Question about buying apple

So since apple stopped carrying refurbished 2.2G macbook pros, I have no choice but to get a new one.

This means I have basically 2 options. One is just buying a refurbished 2.4G macbook pro, and the other is upgrading the ram and harddrive on a new 2.4G macbook pro and getting the apple care warranty.

It's basically the difference of around 800-900 dollars, and I'm trying to decide whether it is worth it. Apple care extends the warranty by 2 years. I dont really care about tech support... at all. Why pay for phone service when I can get an answer easily at a forum for free?

So I guess I'm asking 2 things:

-Can anyone tell me exactly how much hard drive RPM matters? I'm going to be using it for logic pro, and I have been told that HDD speed is rather irrelevant for this, but I cant spend that much money on a 3 year warranty without making sure that that's the case.

-Can everyone tell me their experience on the matter of apple products and warranties? If I get the apple care plan (350$ seems rather steep to me for what I'm getting), then I'm basically ensuring that I cannot upgrade anything on the laptop without voiding the warranty, however if I dont get get the warranty, anything that happens to the laptop more than 1 year after buy it leaves me screwed. I've heard about apple laptops having issues with the screen just dying. Should I be worried about that?


I guess the main reason that I'm concerned (and pissed off that apple suddenly doesnt have 2.2G MBPs... they were in stock every day I checked in the past months before like 2 weeks ago) is that 3 years is a long time in the technological world, and we're on the verge of quite a few breakthroughs, arent we? So spending money to insure something that I cannot upgrade at all seems..... flawed?

I know you cant tell me what to do, but I was wondering about your experiences with this matter.

 

I personally prefer a larger HD as opposed to a faster spinning HD, since the higher disk density of the larger HD will improve access times almost as much as a faster drive, and of course you have the additional advantage of having a larger disk.

AppleCare is Apple's standard warranty. If something goes wrong with your Mac hardware wise, you can send it to Apple in a box they send you, or bring it into an Apple store. Apple will then have up to a week to repair your machine. If you purchase ProCare (even more $), Apple will have up to three days to repair your machine.
Note that RAM upgrades and sometimes HD upgrades will not void your warranty. I would personally not recommend upgrading any other components, since it would be very risky and probably not financially worth it. If you feel your MBP is getting old, sell it and buy a new one.

Macs usually have excellent resale value. If after two years you decide to sell your MBP, you would most likely fetch a pretty good price, especially with one more year of warranty left on the machine.

 

Hmm.... I was talking about if I were to upgrade anything not through apple, since while thye have improved, 200$ to upgrade to 4GB ram is still quite steep.

They also said that it wouldnt really be possible for them to upgrade my harddrive if I wanted them to. Is that not true?

Good point on the resale value... I guess I was referring to things like fiber optic internet connections and USB 3.0, which seem to be just around the corner..... I mean, I guess wireless isnt really affected by that.... I guess you're right.

A 7200 RPM harddrive wont have much affect on the battery life, will it?

 

Apple has really good customer service, but the areas that the warranty covers is lacking...like no accidental coverage. But the areas it does cover, it does really well. I would get it, considering its an expensive investment, and only helps when you want to sell the MBP later, should you do that.

 

I use Logic and I don't really feel the difference between my 5400rpm 160gb HDD and my friends 7200rpm in his Macbook.

I do however feel the difference between my 4gigs of RAM and my 2.4GHz CPU and my friends 2gigs and 2.0GHz.

 

Upgrading your RAM manually, i.e. not through Apple, will not void your warranty, unless you mess up and stab a whole through your Mac with the screwdriver in the process.

 

.....what on earth. I swear I didnt dream about this.



But apparently wherever I heard it from was lying to me. A google search cleared that up. But the apple rep I talked to on the phone DID say "exactly" when I said "because upgrading the HDD myself will void the warranty, right?"




So then I have new questions. I currently have a laptop that I will be selling once my MBP is up and running. It has 4 gigs of A-Data RAM, and a 160GB 7200RPM HDD. What do I need to know about compatibility? Taking it straight from my current PC laptop would save me 300$.

Thanks for your help

 

Apple officially states that upgrading your hard drive will void the AppleCare warranty, but in most cases, the Apple employees will not void it as long as nothing related to the hard drive upgrading cased whatever issue you were having. So the representative was correct in stating so.

 

If I were to keep the harddrive it came with, and plopped it back in before sending it to them, would they have any way of knowing that the "seal" was broken?