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Dr.Michael · Sep 24, 2004, 03:41 AM

Originally posted by:
Hello,
Since I have two more months remaining on my warranty, do you think applecare a must have? thanks for any opinions!.

I copied the quote from another posting.
We see these kind of threads over and over again. This is a problem every mac user has sometime.
And its clear why this is a problem. Insurance deals with anxiety. Thats why we see so many people say "get it" and others who simply say "save your money" depending on their finances, ability and trust to help themselves etc.

These opinions are meant to help but in reality this is not a base for a good decision. It just makes you feel better (which is ok of course).

But what counts and what would really help are threads where severe hardware defects are reported. So you can get a clear idea how many problems your machine is going to develop.

So I propose to have a forum (aside from powerbook, iBook, Powermac etc) for every computer type where anyone with problems can report and everyone who has to decide for or against apple care can have a look. Something like "hardware problem reports" with subsections for TiBook, Al12, Al15, iMac etc. This could alternatively be a sticky in every forum.
It would also help when you want to buy used computers.

What do you think? Would this be helpful?
Please comment.
Moderators are especially invited.

MilkmanDan · Sep 24, 2004, 06:17 AM

My room mate has his power brick die within a year, though covered by tghe year warranty, it shows things can go wrong. His computer is now being sent in again for a bad hard drive and a bad LCD screen. If he didn't have apple care on his original 867 12in Powerbook, he would be paying up the a$$.

I'm going to buy Applecare for my 1.33 12in Powerbook. I mean, after spending $1800 on a computer, why the heck would you not want to protect that investment.

Aussiemac · Sep 25, 2004, 04:08 AM

I have a new 15"Powerbook, and I am going to purchase the Apple care plan.

Spheric Harlot · Sep 25, 2004, 08:05 AM

You have a laptop.

BUY APPLECARE.

It's already saved me far more than it cost.

-s*

striker100 · Sep 25, 2004, 09:28 AM

AppleCare is like any other insurance, you hope not to use it but if a problem comes up your happy you have it. Think of it as health care insurance for your Mac.

maxx9photo · Sep 25, 2004, 12:47 PM

Hi,

I'm the original poster of that question and have decide to buy one as I will use the PB a least for another year. And I think it's true at least it could save $$ when something happen and we never know right?

Ike

Dr.Michael · Sep 28, 2004, 03:37 AM

Hi guys,

thank you all for your replies.
But - ahem, did anyone of you actually READ my question?

Looks more that you only answered what you always answer after seeing this kind of headline ;o).

Funny to see this. And it supports my impression that we are tired of the same questions again and again.

So please go back to my original posting, READ it and reply again.

Randman · Sep 28, 2004, 05:40 AM

If people have problems, they should go to a certain forum, ie PowerBook, PowerMac, etc.

One extra reason for AC, besides comfort of mind, is the resale value is slightly boosted.

urrl78 · Sep 28, 2004, 08:07 AM

My 17" screen went out about two weeeks before the 1 year warranty expired. They ended up giving me a new 17". I would have been out of luck if the problem happened 2 weeks after the warranty expired. Too lazy to reread the question, sorry!

SEkker · Sep 28, 2004, 10:02 AM

I think there is a big difference between random failures and recurring failures.

The modem went out on my PB17" -- this is a very rare event as far as I can tell.

Now, the hinges have been a problem on all 4 of our Ti PBs, purchased over a 2 year period. That is a recurring problem.

Seems to me the current Al PBs are pretty good with no obvious problems besides the 15" white spots.

chris v · 11:04 AM

I think hardware problems do okay in their hardware-specific forums. The sticky threads like the "white spots" one work fine for me.

Applecare has saved me about $650.00 so far this year, with a 2 1/2 year old tower. In the past, it has gotten me a motherboard and monitor replaced, and a new mouse.

So far, I think I'm ahead on the cost, but even if I was behind, I'd still advocate it for the peace of mind. If you're suddenly faced with a $500.00 repair or having to chuck/buy new one day due to catastrophic failure, it's never going to happen at a convenient time. You can plan to spend the money now, and allocate for it, or you can be taken by surprise, mid-project, between paychecks and be up a river.

Podolsky · Sep 29, 2004, 11:18 AM

I have had and still have many, many Macs but in all that time I have only purchased Applecare for one of them....my 17"PB and for that computer it was a no brainer - as soon as it took it out of the box and held in my hands my brain said......Applecare......The PowerBooks are just a lot of money to buy and especially to repair on your own and having Applecare is worth the price just for the peace of mind it buys. This is especially true if you are really mobile with the PB. Travel takes a lot out of them even if you have good protection. Even sitting on desk at home has its risks too. So, like other posters here - when it comes to any PowerBook that cost you > $2,000, I say buy AppleCare.

