Question:
Apple Warranty
Hi All,
I've decided its time for me to get a new notebook. I have been looking at PC notebooks, as well as what Apple has to offer. This has brought me to warranties and service/support. How many of you have went with the $350 Apple Care plan. Do you reccomend it? Is it worth it? Ive been comparing prices of Apple vs PC notebooks, and generaly Apple is a little higher, however that is all very relative. Intill I came to warranty prices. The Apple 3yr extension seems to be the most expensive that I have seen so far. I figure even the best notebook can have problems so support is very imporant to me. Any advice anyone could give me would be much appreciated.
Hill
Answer:
Hill, I have no experience with the Apple Care Plan but I agree that a good service protection plan with a major manufacturer is the way to go if you want guaranteed longetivity from your purchase. Although $350 seems expensive, that's only about $50 - $75 more than what Dell asks for a 3 yr. warranty on a notebook. I'm not sure of the details on the Apple warranty to be honest, but I'll assume at that price it is pretty encompassing. I suggest comparing it to the details of the Dell 3yr. service plan and see how it matches up, if it's not at least on par then I'd say Apple is overpriced. If it is about the same then you just kind of expect to pay more for Apple and the price of $350 is okay.
Answer:
I was close to buying a 15" or 17" Powerbook but it was mainly the warranty that made me go for the HP. They are more expensive and don't have accidental damage protection, which is something I really wanted on an expensive item that I will be carrying around alot. Without the warranty concerns, I think Apple makes a nice laptop. But it is not worth it if I can't get it covered for the unavoidable. I have not ever damaged my notebook, but I don't want to take a $3000 gamble...
The Powerbooks cost more than a similar notebook with Windows as well, so when I added the cost of warranties, and the fact that I would hav to buy numerous other programs to make it compatible with professors' document formats I decided the cost was not worth it for me. If I wasn't in college and could afford to blow the extra $$ I might have gone Apple, but even still, their notebooks still don't offer the high res. screen I got on the notebook I have coming.
Answer:
I agree that the AppleCare warranty is expensive, especially if you buy it from Apple. However, it's worth it if you want peace of mind. AppleCare can be purchased from other online retailers like Small Dog Electronics and MegaMacs for less than the list price: http://www.smalldog.com/ $300 or http://www.megamacs.com/v1/index.php for $290. Sometimes you can get a deal where it's bundled with a Powerbook/iBook. Check dealmac for current deals: http://dealmac.com/
We bought it for my wife's 12" Powerbook. So far we haven't had to repair anything, but we have used the call-in tech support for a few questions that had us stumped.
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