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Do I need Applecare with a new macbook?
- Thread starter manic
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IJ Reilly
macrumors P6
discoforce said:
Exactly, and this is the point I'm making. Insurance is priced such that the seller of the insurance collects more in premiums than they pay out in claims. Insurance is worthwhile if the replacement or repair of the item would cause a real hardship. Insurance for relatively inexpensive items, especially items that depreciate in value drastically to the point where they're essentially worth not much more than the cost of the insurance during the term of the policy, is not a very good deal IMO.
drake
macrumors 6502a
Wow, this topic again! What you could do is buy your laptop with a credit card that offers an extra year's warranty ontop of the manufacturer's warranty. We didn't, since my wife had to buy the Macbook using her card (not sure why, but that's what she said) and it doesnt' offer this. As for Applecare, I don't think its worth it. We'll deal with it buy selling it before the end of the warranty period. Besides, in many cases, you can buy replacement parts on ebay, or in the case of hard drives, anyplace locally that sells 2.5" drives.
All I have to say is that I would definitely get it. About 3 months after I got my iMac G5 I had to get something replaced, I don't remember what it was but I thought I heard the repair guy say that if I didn't have Applecare it would have cost like $400-$500. 😱 Anyways of course it still had the one year warrenty but still with AppleCare you get the phone support too which is nice if you have a quick question. I would get it if I were you.
I didn't mean the extra AppleCare when I said that. What I meant was like if I not purchased the extra AppleCare and if it had run out of its free one year warrenty period it would have cost me that much.IJ Reilly said:
ChrisBrightwell
macrumors 68020
IJ Reilly
macrumors P6
skipskop24 said:
Okay, but it did fail during the one year warranty period, as most electronic items will if they are defective. Had it failed in the 2-3 year extended AppleCare period, you'd have been ahead a couple of hundred dollars, but only just, after subtracting the cost of AppleCare from the cost of the repair.
Yea but its still good to have peace of mind. What if it has a problem again? I still have AppleCare and this is the Rev A iMac I believe so if there is another problem in my opinion AppleCare will be well worth it.IJ Reilly said:
ChrisBrightwell
macrumors 68020
IJ Reilly
macrumors P6
skipskop24 said:
Pray for a hurricane. 😉
Obviously, I can't put a price on your peace of mind. But when I think of all the Macs I've owned over the years, none having ever needed a repair outside of the basic warranty, I think also of the thousands I could have spent on extended warranties. Personally, my mind is more at peace knowing that I didn't chuck that money out the window. To each his own. I'm just trying to point out the other side of the issue, especially to those who'd claim that there's some sort of "consensus" that AppleCare is worth the money.
Macky-Mac
macrumors 601
IJ Reilly said:
I'm generally in agreement with you on this issue. The money I didn't spend on Applecare is enough to buy a Macbook (the more expensive configuration at that)....so I guess I'm now "self-insured"
On the other hand, for people who are prone to worry or aren't lucky, I can understand their "peace-of-mind" purchase. And I can understand that if somebody with very limited financial resources has saved and saved and saved for months to be able to buy a computer, well, maybe for them applecare would be good "insurance".....maybe
I dont applecare is reasonably priced. its like assuming 20-25% of your machine will fail on day one. If it covered theft, then it would be of awesome value for a portable, though.
The other fella talked about the need for a case not to get it damaged. What kind of case is required? a rubberized sleve or a hard case? what are the most popular models available?
And how can i possibly get an applecare on ebay? is it like a bond? doesnt it have the serial number of the notebook it applies to on it?
The other fella talked about the need for a case not to get it damaged. What kind of case is required? a rubberized sleve or a hard case? what are the most popular models available?
And how can i possibly get an applecare on ebay? is it like a bond? doesnt it have the serial number of the notebook it applies to on it?
Here's another factor to consider... Instead of purchasing the AppleCare from Apple directly buy it via 3rd party on eBay or the likes which is MUCH MUCH more reasonable. I never really intended to buy the AppleCare for my MBP until I was surfing eBay and found AppleCare plans for dirt cheap. At that second I said "For that price, why not get it???" A small price to pay for total peace of mind for the next 3 years 🙂
The seller requests your contact information and your notebooks serial number then logs on to Apple's site and activates AppleCare for you. Most sellers will send you an immediate confirmation of AppleCare coverage to hold you over until you get your AppleCare warranty kit in the mail directly from Apple.manic said:
I bought my AppleCare for $169 and had my AppleCare warranty kit in my mailbox about 5-7 days later.
discoforce
macrumors 6502a
manic said:
I suppose I'm that other fella 🙂
I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but there are no Apple Care requirements for keeping your portables in a protective case.
EDIT: With that said, if it's dented, good luck getting warranty coverage...
However, if you're looking for case advice check out this MR Guide.
discoforce
macrumors 6502a
IJ Reilly said:
Generally, I agree with you about extended warranties. I think on the whole they're a waste of $$, and don't cover anything beyond what a decent credit card should *Discoforce begins checking his policy...*
I also think that for those that sell there computers every 1-2 years, you could get by w/o the coverage as well. The first year should tell you plenty, and you could then decide to get coverage or not.
But for me, when I began shopping for a powerbook, I read thread after thread of folks having problems with them.
For those that had Apple Care: 😎 and
for those that didn't: 😡
This has been my experience, and I've needed the coverage many times. For a Rev A Macbook, I'd recommend the coverage.
I like that this topic comes up every once in a while, as a reminder that this coverage is a choice, can be purchased cheaper elsewhere, and that Apple Care doesn't help with things like accidental damage, theft, or divine acts (that's covered by a different kind of insurance).
The main thing about Applecare is that you are buying peace of mind, and it's better safe than sorry. You don't really have to worry if things go wrong, etc. Probably one of the only times I would recommend *not* buying Applecare is if you plan on selling your computer in less than a year. That way, the buyer will have a little bit of time to determine if he/she wants to plunk down the change and buy it. You have a year warranty from date of purchase, so if you sell it, or if anything goes wrong before then, you'll be okay.
drake
macrumors 6502a
The way I figure it, I'm as apt to do something which breaks the computer (which Applecare won't cover) as I am to have something major and costly go wrong. It doesn't say much for Apple quality if you have to worry about a "logic board" (what I'd call a motherboard) dying in the second or third year.
FragTek said:
thats pretty cool, but why would anyone want to sell their applecare plan for less than it costs? do people get it for free and sell it to make a buck?
IJ Reilly
macrumors P6
discoforce said:
The newest the three Macs I've got in service these days is nearly three years old. The one I use the most is six years old. The third is about four years old. I'm not sorry that I didn't get AppleCare for any of them because together the price tag on the policies would have been at least $600, and all but one would have expired already without me collecting a penny in benefits. With the money I saved, I figure I'm already about half-way towards buying a new MacBook, which is what I'll probably do if or when my old PowerBook takes a dive, instead of repairing it.
I believe authorized resellers get a special rate on AppleCare and some take it to eBay and sell it for virtually no profit. Some people get AppleCare with whatever they purchased and for some reason don't end up wanting it and flogging it on eBay. There's a few different scenarios that I can think of.manic said:
I bought applecare with my powermac g5 and my ibook g4 and never used it 1 time in the 3 years ive owned either computer. Thought it was a waste of money until recently. My dad got an iMac g5 and his optical drive went out, about $250, then his logic board went out, $810. So it would've costed $1060 to get all this stuff fixed if it wasnt for applecare.