Applecare is the worst deal ever.

[Rocksaurus]

I'd say Applecare is a must for laptops, I never got it for my Rev A G5, and it's still humming along fine, but I know I'd get it if I got a laptop... I think, that despite the argument on whether or not it's worth it, we can all agree it's a tad more expensive than it should be...

 

[chaosbunny]

I can't understand why anyone buys apple care. There are computer insurances that cover more for less money. I pay 8 € a month for mine and it covers all of my computers + the printer, I get money if I drop my PB or it gets stolen. Plus it is not conected to a specific machine. I get a new computer I just call my agent and it is insured. I even get money for lost data! Never had to try it out but I think it's a far better deal than apple care...

 

[yellow]

What kind of company only provides 90 days of telephone support on their professional line of products. It's just pathetic.... simply pathetic.

Uhh.. how long does a product warranty last on a plasma TV or giantscreen HDTV?

 

[obelix]

Here's a question... can you buy "applecare" from local resellers instead? So if something goes wrong the local reseller will fix it instead of the applecare guys?

This has all been very helpful information thanks guys.

 

[Lacero]

The downside to insurance is its only good for catastrophic loss. You never want to file a claim for petty losses or else your name goes on an insurance blacklist and either an insurer refuses to insure you, or they charge a really hefty premium. Get insurance, but try very hard to not file small claims.

 

[840quadra]

Nice Thread.

I am still buying Apple Care for my Powermac G5. Since I do lots of Website development, Graphics, video editing , and other CPU intensive tasks, I want to ensure that the first 3 years of ownership go smooth. The price IS high, but my friends have gotten allot of help from Apple on hardware related issues, and I have blind faith that they will be good to me also.

 

[Rob587]

The wall street journal did a study on purchasing insurance for retail products a while back, and they came to the conclusion that the average american wastes money on buying inurance for their products. They said that the amount of money total that one spends on insurance for retail items(especially electronics), in his or her life is more than it would cost for one to just pay however much it costs to pay for the replacement. They did this study on a large group of people for a very long time. I dont remember the article exactly, but thats mostley what it said minus some factual numbers.

P.S. Also, just about every financial analyst or financial magazine will tell you that most of the time your getting screwed in the long run when you purchase insurance(aka apple care).

 

[cgratti]

Alright so let me get this straight. I spend $3500 CAD on a new PowerBook... and it comes with a flattering 90 days of phone support and a year of hardware support. It's just pathetic. 90 days? You don't even get to know your Mac in that time frame, let alone find any problems with it

So say I have a problem and the problem has to do with Software Update not detecting updates... do they seriously expect me to pay $300 just so they can tell me that there's not a thing they can do and I should re-install Panther? What kind of company only provides 90 days of telephone support on their professional line of products. It's just pathetic.... simply pathetic.

I'm a pretty techy guy and I've been thinking honestly about whether or not I'd use Applecare in 3 years... I don't really need the telephone support (outside of bug issues) but what about hardware support. Has anyone had a PowerBook fail on them? The fact that they only support their products for a year has be wondering about the supposed quality of the Mac. My sister has a lovely 4 year old PowerBook and it's been a great workhorse for her.. and I must say I love my PowerBook... but this Applecare issue just keeps popping into my head. I read the other day that someone had the logic board on their iBook fail on them and they were out of Applecare... ouch.

What are your recommendations?

I bought an iMac and after the warranty expired, almost a week after the HD went south, luckily I had APPLECARE and they replaced it FREE of charge. I chose to have the HD sent to my home instead of a local dealer to install it. Either way it wasn't going to cost me a penny.

 

[iGary]

IMHO AppleCare is a MUST for portables.

Expensive to repair, high likelyhood for failure (especially if you move and bang yours around a lot).

 

[Abstract]

The only thing I don't like about Apple's Warranty is that they provide 90 days of phone support, but 1 year of hardware support. Its not clear to me, but does that mean that if I have a problem with my HD, for example, 6 months after purchasing my machine, that I get a replacement HD, but I have to pay for the phone call? That would be so ridiculous if that's the way it worked. Hope it isn't.

And I don't mind paying for an extended warranty, but chances are that you'll never need it if your computer is still standing strong after year 1.

EDIT: I also have my PB covered under Home insurance. For $20 CAD per year, or around $14 USD, I get my PB covered for theft and accidental damage. Plus there's no deductible. However, I bought Applecare because there's no way I'd make an insurance claim if my PB's HD failed. Its not a big enough claim, and quite frankly, I don't want to be on the "naughty" list. That's where Applecare comes in. My home insurance will only come into play if I lose the darned thing, or if it gets run over or stolen.

 

[Lau]

Although you buy the Dell warranty, it's that much cheaper. If Applecare was, say £100, I'd buy it in an instant, probably when I bought the computer. But nearly £300? No way, I just can't afford that.

