Is Applecare really worth it?

[G5Unit]

I have a PM G5 1.8 Ghz that I got in Dec. 04. Anyone reccomend acually getting it? Or with how many problems I will have will it add up to less then the Applecare price? It's just I have to make a decision quick.

-G5Unit

EDIT: Also, what about .Mac? Is that worth it too?

 

[devilot]

I have a PM G5 1.8 Ghz that I got in Dec. 04. Anyone reccomend acually getting it? Or with how many problems I will have will it add up to less then the Applecare price? It's just I have to make a decision quick.

-G5Unit

EDIT: Also, what about .Mac? Is that worth it too?

Please do a search for both of these subjects. There are probably thousands of threads on this since the beginning of MR.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/158631/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/152813/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/152053/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/146807/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/144119/

Those were just for AppleCare... when you do an advanced search in buying advice w/ ".mac" in the title, you'll find a good number of threads titles such as, "is .mac worth it?" Here are a few of the links...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/142500/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/126597/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/76433/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/79977/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/68532/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/35277/

 

[jmort]

It depends

Well, that's a trick question, because if I say you don't need it, you will inevitably have a series of hardware failures and be pissed at me for my poor recommendation. On the other hand, if I tell you that Applecare is the best thing you could buy, you'll pay for it and never have a hiccup of hardware troubles for the rest of your life.

Honestly though, Insurance is just a gamble in some senses. If you do have any serious problems, you will greatly appreciate Applecare when the time comes to use it. However, it is entirely likely that you won't ever need it, especially since you've got a desktop unit. For mobile users, such as myself, Applecare is far more justifiable because our machines are prone to the hinges breaking, cases cracking, and other random hardware failures that come from the fact that they are...well, mobile. A tower or desktop unit however just sits there looking pretty, and is thus less prone to fail.

So, all of that to say, it depends. I would certainly recommend it. It's something you pay for once, and its very reassuring to know that your computer could blow up tomorrow and it wouldn't cost you a dime.

Hope that helps, but probably not

 

[jmort]

Also, what about .Mac? Is that worth it too?

I personally think it's a waste of money. I have found many third party applications (free) that give me the same functionality as .mac. However, I am a web designer and thus familiar with such things. For someone who wants a very easy, integrated set of web features that .mac offers, it may very well be worth a little extra money to get all of that in one place and in a package that offers no configuration or learning curve. I personally like customizing stuff to fit my design, and have found third party apps to give me more control in this aspect. Also, I save the hundred bucks a year.


http://dbowman.com/photos/

Visit this site to see an example of some third party software this guy used to create an online photo album from iPhoto. He describes the software he used to do this in the lower left corner of the screen. This is an example of .mac functionality with a higher learning curve, but minus the cost.

 

[mklos]

AppleCare is definitely worth it! Just think, its $249 for AppleCare on a PowerMac. Say the LogicBoard dies in February of 2006 and its out of warranty, is it going to cost less than $249 to replace it? You betcha! It will cost significantly more, but if you have AppleCare, its free!

Also AppleCare covers things like your AirPort Card, AirPort Extreme/Express Base Station, questions about iLife, Mac OS X. It will NOT cover you Apple Display if you bought them separate. You need to buy them together in order for the Display and Tower to be covered under the same AppleCare warranty. The same thing goes for PowerBooks. If you bought a PowerBook and then a month later, bought a 20" ACD, the display won't be covered under the AppleCare unless you buy it twice.

 

[bbarnhart]

Remember, Apple wouldn't (nor would any other warrenty extended program) offer it if they lost money on the deal. They are betting for $250 you don't have any issues on your Mac. You are betting $250 that you will. In the end, if 8 people bought AppleCare at a net of $2,000 and only one person has a claim at $1,500, they just made $500.

If, on the other hand, every single person had a $1,500 claim, they would loose $10,000. If this was the case, they wouldn't offer it.

 

[puckhead193]

if apple fixes my pb for free when i send it in, then i'll say its worth it

 

[josepho]

Remember, Apple wouldn't (nor would any other warrenty extended program) offer it if they lost money on the deal. They are betting for $250 you don't have any issues on your Mac. You are betting $250 that you will. In the end, if 8 people bought AppleCare at a net of $2,000 and only one person has a claim at $1,500, they just made $500.

