A case of Apples

Here's the scenario.

Duke University sells Apple laptops under a banner called TAP which over and above the AppleCare warranty of three years gives an extra warranty called Devil's Pledge Warranty that gives the following benefits:

* Provide the parts and labor to repair any electronic failure.
* Provide the parts and labor to repair accidental damage to a TAP notebook. This includes broken or cracked screens, broken or cracked case parts and malfunctioning hinges.
* Provide the parts and labor to repair any damage resulting from accidental liquid spills.
* If any of the above repairs cannot be accomplished within 3 business days, a loaner notebook will be coordinated and provided through The Link.

The notebook configuration is given below:

MacBook Pro, 15.4"
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
2 Gigabytes RAM
250 Gigabyte Hard Drive, 5400 rpm
NVIDIA 256 Meg video RAM
Microsoft Office Professional
25' Ethernet Cable
Fellows Mighty 8 Surge Protector
Notebook Security Cable Lock
Protective Notebook Sleeve
Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Macintosh

Price: $1979 (including $130 for an extra 2GB of RAM)

So, the good point here is the accidental damage cover. The not-so-good point is settling for the older Macbook Pro model without the increase in RAM, battery life.


The second part of the scene:

This is what I get from the Apple store, plus a new iPod. I already have an iPod, so that's not much of a concern.

Macbook Pro 15.4"
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz
4GB Memory
250GB hard drive
SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256MB
AppleCare for three years

Price: $1787

Good: New Macbook Pro, increased RAM, better battery life, SD card slot.
Bad: No extra goodies, no accidental damage cover.

So, here's the question. Is accidental damage cover an overriding factor over the features of the New Macbook Pro? I am very careful and all, but still accidents and accidents. Which one should I go with?

So, here's the question. Is accidental damage cover an overriding factor over the features of the New Macbook Pro? I am very careful and all, but still accidents and accidents. Which one should I go with?

Click to expand...

Here's what I would do: Purchase the new MBP for $1787 and then go here and purchase their policy which covers accidental spills, etc, plus coverage in the event the machine is stolen. (common occurrence at universities and colleges).

Regards.

130 dollars for 2GB of RAM is pure lunacy. Especially when you can buy 2X2GB for half the price.

Thanks a lot for the link, really had no idea about that. So, I checked a quote for a policy of $2000 for three years and my premium is $99 for three months. This works exactly like a normal insurance plan, right? Do they cover me more than once for the damages? How safe and dependable is it? I am going to Duke from India, so I am not pretty sure about things! Thanks again!

Also, I don't know the exact price of the RAM. How much does the RAM for an Apple actually cost?

adrivit said:

Thanks a lot for the link, really had no idea about that. So, I checked a quote for a policy of $2000 for three years and my premium is $99 for three months. This works exactly like a normal insurance plan, right? Do they cover me more than once for the damages? How safe and dependable is it? I am going to Duke from India, so I am not pretty sure about things! Thanks again!

Also, I don't know the exact price of the RAM. How much does the RAM for an Apple actually cost?

Click to expand...

Yes, the Safeware policy is just like an ordinary insurance plan and it covers damages. I'm not certain about covering damages for more than one occurrence but I would bet that it does. The important thing is that it covers you in the event the machine is lost or stolen.

As been pointed out in the other reply, purchasing memory from Apple is expensive. You can do it yourself for much less. The new MBP models have easy access to replacing memory and the hard drive (at least according to a friend of mine who tests the machines for Apple).

Regards.

I need some help with terminology.

For a laptop insurance, what does $60 Annual Premium for $88 deductible for a premium of $3500 mean?

I am new to all this, so please help!

I *think* it means, for an annual payment of $60, you get laptop insurance worth up to $3,500 with the first $88 of all claims being paid by yourself.

Please don't take this to be the definite meaning - you should go and ask the insurance people to explain it in basic terms.

Can you customize your notebook if you buy it from an Apple store in person? I wanted the 320GB HDD with 7200 RPM instead of the 5400 RPM. Also, can you get the rebate on the iPod in the same case?