Mac Tough?

cdonovan · February 25, 2009

So one final question.
Of course, this day in age, you can't buy electronics without someone trying to sell you a protection plan. I just wonder if it's really necessary....I mean, Mac has the one year thing, but I can be pretty hard on things...the part that bothers me most is the DVD/CD burner. I burn a lot of Disks, and with my pc, have actually gone through 3 burners in 4 years. Is that something that I should consider could happen, and with the location of the burner....I'm afraid that it'd be very costly to repair.
I'm shopping at future shop, mostly because of their payment plan, but they offer 4 year coverage, it's about $ 20 extra per month based on 24 months. I know that if something happens down the line and I'm not covered I'll be really upset with myself, but is it really necessary?

Thanks guys c::D

dlplumer · February 25, 2009

My son works for Apple and I am a mac user. I do not believe in extended warranties but if you are purchasing a laptop, get the care plan for sure. These are great machines, but motherboards do go, and I would advise you to purchase the plan.

du8die · February 25, 2009

I'm not a big fan of extended plans either. But, I bought one with our Mac Pro a year ago. Well, right about a year into owning it, the HD died. It was a 250 Gb. When I took it in, they replaced it with a 500 Gb, no questions asked.

So far, I've benefited from their service.

You may not ever need it - but Mac parts are not necessarily cheap.

Pupator · February 25, 2009

Applecare can be purchased anywhere, not just at the place where the computer is purchased. Look on E-bay and you'll find very good deals. They send you a code and you go to Apple's site and register the code and your serial number. So long as you hang on to your original purchase receipt (for the computer, not the Applecare) you'll always be in good shape.

I got Applecare for my Macbook Air for $125. I'm not much on these extended warranties either, but at that price (for a computer I cannot possibly repair myself) it was worth it.

colourbox · February 25, 2009

I never buy extended warranties, but I do for my Macs. The only reason is that I use them for business, meaning the price of the plan is insurance against downtime. When I have had to send one in for service, it gets overnighted out and overnighted back to me, so if they fix it as soon as I get it (barring parts shortages), it's back in my hands within 3 days. On the Macs that have needed service, AppleCare more than paid for itself in parts and labor. That said, I wish Apple would have the longer free warranties that some PC manufacturers offer. My last two Macs have not needed service at all.

Don't buy AppleCare from Apple. It is much cheaper at Amazon and at lacomputercompany.com.

Reasons to not get AppleCare: AppleCare only covers problems defined by Apple as defects, so if you want accident or theft protection, get a policy from your insurance company instead. If you think you will be upgrading within a year or so, then let the base warranty cover you.

cdonovan · February 25, 2009

Wow folks, Thanks very much for the insight. I just did the math, the 4 year service plan that they are trying to sell me actually in the end will cost me about $700....shame on me, no wonder they were working the service plan talk. I'll definitely go with the AppleCare, Their service plan was a year longer, if a repair takes longer than 60 days they'll replace it....with apple care is within a week....I think that I know which is the winner! Thank god I didn't jump at the plan! I didn't really realize that apple care existed, can't wait to see his disappointed face when I tell him....perfect timing actually my pic just gave me a sign that it's looking to retire, a plea at low disk space!!:D

colourbox wrote:

I never buy extended warranties, but I do for my Macs. The only reason is that I use them for business, meaning the price of the plan is insurance against downtime. When I have had to send one in for service, it gets overnighted out and overnighted back to me, so if they fix it as soon as I get it (barring parts shortages), it's back in my hands within 3 days. On the Macs that have needed service, AppleCare more than paid for itself in parts and labor. That said, I wish Apple would have the longer free warranties that some PC manufacturers offer. My last two Macs have not needed service at all.

Don't buy AppleCare from Apple. It is much cheaper at Amazon and at lacomputercompany.com.

Reasons to not get AppleCare: AppleCare only covers problems defined by Apple as defects, so if you want accident or theft protection, get a policy from your insurance company instead. If you think you will be upgrading within a year or so, then let the base warranty cover you.

pathfinder · February 25, 2009

I agree with colourbox.

I never buy extended warranties for consumer goods, but I do for my Macs. If you buy a tower and an Apple Cinema display at the same time along with Applecare, the display as well as the tower is covered.

I had Apple completely replace a dual G5 Power Mac that was over two years old, simply because it would not go to sleep properly, even after being repaired by Apple. That really sold me because they did not argue or stall, they simply said that ain't the way it is supposed to work, we can't seem to find out what it is, and they replaced the entire tower. 'Nuff said!

cdonovan · February 27, 2009

This is all such great information, I anticipate that something will go wrong...that's just my luck, but I'm glad to know that I'll be covered either way, It was amazing the change in service that happened when i told the guy I wouldn't be taking the service plan, then he tried to compare their service to apples....I told him, really quite blunt, that I wasn't interested in paying $700 for something that I could pay less than $200 for. He let it go then!!!
I'm really loving it, I can't believe the speed/ease, the only thing I've struggled with so far was finding the right click on the mouse, but have that sorted out now!

Even my cs3 actions I was worried about are working with the cs4 c::D

Thanks again everyone!

pathfinder · February 27, 2009

Ditch the Apple mouse and get a two button mouse and plug it in - it will be recognized and work just fine. That is what I use

dogwood · February 27, 2009

Another option is to pay yourself the monthly fee for the extended service plan every month. Put it is a savings account and don't touch it. Then if you have a problem, you'll have some money to pay for it. If nothing goes wrong, you'll have a decent "repair" account going.

I know, I know -- easier said than done.

But just think if we had all been doing this over the years for everything we'd bought that didn't break down!

P.S. at my day job, five MacBook HD's have died in my department alone this past couple of months.

Andy · February 27, 2009

cdonovan wrote:

So one final question.
Of course, this day in age, you can't buy electronics without someone trying to sell you a protection plan. I just wonder if it's really necessary....I mean, Mac has the one year thing, but I can be pretty hard on things...the part that bothers me most is the DVD/CD burner. I burn a lot of Disks, and with my pc, have actually gone through 3 burners in 4 years. Is that something that I should consider could happen, and with the location of the burner....I'm afraid that it'd be very costly to repair.
I'm shopping at future shop, mostly because of their payment plan, but they offer 4 year coverage, it's about $ 20 extra per month based on 24 months. I know that if something happens down the line and I'm not covered I'll be really upset with myself, but is it really necessary?

Thanks guys c::D

Get Apple Care. Period.

BTW, My Mac Pro was one of the first out, it is in its' 3rd year of service, and it's amazingly reliable. Not one problem with it, ever. I've added Disk (now have 3 Tb internal) and lots of RAM and even a new graphics card. It just keeps chuggin'

Wachel · February 27, 2009

Bought the G5 iMac with Apple Care when they first came out. It was in the shop 4 times for various things. I called them and told them this was silly. I had a new Mac in less than a week. AND...they let me upgrade to a 24" from my old 20" (I paid the difference). Also, the new one was an intel iMac.

My new 24" iMac started having problems with the video card overheating. The replaced it even though my Apple Care had just expired 3 months earlier.

GREAT SERVICE. Apple Care is worth every penny...especially iMacs and laptops where everything in integrated. The main board of an iMac runs about $800.

That is my 2¢

Mac Tough?

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