If, on the other hand, every single person had a $1,500 claim, they would loose $10,000. If this was the case, they wouldn't offer it.

This is true -- but equally so in any insurance-type situation. Premiums are always priced in favour of the insurer, otherwise - as you correctly state "they wouldn't offer it". I can see where you're coming from, but if you look at the clear similarities with other types of insurance, think what your answer would be if the OP had asked:
"Is car insurance worth it?" (aside from being a legal necessity in most places)
"Is health insurance worth it?"
"Is liability/possessions/travel/whatever insurance worth it?"

On many of these types of insurance, the odds are that you (being an individual) won't claim, or your claim will be less than your premium, so the insurance company makes money. In that way, it's unlikely that the OP will have problems which justify AppleCare, but if he is one of the unlucky ones then - of course - it would be perfect... that's just the gamble one has to take in such situations. For many people, paying the premium is often about peace of mind more than anything.

Personally, I elected not to take it on my PowerBook, which is now about 19 months old. I haven't had any problems so far which would have justified it, but who knows what the future may hold.

 

[G5Unit]

I am convinced, I am going to get it. I like the logic board sample.

 

[wdlove]

I think that you have made a very smart decision G5Unit. Have always purchase AppleCare with my Mac's. Has paid off many times. With the others a sense of security.

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

I always have to laugh when I see a thread about this...

 

[WRCfan]

Applecare

I brought a G3 iBook 3 years ago and decided to purchse apple care for when warranty expired, 3 weeks after it expired my screen died, then 3 months later same thing, on top of that my logic board went too.
Without Applecare i was quoted a total of about 7000 NZ dollars it would have cost me to fix the iBook, so for 300 bucks i had no worries. In my opinion definately worth it.

 

[thequicksilver]

In a word, yes. My £150 has paid for a new hard drive and iBook battery. Then I have an extra 18 months coverage essentially for free.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a no brainer.

 

[CanadaRAM]

I have never purchased Applecare. I have also never had a catastrophic failure of a Mac. Hard drives don't count, they are disposable items anyway. Throw it out and get one double or triple the size for the same money.

However, I also get the majority of my computers second hand and fix or build them myself, so the risk/cost/repair ratios for me are low.

I have had clients who have had catastrophic failure (motherboard, etc). The ones who have had Applecare have been very grateful, mostly the ones who don't, don't bother spending $500+ fixing the machine, they scrap it and upgrade to the newest model.

With Applecare, repairs are guaranteed to cost you $xxx per the two years of coverage (over CAN$500 in the case of a Powerbook). Without Applecare, repairs may be zero or they may be $700 or $1000.

Are you in a position to buy a new machine in 2 - 3 years time anyway? If you roll the dice and lose, are you likely to shrug it off and lay out the dough without being too bent out of shape? Are you likely to want to add components or upgrade the machine yourself (possibly voiding your Applecare). Do you plan to drop or dent your laptop, ever, or spill liquids into it (bye bye warranty coverage)? If so, don't buy Applecare.

Is your machine in a high use or higher risk environment? Do you want to use it for 4 years+ becore considering a replacement? Do you use the machine in a business environment where costs have to be accountable and budgeted for well in advance? Would a $500 - $1000 repair bill, or being forced to buy a new machine with no advance warning be destructive to your life/business/peace of mind? Then buy Applecare.


HOWEVER:
The cost of hardware repairs is NOTHING compared to the cost of losing years worth of data. Data recovery by the experts runs to thousands of dollars. Redoing your business and personal documents, and the cost of lost photos, music, emails etc. is far more impact than that. Every hard drive in the world will fail. Guaranteed. Some within 1 year, some will last 6 years. The bulk will fail in the 3 to 5 year range.

It's ludicrous to consider buying a hardware insurance plan unless you have already put into place a bulletproof data backup plan. My suggestion is a good big external Firewire drive for making a Clone of your boot drive plus regular data backups to, and also periodically archiving your User folder and data folders onto DVD-Rs

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[asherman13]

personally, i just bought my first applecare with my ipod 5G, but i can say that i wish i had bought it, as my ibook's LCD cracked a few years ago and i've been stuck with an external LCD...


then again, my ibook is almost four years old...

