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Applecare worth it?


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After having Leopard installed on my Dell m1330 for a few days now, I think I'm going to be selling it and investing in a MacBook. I've always been a "Mac Sucks" person......so I'm having to insert both feet into my mouth over this. :wacko:

 

When I bought my Dell I purchased 3 years of Complete Care with it, so I'm also considering buying Applecare when I finally invest in a MacBook. Is it worth it? Does Applecare cover accidental damage? Is it better to just spend a little extra per month and get extra coverage through my home insurance?

 

Any opinions/insight welcome!

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AppleCare does not cover accidental damage. Whether it's worth it is up to you though. If anything needs to be replaced out of warranty, other than the keyboard, it's almost certainly going to cost more than $250 to get it fixed. Repairs replacing parts like motherboards or screens can easily cost $500, $600 or sometimes more. In that case, the AppleCare definitely would have been worth it. On the other hand, if you buy AppleCare and never need it, then it isn't worth it.

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Have you personally bought it and/or needed it?

I had it on my PowerBook, but never needed it. While I've never personally needed AppleCare, I did work for AppleCare for two years (as a Mac Genius), so I have seen my fair share of computers repaired under AppleCare and paid out of pocket. It is true that for the most part, just one repair, and the AppleCare will have paid for itself. You don't have to decide on AppleCare right away. You can get it for your Mac any time within the regular warranty.

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I never bought AppleCare, in the old Macintosh II days a keyboard failed but it was on wanrranty so they replace it.

 

My PowerBook 12" never fail, the battery is 5 years old and it is in good shape.

 

My Dell Lappy (XPS M1330) failed last saturday, now is waiting for Dell Support repair. :D

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Have you personally bought it and/or needed it?

 

I bought it for my mac mini and used it have a failed hard drive replaced (saved me the $400 it would have cost if I didn't have the warranty). I haven't bought it for my MBP yet, but once my year gets close to running out I definitely will.

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I have needed it to replace a failed hard drive on an iMac G3 (read: death by electric shock = professional does it) and there is never a reason why you shouldn't take the extended warranty.

The iMac G3's hard drive could be replaced without being exposed to the CRT. Replacing the PAV board could have been dangerous though.

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After having Leopard installed on my Dell m1330 for a few days now, I think I'm going to be selling it and investing in a MacBook. I've always been a "Mac Sucks" person......so I'm having to insert both feet into my mouth over this. :)

 

When I bought my Dell I purchased 3 years of Complete Care with it, so I'm also considering buying Applecare when I finally invest in a MacBook. Is it worth it? Does Applecare cover accidental damage? Is it better to just spend a little extra per month and get extra coverage through my home insurance?

 

Any opinions/insight welcome!

Buy the Microcenter warrenty, they cover accidents.... with the mac book of course.

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I generally don't like 3rd party warranties for Macs, because you don't get the phone support that AppleCare gives you, and you have to take it to the store you bought it from (or another one in the chain) rather than being able to send it to Apple (with laptops, Apple will ship you a box, and you just put the computer in and send it back, if you don't want to take it to the store). I don't know about MicroCenter, but often, companies that sell third party warranties for Macs aren't even Apple Certified, so they often just turn around and send it to Apple, increasing the turnaround time.

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