I have refrained from AppleCare as i learned, the hard way that in Ireland, apple wont send out a courrier to collect your computer. you have to travel to the service centre yourself which , from me at least is over 20 miles, and i dont have a car, and work during their opening hours. Is applecare worth it, if they dont even collect the item? my new MBP will be covered for a full year anyway so if i change my mind i can get it then anyway i guess. what do you think?
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do you always get appleCare along with your mac?
- Thread starter schmintan
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I definitely get AppleCare for laptops. I'm on the fence about whether or not to buy AppleCare for iMacs or Mac Pros...
i have applecare for my MBP, and i'm glad i got it...my hard drive went out shortly after i got the darn thing and it was collected and sent out, fixed, and returned for free. the cost of applecare was money well spent, if you ask me. 
once i get my iMac, i'll be getting applecare for that as well. my thinking is...well, better safe than sorry.
it may not seem to be worth it to you, but it's definitely nice to have if something awful happens. if you really aren't able to make it to the service center, you need to insist that apple work with you to get the problem fixed.
just my $.02.
once i get my iMac, i'll be getting applecare for that as well. my thinking is...well, better safe than sorry.
it may not seem to be worth it to you, but it's definitely nice to have if something awful happens. if you really aren't able to make it to the service center, you need to insist that apple work with you to get the problem fixed.
just my $.02.
Applecare is worth it for laptops, IMO. Only because it's so expensive/difficult to fix them if something DOES go wrong.
It sucks that they won't send and collect boxes in Ireland to fix it that way, but if something does break, you'll be thankful that you CAN go somewhere and get it fixed for free (even if you have to jump through some hoops to get there!).
It sucks that they won't send and collect boxes in Ireland to fix it that way, but if something does break, you'll be thankful that you CAN go somewhere and get it fixed for free (even if you have to jump through some hoops to get there!).
Always With Laptops Due To Their Fragility
Always with Laptops but not always with towers. Usually if something is going to go wrong with a tower it happens during the first few weeks or months. But even then I may decide to buy it if something goes wrong just so I can get on-site repair to minimize down time which is one of the reasons to have it. But I plan on buying it with my Dual Clovertown 8 core Mac Pro simply because it's a new design I want covered in case of any late coming surprises.
Always with Laptops but not always with towers. Usually if something is going to go wrong with a tower it happens during the first few weeks or months. But even then I may decide to buy it if something goes wrong just so I can get on-site repair to minimize down time which is one of the reasons to have it. But I plan on buying it with my Dual Clovertown 8 core Mac Pro simply because it's a new design I want covered in case of any late coming surprises.
I never get AppleCare or any other extended warranties.
If your consumer electronics are going to fail, chances are they are going to fail within the 1 year warranty time. And the money I have saved by not getting AppleCare would cover any repairs that I may need to make over the life of all my Macs.
If your consumer electronics are going to fail, chances are they are going to fail within the 1 year warranty time. And the money I have saved by not getting AppleCare would cover any repairs that I may need to make over the life of all my Macs.
Yes, yes, yes and again yes. I don't normally get (Extended) coverage on electronics, but for my macs, I won't do anything else. They're just worth too much to risk something happening.
You get a full one year warranty on the hardware and whatnot, the 90 days refers to free phone support.
To be eligible to buy and activate the extended AppleCare you actually have a full year from the date of purchase.
I did not buy AC for my PB or iBook. But I did w/ my iMac 'cause I knew without a doubt that I would keep it for at least 3 years. I'm still debating whether or not to get it for my MB.
I didn't make a single hardware claim on my apple care last time around -- iMac G4 800mhz and I'm still glad that I had it. I bet you there was a dozen times where I was having weird software issues and I was able to call them up and have them talk me through it because I had Apple Care.
I bought it again with my new 24"iMac.
darren
I bought it again with my new 24"iMac.
darren
Nope- never had it, never will. I've always been able to repair my own computers. It's always seemed like a waste to me. As for laptops, I've always avoided rev A's. I've never had a problem I couldn't fix.
Yes.
Yes.
And More Yes.
Bought if for my G4 450. Optical drive failed, replaced free of charge. Had another issue, also repaired. Both repairs totalled more than the cost of Applecare.
My wife bought it for her 12" PB. Optical drive failed, replaced free of charge. 2 Keys on keyboard broke, replaced. Optical drive alone paid for Applecare.
Bought the $59 Applecare for my 40GB iPod. Extended warranty 1 year to 2 years total. 23 months after I got it, took it to the Applestore because headphone jack was having issues and battery life was shorter. Replaced iPod on the spot with a brand new one.
Yes.
And More Yes.
Bought if for my G4 450. Optical drive failed, replaced free of charge. Had another issue, also repaired. Both repairs totalled more than the cost of Applecare.
My wife bought it for her 12" PB. Optical drive failed, replaced free of charge. 2 Keys on keyboard broke, replaced. Optical drive alone paid for Applecare.
