Applecare(Yes or No)

[dylin]

just to have a sense of security i would get it. If you are really tech savy and do well to take care of your personal belongings, then you can do without.

 

[kastorff]

In my experience, it's not really about what they cover with AppleCare. It's how they do it. I have seen a dozen scenarios with my clients where the damage was not officially covered under warranty/AppleCare yet Apple fixed it anyway. Apple treats AppleCare customers as if they were "customers plus" in many cases. Maybe it's the wrong approach to treat one set of customers differently than another, but once you've experienced it, or observed it, it's almost magical customer support. I've seen cracked screens replaced. I've seen brand new laptop shells provided when a unit went in for keyboard issues. I've seen an AppleCare customer get a brand new next generation iMac with a bigger hard drive because the manager decided they'd kept the old unit too long without providing a repair solution (6 days). Your mileage may vary.

 

[OneMike]

I never purchased applecare and doubt I will.

I rarely keep electronics more than a year to begin and even if I do. Should an issue arise I likely could fix it myself for less.

 

[gerbil]

I'm an expat and Applecare has been great for getting hassle-free support and customer care (in English even if not fluent) in whatever country I find myself in. It doesn't matter where I bought my Apple product - with Applecare it's all good.

 

[bniu]

For my 17" 2.3 MBP, I picked up AppleCare mostly because I shelled out $2500 on it and would like to keep it protected for some time. Plus, the AppleCare also covers my Thunderbolt Display, so $3500 of equipment getting covered is worth it here.

For my old 13" MBP, heck no! The thing is barely over $1000, if it breaks and is beyond economic repair, I could probably recover some portion of the costs just selling it for parts. And besides, Amex will cover up to $1000 in warranty coverage, so there's no real benefit for AppleCare on the 13 MBP.

 

[tim0409]

I don't bother with Applecare because here in the UK consumer law protects you from defective products. EU law gives you a 2 year window for repair/replacement of defective goods, and under the Sale of Goods Act it can be up to 6 years. It's all down to what its termed "reasonable" - ie if you spend £1000 on a laptop, you would reasonably expect it to last more than a year before breaking down.

Most consumers don't realise this and manufacturers and retailers don't fall over themselves to tell you this either. I bought an Acer laptop a few years ago which failed after 13 months (it required a new MB) - no joy with Acer until I sent them a recorded delivery letter outlining the above - they replaced it and didn't even bother picking up the old one.

Saying that, I have found Apple CS to be amazing and I am sure they would look favourably on a genuine defective product out with their 12 months warranty.

 

[dissemin8or]

Yes

For my current (early 2008) MPB, I bought the $239 applecare. It has covered the replacement of three batteries, each valued at $129 by Apple. 3 x $129 = $387 - $239 = $148 net value.

 

[grafikat]

The extended warranty really saved my bacon when my MBP started having problems in the final year of the warranty. I took it in 3 times before they "Lemoned" it back from my for a new model. (I actually used the new purchase price toward a MBA). If I hadn't had the warranty, I would have been forced to shell out quite a few bucks.

 

[echo.park]

For my current (early 2008) MPB, I bought the $239 applecare. It has covered the replacement of three batteries, each valued at $129 by Apple. 3 x $129 = $387 - $239 = $148 net value.

Why did they replace the batteries? Batteries normally aren't covered with AppleCare.

 

[GGJstudios]

Why did they replace the batteries? Batteries normally aren't covered with AppleCare.

They are if they're determined to be defective.