TPmac · Oct 1, 2004, 05:29 AM

Using a Mastercard or Visa Gold credit card for purchase will automatically double your original warranty from one year to two. So with Applecare, you are really only providing protection for the third year.

At $350 for just one extra year of protection, I just don't think it is worth it considering the overall quality of Apple products I have owned. Sure something could fail within that third year, but that is the chance I am willing to take. Can't insure against everything in life.

bedoughty · Oct 3, 2004, 02:03 AM

Buy it. Period. All of the success/failure stories mean nothing, this is sheer statistics. Something could easily go wrong, and with the average cost of a repair your AppleCare will easily pay for itself.

Unless you're like a couple friends of mine who have the $$ for a new one if anything goes wrong, in which case they just drop the $$ for the new hotness that's out there anyway. Lucky jerks.

MrForgetable · Oct 3, 2004, 12:13 PM

Originally posted by TPmac:
Using a Mastercard or Visa Gold credit card for purchase will automatically double your original warranty from one year to two. So with Applecare, you are really only providing protection for the third year.

At $350 for just one extra year of protection, I just don't think it is worth it considering the overall quality of Apple products I have owned. Sure something could fail within that third year, but that is the chance I am willing to take. Can't insure against everything in life.

where did you get this information?

TPmac · 01:59 PM

Originally posted by MrForgetable:
where did you get this information?

The info for the Mastercard Gold extended warranty is here:

http://www.mastercard.com/aboutourca...card_gold.html

A lot of banks will also give this extended warranty benefit to Visa Gold Card as seen here towards the bottom of the page:

http://www.bcu.org/pages/cards.htm

You can always verify your benefits with your issuing bank if you have a Gold card or better. This extended warranty is a great deal but most people seem not to be aware of it.

striker100 · Oct 3, 2004, 03:12 PM

It's true, alot of credit card companies will extend the warranty from 1-2 years, AMEX included. I do wonder if it is implemented as easily as Applecare though. When I had a problem with my old G4 Powermac (the processor died) an Apple technician was at my house the next day with a new processor. Had I not had Applecare I wonder if I would have received that kind of service even though my credit card company might have covered the repair. I might not have received the on site service and had to send it in.
I suppose if you have a problem with your Powerbook and use the extension of your original warranty through your credit card company you have the cc company contact Apple to make the repair.

MrForgetable · Oct 3, 2004, 03:50 PM

hey, how does the credit card thing work? i never knew AMEX did that. i read up on it and it said if you charge the whole thing on the credit card you get up to an extra year of coverage. double 1 year and you get 2. is it automatically done when I order the computer or would i have to go through some kind of process?

striker100 · Oct 3, 2004, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by MrForgetable:
hey, how does the credit card thing work? i never knew AMEX did that. i read up on it and it said if you charge the whole thing on the credit card you get up to an extra year of coverage. double 1 year and you get 2. is it automatically done when I order the computer or would i have to go through some kind of process?

https://www124.americanexpress.com/c...sassurance.jsp

Saramin · Oct 3, 2004, 04:55 PM

I bought my PB using my dad's Mastercard, but at the moment I'm about a thousand miles away at college. Do you actually need to be the holder of the card for the warranty to apply? Is there some way to check with Apple to see if your machine is covered?

Seems kind of strange.

hart · Oct 3, 2004, 05:48 PM

I'm not sure you could get a predictive relationship between posting of problems for specific models and benefit of Applecare. For one thing many of the initial bugs appear during the first months of usage while the kinds of things that go wrong in subsequent years may be more related to kinds of wear and tear. Additionally, we're talking about problems that occur after the initial warranty is over. Since most purchasers of any given model purchase it roughly within the same time frame, by the time the Applecare timeframe kicked in and you could get a picture of the repair rate for any given model after the first year it would be too late for most owners of any given model to actually purchase applecare. People making the decision to buy Applecare or not would mostly be buying later models. if you see what I mean.

Ruahrc · Oct 4, 2004, 03:12 AM

I have a question regarding the AppleCare plan...

I bought the stock 60GB 4200rpm drive in my PB because I wanted to later upgrade to a 7200rpm drive (80GB or 100GB would be nice) which is not currently an option as BTO. So I would have to buy it and install it myself, which would entail opening up the PB.

Now if I did this would my warrenty be void? So if I bougth applecare and did this, it would basically be a complete waste because I opened my PB to change the HD out? I guess the other option would be to have a 3rd party do the replacement and get a warranty through them?

It's things like these that always make me leery of extended warranties becaues then I can't do things like upgrade my laptop.

