.

Exactly. It's Murphy's Law, really.

If it's going to break, it's going to do so at the most inconvenient time possible. Which may be at a time where the $150 or more to fix either machine would be tough to scrape up at a whim.

Then again, someone could sack away a little bit each week for the first year, and then have it just in case.

To me, for an expense of this level, the additional fee for AC is worth it. Not because I think I'll need it, but just in case. If it were a mini, or low end MB or iMac, then I might not worry about it. But for me, if I'm already forking over the cash for a MP, MBP, or high end system, then what's another hundred or two for the just in case?

I didn't used to get the optional extension for anything. The first time I did was when I bought my big screen TV in 2002. A real nice Toshiba wide-screen, at the time.

Go figure that almost 3 years to the day it would crap out. Needless to say, it was the first thing I had bought the extension for, and I was glad I did. The repairs would have been almost half of what I had paid for the set. Not to mention the closest repair shop was an hour away, so tag on some extra for trip charges for pick-up and delivery as well.

In the end, if I don't need it, cool. I've not needed it so far with any Apple purchase, but eventually my luck will have to run out for nothing more then the odds.

That said, I'd rather have a Mac without an extension than any PC.

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

I love having applecare on a laptop. I have had a hard drive failure, pitting stains, and a faulty audio port in my 12 inch powerbook. Luckily it had applecare and I sent it in and my lappy was good as new. If my laptop were to break down, I do not have the money to buy a complete new one as a college student. Knowing that I'm safe is worth the money.