Square Trade vs Applecare

[Soulflower]

I have a new iPad 2 and I want to get either a Square Trade warranty or AppleCare. I just had to call for phone support because I couldn't get the picture to show up on my Apple TV when playing a movie.

While Square Trade covers accidents and AppleCare doesn't, Apple Care does cover phone support.

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

[mmf01]

Get both. That's what I did. AppleCare covers you for immediate in-store replacement on most issues whereas Squaretrade will ship you a replacement and you have to wait. Also, I believe Squaretrade sends you back to Apple for warranty type issues during the first year, so having both solves for just about everything except lost/stolen.

 

[Soulflower]

Getting both is pretty expensive. Not sure I can spend that much more in addition to the iPad. That's why I was trying to decide between the two.

 

[takeshi74]

(nm)

 

[Jordan9]

I ended up getting SquareTrade instead of AppleCare, mainly because of price and the accident coverage. And Apple still covers it for a year of technical problems. I had my iPad 2 replaced a few months ago with no problems.

I also bought SquareTrade for a couple other electronic items, and luckily haven't needed to use them. So I can't say how their service is on that.

 

[hasek3139]

i would choose square trade, it is a far better deal, i have made multiple claims and never paid a deductible

 

[Arnezie]

I'm a pretty careful person so AppleCare is perfect peace of mind fo e on my apple products. There is an apple store one hour from me and they have been great with my iPhone so no reason to go with anyone else in my opinion.

 

[bruinsrme]

You may want to look at the overall coverage.

Whether or not your a careful person accidents do happen. If they didn't companies like squaretrade, Allstate, geico, and others wouldn't be in business.

I have squaretrade for all my i products. I would rather be without a device for a few days than have to repurchase a device due to an accident.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

SquareTrade is good but one thing to keep in mind is that depending on the nature of the damage they don't actually fix/repair/replace the unit itself, but rather offer you a paypal/gift card/check reimbursement for repairs you pay for out of pocket at the Apple Store.

I dropped an iPhone into a tumbler of water and even after drying the thing out in rice for a few days, it still had lost all audio capabilities. I had SquareTrade, filed my claim and they honored but, but I had to go to the Apple store, pay $199 for an out-of-warranty refurb swap (they seldom actually repair anything) and then filed with Square Trade for reimbursement. They sent $149 ($199 less $50 deductible) to my Paypal account within a few days after.

It works, but not quite as effortless as AppleCare. Then again....AppleCare doesn't cover water damage so in my opinion, it was still worth it.