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?"

Comments

It's worth it when you need it.

[Elwood P Dowd]

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.

it's all about odds

[nicholas.]

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.

Re:it's all about odds

[MyGirlFriendsBroken]

I see your argument execatly and agree with it but with one point to add

If you take the money you could have spent on extended warrenties for all sorts of things you buy, TVs, computers, DVD players, Video players and kitchin stuff etc and put it in a savings account I bet over a life time you would be better off.

Just for an example my PC fried 3 weeks ago, it was a £350 I need one quick PC. It had already died once under guarante but this time it was out. I spent £1500 on a new one which I had planed to get in a few months anyway and at the mo it's really nice. My point, however, is that I've not payed anything in extended warantees and so think if I had I would probably be even (I'm only 23). It's a matter of odds yes, but have one policy or another and I think you end up about even.

Just a tip for thouse in the UK buy from John Lewis as they give you a 5 year guarantte automatically as well as matching anybody elses price. My telly a Sony I bought from £200 less than in the local Sony store and came with these 5 years as well as free delivery, great if you live in a flat and don't have a lift!!

Re:I wouldn't...

[ccosner]

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.

Question I asked at the Apple Store...

[Naum]

... where I purchased my new powerbook, when prompted by the salesperson for a decision on Applecare.

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.

Re:A story:

[Johnny Mnemonic]

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.

Re:A story:

[Verence]

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.

Get AppleCare if you can afford it.

[mellon]

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.