Questions about Apple Protection Plan

Hey, just a question for you guys. I have an IBM ThinkPad and normally I'd never purchase an extended warranty but I did for it and now I'd never buy a laptop without it. I had trouble with my HDD and battery and got new ones within days. The only thing is at Apple it says you can call phone support, and bring it into a Apple Repair centre if you have problems. With IBM, I'd just call, say "My battery only lasts 15 minutes now instead of 3 hours" and they'd say "Okay we'll mail you a new one just send us the old one back in the box we provide." No questions asked. The Apple site makes it sound like you need to bring it in and have it tested and such. One of the things I liked about the IBM plan is being able to get problems fixed with no questions asked. Is this how it works with Apple? Because if you need to bring it into a repair centre and leave it up to their judgement then I'd probably not get it. I realize after a year or so batteries degrade but that's why IBM suggests their warranty so you can get a new one. Just don't want to run into hassles since its not cheap! Thanks!

Though I am sure others will say that Apple Care is "the bestest" (someone once said they drop kicked their iPod across the room and it was covered under Applecare. Yet I have yet to experience any good coming from AC. My view is that you have got to have proof that you got a lemon computer or other Apple product before they will repair or replace it under extended warranty. If they can find that the problem is user error, they will not cover it.

It sounds like IBM has a nice deal and recently Dell has come up with a nice warranty too. But when I got my eMac, I didn't get the extended warranty because of the bad service I have had with Apple Care. (my 2 cents)

Okay thanks for the tip. Yeah with IBM I'd call and be like "My computer keeps freezing and the hard drive makes a clicking noise when it does." And the guy was like, "When a HDD makes noise its defective we'll send you a new one." If it's not that easy with Apple then I'll probably save my $364 lol.

If you are getting a PowerBook or iBook I highly recommend the AppleCare. If something goes wrong after the year you are pretty much screwed because it is tough to do personal repairs on them. I bought the AppleCare and it has saved me over 600 in repair costs that I would have had if I didn't buy the service. I had the battery latch jam on me. Went to my local AppleStore since they know me pretty well there and they sent it in with the order. they said 1-2 weeks to get it back. 3 days later the apple store calls and say that they have it in the store if I want to come pick it up and make sure its all good (I chose this option instead of sending it to my house). Went to the store and they completely replaced the casing on it (which is nice considering there were a couple dings and marks). Without applecare it would have cost 420 dollars to repair it. The other service issue was with a faulty combo drive which they were able to fix in the store and give it back to me 1 hour later.

Another quick question. Can you purchase AppleCare any time? Like they offer it on their site as a separate product and so it would make sense to me that after a year when the 1 year warranty is up I could add it on. Just because it's making the powerbook a little steep right now to add that expense on immediately. Thanks!

Leemoreau, you would have to buy Apple Care before the 1 year warranty is up.

So any time during that year you can purchase it.. so yeah go ahead and buy later