Also, a friend of mine's PowerBook screen failed a while back on it's 1 year warranty, and Apple (UK) told her she couldn't send it in, and she had to get it fixed locally. Now my local reseller is pants (and doesn't do repairs) and the one in the next city is also awful. And they quoted her 6 weeks until she'd get it back. So she phoned up Apple, and they got her to send it somewhere else in the country and they fixed it, but did a really bad job, and now her screen latch doesn't click shut. But she needs her PowerBook, so won't send it in again.

So, especially if Apple UK aren't fixing it themselves anymore, no way am I paying £300 for that kind of service.

 

[arribadia]

Do normal harddisks work in PBs?

I think the most vulnerable part in a PB is the hard drive.. so it might be worth your while to replace it yourself if it dies..

 

[uaaerospace]

I've bought the AppleCare plan on my last two PowerMacs. I've gotten my money worth both times. The first was a repair on my 17 inch studio display CRT (value $500 at the time). The second repair was a processor replacement on my dual G5 PM. I don't know, but I kinda got a feeling that it would have been much more than 250 bucks to replace the processor.

I was very pleased with the service each time. Shipping was quick, too. ~Josh

 

[varmit]

No. Apple thinks its time for you to get a new Mac

Actually, I believe you can extend your warrenty. It has been known for Apple to call people to let them know that their Applecare will expire.

 

[varmit]

Do normal harddisks work in PBs?

I think the most vulnerable part in a PB is the hard drive.. so it might be worth your while to replace it yourself if it dies..

Its a basic laptop drive, so its not that hard to get a replacement, but it takes a person with knowledge to install it.

 

[Macky-Mac]

The only thing I don't like about Apple's Warranty is that they provide 90 days of phone support, but 1 year of hardware support. Its not clear to me, but does that mean that if I have a problem with my HD, for example, 6 months after purchasing my machine, that I get a replacement HD, but I have to pay for the phone call? That would be so ridiculous if that's the way it worked. Hope it isn't....

you don't pay for the call if it's about a hardware failure that's covered by the warranty

 

[Macky-Mac]

Actually, I believe you can extend your warrenty. It has been known for Apple to call people to let them know that their Applecare will expire.

I think that's only at the end of the basic 1 year warranty when they are hoping to sell you the 2 year extention and not at the end of 3 years

 

[WildCowboy]

The wall street journal did a study on purchasing insurance for retail products a while back, and they came to the conclusion that the average american wastes money on buying inurance for their products. They said that the amount of money total that one spends on insurance for retail items(especially electronics), in his or her life is more than it would cost for one to just pay however much it costs to pay for the replacement. They did this study on a large group of people for a very long time. I dont remember the article exactly, but thats mostley what it said minus some factual numbers.

P.S. Also, just about every financial analyst or financial magazine will tell you that most of the time your getting screwed in the long run when you purchase insurance(aka apple care).

The Wall Street Journal spent good money doing such a study?!?! Any idiot can tell you what the results would have been. The average American will waste money on insurance for anything...if the company offering the insurance didn't make money on it, they wouldn't be offering it.

The exact same thing can be said for health insurance...the average American (or their employer) will pay more in premiums that they will use in services over their lifetime. The issue is that not everyone is average!! You could be in the minority of people who need multi-million dollar procedures, or you could have no problems at all and thus be "wasting" your premium payments!

The whole point of insurance is shared risk: trade a large, unknown monetary risk for a smaller, known monetary risk (i.e. 100% chance of paying the premium).

And one of Murphy's Laws would of course say that if you don't take AppleCare, your computer will crap out on you.

 

[skubish]

Dell actually has no standard warranty coverage at all. They charge $19 for a one year warranty, $49 for 2 years, $119 for 3 years and $189 for 4 years on low-end Dimension systems, so they're hardly free.

I think you need to check the Dell website. I know it is not setup for Mac users so I did it for you.

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_desktop1?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
as you can see all of the models except the $400 one have 2yr warranty and 2 yr in home service include. Yes you can pay extra for more years.

I am not a Dell fanboy (I build my own computers) but I am just saying they offer a lot better warranty and service that Apple.

 

[lander]

Its a basic laptop drive, so its not that hard to get a replacement, but it takes a person with knowledge to install it.

The 40 gig drive in my 12"PB failed last week. Ordered a new, faster 80 gig drive from newegg.com for 110$ US. I was able to find detailed instructions with pictures online. Since my PB is out of warranty anyway, I figured what the heck!! It took me a couple of hours, but was able to reinstall the system and fire her up the next day. No waiting, no fuss, and no applecare. I think even with the purchase of the hard drive, I'm still ahead on applecare.

BTW, if you are thinking about replacing your own HD, go slow and keep track of those little screws. There are like 30 of them!