 

[G5Unit]

I have never purchased Applecare. I have also never had a catastrophic failure of a Mac. Hard drives don't count, they are disposable items anyway. Throw it out and get one double or triple the size for the same money.

However, I also get the majority of my computers second hand and fix or build them myself, so the risk/cost/repair ratios for me are low.

I have had clients who have had catastrophic failure (motherboard, etc). The ones who have had Applecare have been very grateful, mostly the ones who don't, don't bother spending $500+ fixing the machine, they scrap it and upgrade to the newest model.

With Applecare, repairs are guaranteed to cost you $xxx per the two years of coverage (over CAN$500 in the case of a Powerbook). Without Applecare, repairs may be zero or they may be $700 or $1000.

Are you in a position to buy a new machine in 2 - 3 years time anyway? If you roll the dice and lose, are you likely to shrug it off and lay out the dough without being too bent out of shape? Are you likely to want to add components or upgrade the machine yourself (possibly voiding your Applecare). Do you plan to drop or dent your laptop, ever, or spill liquids into it (bye bye warranty coverage)? If so, don't buy Applecare.

Is your machine in a high use or higher risk environment? Do you want to use it for 4 years+ becore considering a replacement? Do you use the machine in a business environment where costs have to be accountable and budgeted for well in advance? Would a $500 - $1000 repair bill, or being forced to buy a new machine with no advance warning be destructive to your life/business/peace of mind? Then buy Applecare.


HOWEVER:
The cost of hardware repairs is NOTHING compared to the cost of losing years worth of data. Data recovery by the experts runs to thousands of dollars. Redoing your business and personal documents, and the cost of lost photos, music, emails etc. is far more impact than that. Every hard drive in the world will fail. Guaranteed. Some within 1 year, some will last 6 years. The bulk will fail in the 3 to 5 year range.

It's ludicrous to consider buying a hardware insurance plan unless you have already put into place a bulletproof data backup plan. My suggestion is a good big external Firewire drive for making a Clone of your boot drive plus regular data backups to, and also periodically archiving your User folder and data folders onto DVD-Rs

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

I love it when you dish out those long answers! If anyonw has been reading some other posts by me you know that I have been having troublw with my PM. That glitch where you cant open a movie after 2 hours. Yeh. If I were to get applecare, would they replace it? Cause I cant wait for 10.4.4 to MAYBE get a fix. I am with a guy right now who is explaining eeverything to me but nothing works then he wrote me an email saying they will come out with a fix soon. SOON! But how soon really? I need a fix NOW! So will applecare fix this?


Also I have anotther delema. I love macs but I love to game too. No console gaming for me, sorry. I could get a decent gaming PC for around 800-1000 dollars.https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/158272/ But my parents would NEVER let me get one(yet I haven't asked) because they are the ones who bought me the computer in the first place(1499 bucks plus monitor etc). Now I want the simplicity of macs and how they just works and the games of a PC. Now my Mom has an iMac. The new 1.9Ghz model. Do you think I should just have a Gaming PC plus use my Mom's iMac to do stuff like iMovie and iPhoto? Cause you can't do stuff like that on a PC. Also I do a lot of video editing(well, not that much) and photoshop work.


I just really NEED option to what I should do! With almost 1000 dollars in my pocket and my birthday(dec 20th) and christmas coming up, could I get a gaming PC AND keep my PM? Or just return the PM to apple after nogotiating and get a refund?(And get a REALLY gnarly gaming PC) OR have them let me pay the difference for a better PM cause my PM issue.https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/152493/


Even with all of this said, I have a Gamecube to sellhttps://forums.macrumors.com/threads/144207/, PLUS I plan on selling my 19 inch flat panel to save up for a 24 inch dell. And what would be the point of having an X800XT in a PM if I had a gaming PC? Even if I were allowed to get a PC, I would still need to sell it. So please please! I would like some answers on what to do with my money? Applecare, Gaming PC, 24 inch dell, AHHH! I even need to get rid of these Cingular Postershttps://forums.macrumors.com/threads/156264/. Not to mention my 1st gen iPod(5Gb).



Thanks,
-G5Unit

 

[G5Unit]

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