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AppleCare for PowerBooks - Worth it or Wasted?
Starquake asks: "I am planning on purchasing a PowerBook in the near future. The choice between models largely depends on whether or not the cost of AppleCare is included. Of course the salesman at the Apple Store suggested I purchase AppleCare, but I am not sure about the cost/benefit ratio. Would the PowerBook owners on Slashdot please advise me on whether or not the AppleCare plan is worth the extra cost? What types of experiences have you had with Powerbook failures and replacements?"
It's insurance. Decide if you want insurance.
Personally, I'd get extended AppleCare, and use that as a selling point when I unload it on ebay two years later.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
you play the odds. what are the odds that a something w/o moving parts is gonna break in a computer. in my experience, fairly slim.
things that break are typically HDs and optical drives. if you subscribe to this theory than there is no way Apple Care is worth it.
if you think that stuff like LCDs and motherboard will go bad with use and time than Apple care is probably worth it.
out of the 5 Apple computers i've purchased, i've never bought apple care and never had a non-moving part go bad on me.
at work i had a mac's built in NIC go bad, but it was within the one year warranty. i also had a power supply go bad, that wasn't under warranty. it cost $150 to replace. personally i think that if a non-moving part doesn't go bad within a year, it's unlikey to go bad within three.
My ibook died when out of warranty. Being a techy, I tried to troubleshoot it myself. So I tried various boot disks, resetting the pram, etc., attempting to boot to a firewire drive, even replaced the hard drive. No dice. Sent it to Apple, paid $400 and they fixed it and added a 90-day warranty. I'm pretty sure they replaced the board. If I had had AppleCare I would have just sent it to them in the beginning and saved a lot of time and frustration.
So what if they make money. They get bulk deals. They're not going to offer a product like this at a LOSS to themselves. Thing is that it's a gamble. Can you afford to pay repair costs or buy a new laptop 1 year later? Can your family afford to live without you if you're the sole provider if you die? Life insurance companies also make money off the Insurance they sell, it's why they are in business. Does that mean that you shouldn't buy Life Insurance?
I don't have a Powerbook, I have an iBook. So far AppleCare seems to be a hefty requirement if I am supposed to continue to be able to use this computer in the near future without going bankrupt on continuous repairs.
1. Harddrive broke down. Mailed it in to Apple, they sent it back. I thought the iBook was fine but it turned out to be still broken.
2. Sent it down to Holland and got a replacement iBook.
3. Harddrive broke down again a couple of months later. Got it replaced at a local shop after two weeks of waiting.
4. Harddrive broke down yet a third time! Got it replaced with in days.
5. Months after that the motherboard died! The screen started to become whacky and the local repair shop fixed it.
6. Had to return it once again to the shop because it showed up to be that the audio out jack was bad.
7. I'm about to return it a seventh time because it turned out that the replacement iBook I got back from Holland had some weird shit placed inside of the screen, causing a disturbing crack on the edge -- didn't notice it at first, but I'm doing it now because it's growing as time pass by.
Is AppleCare worth it? Yeah. If I need to take my iBook to the shop seven times a year, AppleCare could probably save me possibly thousands and thousands of dollars.
What's so bad about being lazy? What if there was a war and nobody showed up?
The company I work for has three of them running about.
One had a DVD that ate disks, started in the second year *grind* *grind* *gouge*. Apple Extended paid for itself there.
The second developed an issue with that ridiculous reset button in back, motherboard had to be replaced. I don't even want to know how much Apple Care saved me that time.
The third has run like a dream, never had a problem.
What happens if I spill a coke all over my open notebook and it ceases to function? Will you hook me up with a new powerbook and/or fix it?
No, that's probably covered under your home owner's insurance, if you have it.
OK, no thanks then.
AZspot
If it was out of warranty, and the owner wanted to have those processors replaced, I have no doubt that would have been the cost. I worked for Apple, once, and charged those kinds of prices for that kind of repair (exact $s depend on exact model, but yeah, I can believe $800).
I'm not going to argue if that was Apple's cost of parts, or if the processors are worth that much. But that would have been the price for an out-of-warranty repair to the owner.
I have a post in this thread about the different costs between laptops and desktops, though, as Apple does a funny price thing. Read it, if you care.
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Definitely definitely for your Powerbook. While Apple laptops are pretty reliable (IMHO), anything portable is bound to be beaten and battered into a state of broken-ness. While the price is pretty steep for AppleCare, the service is really good and they will pretty much help you with anything. I have an iBook with AppleCare and it was worth it, considering my screen started blinking out a little while ago. Considering that the repair might have cost several hundred dollars to fix without it and I got AppleCare for about 200 bucks. Got it fixed in about a day.
Of course, if your machine never breaks, then you're probably going to think it was never worth it... but in any case, it will help keep that resale value high if you decide to get rid of it before the warranty is up.
But anyway, I think its worth it.
Sigs are for losers::
Here's my story:
I've got a PB 800 DVI, and shortly into my school year I had a little issue with it. I was trying to disconnect one of those awful ultra-tiny cat5 cables that absolutely refuse to come out easily. Unfortunately, I put a little too much pressure on the front right part of my nice little TiBook inside of the lighter outside frame - and broke a support inside.
Called up Apple, gave them a close-to-the-truth story, and was told, effectively, 'screw you, man, screw you.' Got a suggested price for my little mishap of $600. This was *not* just a 'you would have paid' - it was a 'ship it to us right now'.
Took the computer to a local place... has 'tek' in its name, I believe - and the crazy British guy did a wonderful job. Convinced Apple to actually cover it under warranty.
Warranty is definitely worth it. And you mgiht want to check that it's not a 90-day coverage, instead of a year.
... that's all i wrote...
It's a very nice deal. They have fantastic service. I've purchased AppleCare on all the Apples I've bought (two), and while I've only needed the repair service on the iBook, because the power connector failed (which was probably my fault, but it's a weakness in the design, and they didn't balk at all about repairing it).
On my G4, when I couldn't figure out how to get it back to life after a power glitch, I called AppleCare, someone answered within about a minute, and they were able to get me back up and running in another minute by telling me how to open it up and what little button to press on the motherboard.
I am not exactly a beginner, so the fact that I've been able to benefit from their phone support is pretty impressive. I really can't recommend them enough - they really do a nice job, and I feel like it's a bargain at $299.
well, i agree with the root comment: at the very least, wait until the end of the first year to decide.
in my experience with a g3-pb, i sent it back twice in the first year, and not a problem since, five years later.
i think out-of-the-box, apple hardware if flaky, but a few iterations in the first year and you should have a solid box for a few more.
as for dropping it, spilling coffee, etc., i guess apple care is good for that, but i've never done any of those things.
Yeah, I've dropped mine off a few tables and chairs, regularly carry it around by the screen and run around while it's tring to read something from the optical drive. Apart from the time I dropped a plug on the screen, it's still in great shape and people keep asking if it's new, lol. Says something for the strength of the design. Well, several things I guess.