Peace

 

[arribadia]

The 40 gig drive in my 12"PB failed last week. Ordered a new, faster 80 gig drive from newegg.com for 110$ US. I was able to find detailed instructions with pictures online. Since my PB is out of warranty anyway, I figured what the heck!! It took me a couple of hours, but was able to reinstall the system and fire her up the next day. No waiting, no fuss, and no applecare. I think even with the purchase of the hard drive, I'm still ahead on applecare.

BTW, if you are thinking about replacing your own HD, go slow and keep track of those little screws. There are like 30 of them!

Peace

Dang, that's dumb design... You can swop a Thinkpad's harddisk in 5 minutes, maybe 2 if you are quick

 

[Loge]

The wall street journal did a study on purchasing insurance for retail products a while back, and they came to the conclusion that the average american wastes money on buying inurance for their products. They said that the amount of money total that one spends on insurance for retail items(especially electronics), in his or her life is more than it would cost for one to just pay however much it costs to pay for the replacement. They did this study on a large group of people for a very long time. I dont remember the article exactly, but thats mostley what it said minus some factual numbers.

P.S. Also, just about every financial analyst or financial magazine will tell you that most of the time your getting screwed in the long run when you purchase insurance(aka apple care).

This is obvious. Those selling insurance are not going to sell it at a loss. Applecare is just an insurance like any other. It's only good value to you if you are risk averse to the possible loss involved. It makes sense to insure your home and car because the total loss that might be involved is more than you'd normally be able to pay. For lesser value items it depends on how much the possible replacement would affect you; but on average you will pay more in premiums than on repairs/replacements.

 

[Inspector Lee]

The fact that they only support their products for a year has be wondering about the supposed quality of the Mac.

Yeah but name me one other tech toy that goes > 1 year on the warranty (edit: except the Dell). Cameras, screens, teevees, etc. Everything goes 1 year for free. And that is where the big electronic megalopolii (sic?) like Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, etc., swoop in with their own in-house coverages.

To me, the AppleCare option is all about ratio. I have it for my 1 GHz TiBook because the system cost me $3000. But I don't have it for my girlfriend's iBook because the system cost a grand, is bare bones, and I was/still am willing to roll the dice.

Also have it on my 2G 20 GB iPod because the power adapter went to hell 2 days before my year warranty was up and it cost me $50 to extend the coverage on a $500 product.

Of historical note, I believe while Gil Amelio was running the show, he instituted some "phone support for life" option which Jobs put the kibosh on almost immediately upon his return to the throne. I think he basically said "f 'em" when asked about all the people who signed up. I think Apple had to settle and probably still saved coin in the long run.

re: Dell

I have heard horror stories about not only their phone support but also these at-home repairs from colleagues at work.

On the whole, my position might be slanted because I have 2 Apple stores within a 1 hr drive. I have had 3 problems total (2 power cords and 1 popping mini). On all three occasions, I drove down within a day or two and never thought of picking up the phone. Why speak to some clown when I can go to the store and drool over the 23" LCD?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Alright so let me get this straight. I spend $3500 CAD on a new PowerBook... and it comes with a flattering 90 days of phone support and a year of hardware support. It's just pathetic. 90 days? You don't even get to know your Mac in that time frame, let alone find any problems with it

So say I have a problem and the problem has to do with Software Update not detecting updates... do they seriously expect me to pay $300 just so they can tell me that there's not a thing they can do and I should re-install Panther? What kind of company only provides 90 days of telephone support on their professional line of products. It's just pathetic.... simply pathetic.

I'm a pretty techy guy and I've been thinking honestly about whether or not I'd use Applecare in 3 years... I don't really need the telephone support (outside of bug issues) but what about hardware support. Has anyone had a PowerBook fail on them? The fact that they only support their products for a year has be wondering about the supposed quality of the Mac. My sister has a lovely 4 year old PowerBook and it's been a great workhorse for her.. and I must say I love my PowerBook... but this Applecare issue just keeps popping into my head. I read the other day that someone had the logic board on their iBook fail on them and they were out of Applecare... ouch.

What are your recommendations?

Quite a rant there.

As to the telephone support, there are people out there (and probably not on MR) that the support is a good thing.

I actually had my SDD die on my PB 12" just outside of the original warranty. Apple was kind enough to extend my purchase of AppleCare. I ended up saving I think about $75 on the deal, but I now have the peace of mind that my PB is covered for another 3 years.

Keep in mind most computers only have a 12 month warranty. Where Apple falls short is with the telephone support for just 3 months IMO.

 

[Bad_JuJu]

Normally - I never buy the additional product warranties as they are usually a rip-off ---------- however there are some exceptions
-- On a laptop its probably a good idea as its a mobile device prone to problems
-- And in my case -- I just bought a brand new type/class of product (my Mac-Mini) that has an unknown history / future --- since I'm a student I will probably buy the extra coverage since it only costs $99 with the discount