Should I get AppleCare?

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n0r1

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Hey,

I'm about to purchase an iBook, and I'm wondering if I should get the AppleCare plan with it. What do people say -- is it worth it?

Thanks!
 

rman


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You don't have to purchase it up front. You at least one year to think about.
 
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n0r1

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Oh, that's good to know!

But the apple site makes it look like, while I get a year of on-site repair included with the purchase, I only get 90 days of telephone support. I suppose the on-site repair is really the biggie here, though, eh?

Thanks!
 
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If you have a problem with your Mac you can just take it into the store and get the support covered on the 1st year free warranty. If you want to talk to someone from your house/car then you will need to purchase the Applecare warranty after 90 days to keep the phone support option open.
 
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For laptops, Apple doesn't usually do "onsite" anything. Apple will overnight you a shipping box, pay to overnight the laptop to Texas (or wherever they do it now) and the pay to overnight it back to you. Usually takes around three days all told.
 
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I didn't order Applecare with my new system. I'm tend to upgrade quite frequently, so I'm assuming that I would sell this system when the warrenty is up, and purchase a new one.

They do charge quite a bit for Applecare. Chance are, if you do have a problem, it will cost less than what the warrenty costs.
 
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Avid6eek said:
They do charge quite a bit for Applecare. Chance are, if you do have a problem, it will cost less than what the warrenty costs.

Are you serious?? Have you checked the cost of a logic board or new screen for your iBook, PowerBook, iMac??
 
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technologist said:
For laptops, Apple doesn't usually do "onsite" anything. Apple will overnight you a shipping box, pay to overnight the laptop to Texas (or wherever they do it now) and the pay to overnight it back to you. Usually takes around three days all told.

Not true. The Apple store doesn't do "onsite" repairs but they will send it out for you. My hard drive in my PowerBook went kaput a couple weeks ago and I took into the Apple Store, dropped it off on Wednesday afterwork and picked it back up on Friday after work. They sent it out to where it needed to go, fixed it and sent it back to the store so I could pick it up. They did give me the option of having it sent to my home address but I chose to pick it up because someone had to be home to sign for it.
 
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n0r1

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rberry88 said:
Are you serious?? Have you checked the cost of a logic board or new screen for your iBook, PowerBook, iMac??
Yeah, it seems not so bad. Granted, it is $249 for the extra two years, but if something should go in that time that's not just cosmetic, it would be so worth it. I think. But that's why I'm asking -- maybe my question whould be better phrased as "has anyone used the AppleCare help, and been really glad they had it? And, how many have purchased AppleCare and never had to use it?"

I guess it's just a matter of how paranoid you are, in the end ...
 
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rberry88 said:
Are you serious?? Have you checked the cost of a logic board or new screen for your iBook, PowerBook, iMac??
These are items that 'should' not fail very often. Apple does make money off the Protection plan, so they must be charging more than what the cost of all repairs are. If your playing the odds, your better off not getting it...of course, there will be a few people who lose to the odds.
 
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I would just say if you have the money to burn on AppleCare, get it. If you're on a tight budget, it might be better to just risk it.
 
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Meyvn said:
If you're on a tight budget, it might be better to just risk it.
It's funny how everyone will argue until they are blue in the face about the superiority of Apple hardware...but if you don't pay $300 for the extra warranty, your "risking it." LOL
 
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I don't think it has anything to do with Apple Hardware being in question. How many P3 PC's do you see available for sale that would be more than just a web browser/email reader functionality? It comes down to either you can pay the ~$300 now and if something does go wrong then you can get it fixed without paying anymore money even if the repair costs quite a bit more, however, you can opt not to buy Applecare (the warranty) and if your screen goes haywire and needs replacing, have fun ponying up ~$700 or more to replace it and that is out of your pocket.
 
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bhanson

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I think it should come down to if you could afford to replace your machine if it broke. Don't gamble with something you can't afford to lose.
 
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Avid6eek said:
It's funny how everyone will argue until they are blue in the face about the superiority of Apple hardware...but if you don't pay $300 for the extra warranty, your "risking it." LOL

Eh. Don't take what I said out of context. It's a risk no matter what hardware you're using. If you drop a laptop, it will probably break. No computer is invincible. If you spill water on the keyboard, it might get through to the logic board as well and screw that up. I wasn't talking about the hardware failing for no reason. PCs don't generally do that either. If my computer's hardware gave out for no apparent reason, never mind replacing it, I'd stop using that particular component.
 
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forbin

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I usually don't go for protection plans, but I did get one for my ipod and have already used it twice. In fact, the service/support was so good, I just purchased a plan for my iMac .. Of course I'm hedging that something might go wrong and the cost of fixing/replacement would cost more than the plan. I would never get a plan for a PC .. If a component breaks, I would go online and find a cheap replacement. Not so with Apple/Mac
 
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MichaelSullivan

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From: http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Apple_17_inch_PowerBook_G4/4505-3121_16-30568313.html

Apple's warranty is a fairly standard one year for parts and labor, though the free telephone support lasts only a meager 90 days. You can extend both the warranty and the phone support to three years for an extra $349. Apple does, however, put resources into self-help. The PowerBook comes with an Apple Hardware Test CD to help diagnose hardware problems, and Apple's Web site includes an extensive knowledge base section and a large discussion board. The 120-page paper manual provides good information on connecting to the Internet and to peripherals, adding memory, and replacing the battery, and it includes various troubleshooting topics.
 

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