Bought the $59 Applecare for my 40GB iPod. Extended warranty 1 year to 2 years total. 23 months after I got it, took it to the Applestore because headphone jack was having issues and battery life was shorter. Replaced iPod on the spot with a brand new one.
From a Mac buyer for over 20 years: I have never purchased AppleCare and have never wished that I had.
This is my first Mac but I'm waiting until I'm at the end of the first year to purchase it. So far I haven't had any problems and I bought a refurb MBP. My case is a little warped but I figured Applecare wouldn't do anything about it since it is a cosmetic issue not a performance issue.
Apple WILL Repair A Warped MBP Body Under Applecare
No problem is too small to call Apple and ask for a repair. A Warped Case Is A Very Big Defect. Why you think it's only cosmetic miffs me. What about the warped motherboard inside?
Don't wait 'til the end of your year. You must buy it before one year from the date you ORDERED it not when you got it. It's easy to forget and miss the deadline. Apple is unforgiving if you miss the first year deadline by a day.
Wrong. Apple will repair a warped case. That's why you should always buy Applecare for mobile Macs. They are fragile. A warped case IS a performance issue. It won't perform properly when sitting on a desk because it tips due to warp. How do you figure that isn't a performance issue? Especially when you buy a refurb your should EXPECT something to be wrong with it. Then you pick up the phone and ask Apple to fix it right away. My Quad G5 refurb arrived with a bad noisy liquid cooling pump in the processor assembly. It was replaced with a completely new set of processors in a dead silent cooling system. Would have cost about $1,000 out of warranty.
No problem is too small to call Apple and ask for a repair. A Warped Case Is A Very Big Defect. Why you think it's only cosmetic miffs me. What about the warped motherboard inside?
Don't wait 'til the end of your year. You must buy it before one year from the date you ORDERED it not when you got it. It's easy to forget and miss the deadline. Apple is unforgiving if you miss the first year deadline by a day.
Always with laptops, never with towers. My last PB 17" had the logic board die twice, the SuperDrive die 3 times and the screen replaced once. Most of the replacements came after the standard warranty ran out. Each time I took the PB into the Apple Store and had it returned to me in under 3 business days. Great service.
I bought my first of many Apple computers in 1981. I never had Apple Care and never had a problem. I do use a Visa card to buy my Macs and they double the warrenty time to two years just as a free added insurance. I will buy a new iMac as soon as he new ones come out.
Does that cover any failure at all? If so, thats a pretty good Visa perk I didnt know about.
You dont have a Visa Uber-Platinum card or anything do you?
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I also live in ireland (westport).Where is the service centre? Also do you know any retail shops that sell macs?I am going to get it when i get my macbook(2 months)
schmintan said:
I also live in ireland (westport).Where is the service centre? Also do you know any retail shops that sell macs?I am going to get it when i get my macbook(2 months)
I'm in the "never buy applecare" crowd. I never buy extended warranties on any electronic products.. they're all ripoffs. If I had done that over the last, say 20 years, I would be out several thousand dollars. In all that time, I believe I've had one item fail outside the warranty period but inside the extended warranty period. Replacement cost: $300.
Best practice would be to bank the cost of extended warranties each time you buy something. Then when something does fail, you'll have the money to fix it.
Best practice would be to bank the cost of extended warranties each time you buy something. Then when something does fail, you'll have the money to fix it.
So when I got a $3000 HDTV for $2250 and paid an extra $249 for a 5yr warranty on that was a bad thing. Especially when after 2 1/2 years the DLP bulb went out and they sent me a replacement - value $200. Gee now I'm down to $49 for the last 2 1/2 years for peace of mind that if something goes wrong with it I'm covered.
I think another factor to consider (obviously) is whether or not you're comfortable with fixing computers. Of course a well trained technician is going to feel less inclined to buy an extended warranty than a grandma buying her first laptop.
While laptop parts can be trickier and more expensive to replace, if you're comfortable with buying and replacing them yourself, then yeah, it might be more economical to just save the cash and pony up IF something goes wrong. But if not, then Applecare is a great service, and will pay for itself if your computer breaks, or is worth it for the peace of mind (and the resale value!).
While laptop parts can be trickier and more expensive to replace, if you're comfortable with buying and replacing them yourself, then yeah, it might be more economical to just save the cash and pony up IF something goes wrong. But if not, then Applecare is a great service, and will pay for itself if your computer breaks, or is worth it for the peace of mind (and the resale value!).
I think this story supports the "Don't Buy AppleCare" argument. If your Quad arrived with the problem you described, then it would get fixed for free whether you had AppleCare or not.
If AppleCare makes you more comfortable, then buy it. But the fact still remains that the vast majority of electronics fail within the first year (most likely 90 days) and you will be covered anyway.
Source: http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2405p091id124856.htm
So maybe it is wise to get it for notebooks, but to each his own.