I bought two G4 PowerBooks at the same time, one for me, one for family. As an experiment I got Applecare for one and not for the other. The one I didn't buy it for is fine and has been for several years. The other one had a disk drive and a screen replaced about two years after I bought it. So I just got lucky I guess and saved about $800.
I bought a Mini iPod for my girlfriend but didn't get Applecare. It died about two years after I bought it. True, it was used heavily, but I wish I had gotten the Applecare. I replaced it with a new Nano and if it dies in the next three years, which seems likely, it'll be under warantee. When I bought it I had to ask for Applecare. Thought that was interesting. Maybe they expect that it's going to die and don't want to be on the hook for as many units as they would be if they were pushing the extended warantee.
Actually, AppleCare for an iPod is only two-years total warranty, not three like on Computers & Displays.
I work in a computer store that services Mac. We service a lot of macs, some who pay a lot of money out of pocket because they didn't buy AppleCare, a lot we service through AppleCare, and others we service through our extended warranty (we offer an Accidental Plan).
We service both macs and pc's, and there are many macs that come in. With a mac, it is almost always a hardware problem...Yes, pc's break down more, but they are mostly software issues.
If you are a person who says "Macs don't break down"..That's crazy..Hardware is hardware and it's the same hardware that is in PC's..Years ago the original macs were built very solid. Apple also made every part in that machine, and they cost an arm and a leg to buy one. Now, they are made much cheaper, they have other manufacturer's parts in their machine, and they are a mass produced item and the quality control is not there. Look at the macbook's for instance, how many issues did they have with them? Tons.
They are expensive to fix...If you are someone who has a lot of money to burn, don't buy it and take your chances. If it dies and it's the logicboard or screen, they buy a new one (hard drive or ram is cheap to replace though). However, most people do not just have a couple thousand dollars to fork out on a new machine every time is dies.
With iPods, we don't sell AppleCare..We sell an over-the-counter exchange warranty, so if the iPod dies (as long as it wasn't physical or liquid damage)..or if the battery isn't holding it's charge, or whatnot..we replace the iPod with a brand new one. For instance, if a customer had a 40GB iPod and it died today, they would come in, we would test it, and they would walk out with a 80GB iPod..AppleCare sucks for iPods..they just repair it, or replace with a refurbished model. This coverage ranges from $69-$139CDN, for 3 years total. A lot of iPods get replaced..
What are you buying when you buy AppleCare: Peace of Mind.