Ruahrc

TPmac · Oct 4, 2004, 10:36 AM

Originally posted by Saramin:
I bought my PB using my dad's Mastercard, but at the moment I'm about a thousand miles away at college. Do you actually need to be the holder of the card for the warranty to apply? Is there some way to check with Apple to see if your machine is covered?

Seems kind of strange.

I can't see how Apple would know in any way whether you would be covered through your credit card company or not.

I don't see why the warranty would not apply by using your Dad's credit card. To put in a claim, you need to call Mastercard to get a claim form. You can always ask your Dad to make the initial call to get the claim form for you to fill out.

Person Man · Oct 4, 2004, 05:49 PM

Originally posted by Ruahrc:
I have a question regarding the AppleCare plan...

I bought the stock 60GB 4200rpm drive in my PB because I wanted to later upgrade to a 7200rpm drive (80GB or 100GB would be nice) which is not currently an option as BTO. So I would have to buy it and install it myself, which would entail opening up the PB.

Ruahrc

Depends on what kind of PowerBook you have. If it is a Titanium PowerBook, then you can go ahead and upgrade the drive yourself as the hard drive is a user-installable part. If it is an Aluminum PowerBook, you can't install it yourself because the hard drive is not a user-installable part in those models.

If you have an Aluminum PowerBook, the only way to upgrade the hard drive without voiding the warranty is to have an authorized service provider install the drive for you.

Skip Breakfast · Oct 4, 2004, 06:24 PM

How about an AppleCare forum?

Saramin · Oct 4, 2004, 06:32 PM

Originally posted by Person Man:
Depends on what kind of PowerBook you have. If it is a Titanium PowerBook, then you can go ahead and upgrade the drive yourself as the hard drive is a user-installable part. If it is an Aluminum PowerBook, you can't install it yourself because the hard drive is not a user-installable part in those models.

If you have an Aluminum PowerBook, the only way to upgrade the hard drive without voiding the warranty is to have an authorized service provider install the drive for you.

I always wondered about that. I mean, how could Apple tell if you had ever switched harddrives before if you kept the old one around and swapped it in before you sent it off to Applecare?

Ruahrc · Oct 8, 2004, 07:21 PM

Depends on what kind of PowerBook you have. If it is a Titanium PowerBook, then you can go ahead and upgrade the drive yourself as the hard drive is a user-installable part. If it is an Aluminum PowerBook, you can't install it yourself because the hard drive is not a user-installable part in those models.

If you have an Aluminum PowerBook, the only way to upgrade the hard drive without voiding the warranty is to have an authorized service provider install the drive for you.

It's an Al powerbook.

So if I bought Applecare, then paid for an ASP to install a HD I bought, and it went bad, would it be covered under Applecare (since an ASP did it) or would it fall under some other warranty I would need to get via the ASP, and Applecare would only cover other items (such as a display going bad or a failing CDROM)?

Ruahrc

striker100 · Oct 8, 2004, 10:12 PM

So if I bought Applecare, then paid for an ASP to install a HD I bought, and it went bad, would it be covered under Applecare (since an ASP did it) or would it fall under some other warranty I would need to get via the ASP, and Applecare would only cover other items (such as a display going bad or a failing CDROM)?

No if you replace the hard drive even if it's by an ASP the hard drive will be covered by the manufacturers warranty not by Apple. Your Applecare warranty won't be voided though.

KeriVit · Oct 8, 2004, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by Dr.Michael:
Hi guys,

thank you all for your replies.
But - ahem, did anyone of you actually READ my question?

Looks more that you only answered what you always answer after seeing this kind of headline ;o).

Funny to see this. And it supports my impression that we are tired of the same questions again and again.

So please go back to my original posting, READ it and reply again.

I understand your frustration regarding reading threads. But- did you READ YOUR FORUM TOPIC?

A bit misleading if you want to talk about something else- don'tcha think?

Anyway- yes I like the idea you have presented though hardware probs are submitted already just not as a sticky...?!?

noxoliver · Oct 9, 2004, 10:45 AM

I have a question and maybe some of you can help me:

I would like to know if studens get Applecare cheaper? 300 � are a lot of money.

maxx9photo · Oct 9, 2004, 11:48 AM

Knowing that I only paid much less than apple store sell this $349, I paid for only $250 is very worth!.

scottiB · Oct 9, 2004, 04:30 PM

Originally posted by noxoliver:
I have a question and maybe some of you can help me:

I would like to know if studens get Applecare cheaper? 300 � are a lot of money.

In the U.S., AppleCare for a PowerBook is $349; for education (I priced higher ed), it's $239.

noxoliver · Oct 10, 2004, 08:31 AM

hmm thanks.
Several months ago I asked my apple store and they told me it would cost 79 � for students. I was not sure if he was wrong or I. Well, seems I have to ask him again.