Is Apple Care absolutely needed?

I'm trying to convince myself to fork over the dough for a new MBP (any convincing would be nice). However, the fact that the machine is 2000$ and does not include an extended warranty shys me away (don't want to spend another 300$).

How sturdy are Macbook Pros? Is the warranty needed? I take very good care of my electronics so self-inflicted harm is unlikely.

 

Well, you can add applecare up until your initial warranty period has ended (1 year I believe). So you can always buy it now and assess the laptop's reliability 6-8 months from now.

 

yeah (what paddlefoot says) if ur unsure that would be a good idea. and if ur laptop broke within its 1st year, i believe it is a good idea to buy that extended warrantyy.

 

the warranty doesnt cover self inflicted damage anyway.

its just for hardware failure and troublshooting. basically you can call them as much as you want for free, and if your monitor, motherboard, hdd, battery, decides to fail- you wont have to pay to replace it.

 

Is hardware failure common among MBPs? I know lemons can be in any laptop line, but how reliable is the MBP?

 

I was at an apple store drooling over the new MPB today but I just couldnt get myself to purchase it, one of to main concerns was indeed the warranty. I'm in europe and the 2.4 Ghz 256MB version costs 2400 euros ($3200) and over $400 for the warranty. $3600 is simply way too much for it

 

well, the thing is, the definitely have really good quality control at apple.
but its not perfect. obviously from time to time a mistake will come through, its just going to happen.

but mistakes like that- you catch them, you call them, they fix it. you have a year warranty anyway.

hardware failure is basically certain. the question is when. hopefully, your mac will still be working like a horse 8 years from now. i know a lot of people where this is the case.

but apple is basically not going to have ANY way of knowing that your hard drive was doomed to die of a manufacturing error or whatever, or your mobo is going to get fried just because of whatever reason.

im sort of pulling these numbers out of a hat- but i vaguely remember. i think some 80% of hardware failure from year 1 through year 4 happens within the first year. those are manufacturer errors and apple will take care of you. so that leaves a 20% chance that during year 2, 3, or 4, your hardware might also give up.

if you are a gambling man, understand that you are overpaying for the warranty- your potential benefit of having that warranty when your hardware dies matched with the odds of your hardware dying in the first place is lower than the cost of the warranty.

but consider the peace of mind you will attain.

i think i have left you with enough to ponder...

might i add, that i bought the extended warranty- because i am doing engineering in college this fall and i absolutely have to have a working laptop basically 100% of the time. if anything happens i need it fixed asap. so the warranty was necessary for me. in america, the laptop price is only $2299 usd with an edu discount and the warranty is $249 (also edu discount)

 

Apple prices in Europe are so high compared to US. I live in Turkey and it's like 20% more expensive than in Europe (imagine that). I wouldn't hesitate to buy an Apple PC pr a notebook with US prices, but with prices being 40-50% higher where I live, I can't bring myself to do it too. Especially when I can buy a T60/61 for a much better price and an equally good if not better warranty and service.

 

ebay.com

but it new.

 

not very good i'm afraid, the rate of lemon are above average for such an expensive laptop as the MBP, especially if its REV 0, (new version one eg. first G3,G4,intel core duo), but if it makes u feel better the after REV (revision) 1, things tend to get better. apple have reputation of not making reliable/durable hardware. don't let this scare u however, their customer support are generally very good.

oh btw, i dont mean to anger any diehard macfan out there, but this is just what me and my friends experience. i know apple design are really beautiful and u just want to cherish and defend them.

for some reason, i often want to bite my mac laptop, ipod, etc. since its so shiny, and rounded like a candy , and in general Mac OS X really is less frustating than windows, but the windows explorer is better than mac's finder.

 

in my experience macs are certainly more reliable than the average dell/hp laptop. its subpar quality control compared to, say, lenovo thinkpad. but i think the quality of the design itself is the best on the market.

im positive they have better quality control than the big dell/hp and similar corporations.

at the same time- they are not perfect at all. ideally, the system you get will be perfectly crafted to your eyes- but not every system is going to ship without defects. i know that. but if you do get a defect, i was just saying you have a whole year to figure it out on their bill.

fortunately- my system shipped perfectly. solid battery, no dead pixels, perfectly placed keyboard. perfect finish. it rocks.

 

If you purchase the MBP with an eligible credit card, you can get another year of warranty for free. Some of these cards also allow you to buy extended warranties at a much cheaper price.

That is what I would do. I think if you clear 2 years without any major problem, chances are the notebook is going to last for a while, assuming you take good care of it.

 

here is another idea: don't get Applecare, but put that money ($350?) you were going to pay for Applecare into a 5% saving acct and earn interest. By the time your computer breaks, most likely you will have a good chunk to pay for repair. if the computer doesn't break, you can keep rolling the money to pay for your next computer's "extended warranty."

chances are that you will not need Applecare, but having a DIY warranty solution covers your gamble on not getting any warranty at all.

My friend spilled juice on her Powerbook G4, oops--Apple says tough luck, Applecare doesn't cover accidental damage! and it costs $1000 to replace the motherboard! the sketchy part is that the computer works fine since the computer was off when the spill happened and she didn't turn it on until everything dried. The juice reminants made the superdrive stick and therefore broken, but other than that, the computer works fine. Apple still wanted to replace the motehrboard for $1000

 

yeah that is sketch.

spills and such, while really really bad, can usually be salvaged, especially if it is off at the time. if its on, turn it off. then follow my three step spill recovery process:

disassemble. clean. reconstruct.

 

What do you guys think of Best Buy's three warranty/replacement program ($300)? It seems to cover everything Apple care covers.

In my past experiences with Best Buy, they have always done an excellent job with any replacements I needed. (For instance, I bought a Creative Zen Vision:M, and then a month later wanted to return it. They took it back with no questions asked. They also told me that if I had waited two years and my battery on my Vision: M had gone bad, that I could just bring it in and they would give me a brand new MP3 player (with the latest technology) of my choice for the same price.)

I have always like Best Buy's return/service policy. What do you guys think?

 

Just thought this was interesting...

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65448

Fell off the top of a car @ 70mph








And it still worked??



Note: none of these claims have been verified, just saw it in another post elsewhere