Comments on: To Applecare or not?

By: Alvin

Alvin — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:46:21 +0000

Hi. Hows does AppleCare work? Do you pay this monthly or its just one time payment?

I’d like to ask, supposing I bought my Mac from another country (with the usual 1 year warranty only it’s honored there) then I came back to my own country. I’d like to have warranty without going back to the country where I bought it. Could I just buy AppleCare in my country and I will have 3 years warranty which in the event that the Apple parts don’t work they will replace or service it here within in those three years. Is this how AppleCare works?

Under normal use, does Applecare replace parts (apple parts) without charge, without diagnostics charge too? It’s all free?

By: Richard Rutter

Richard Rutter — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 23:20:04 +0000

Seems like you bought your iMac about month before I bought mine. I’m about to get AppleCare simply because I haven’t got much faith in the reliability of Apple’s consumer hardware - I’ve had issues with my iBook and, as Andy Hume mentioned earlier, issues with the iMac requiring a logic board replacement thanks to dodgy capacitors.

That said, the service I’ve had from AppleCare so far has been dreadful. The trick is to buy AppleCare but go to your local Mac specialist and get them to fix a problem under AppleCare cover.

By: Paul Le Comte

Paul Le Comte — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:00:58 +0000

Go the AppleCare.

Literally the day after my exteneded warrantee kicked in, my powerbook needed a refit, phew, talk about dodging the bullit.

By: James Penrose

James Penrose — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 05:33:56 +0000

Helped me out too as I’m looking at a new Powerbook soon (now with AppleCare added!)

By: Mark Boulton

Mark Boulton — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 04:15:58 +0000

Thanks for all your comments. I took the general consensus and bought the Applecare. With any luck I won’t need it, but better safe than sorry.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:04:36 +0000

Yes! Buy it. I bought it for my last powerbook and the screen died twice. Giot it fixed fast and free both times. It is worth the $$ if you plan to keep that G5 around.

By: Noel

Noel — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 11:54:48 +0000

Thanks for reminding me. I just got myself one right after I read your post. I have a PBG4 12inch and the display showed a hairline pixel thin vertical line. I had a great service experience (read more: http://www.noeluvia.com/archives/000426.html) so I got one just in time. I’m seeing some signs of deterioration on my PB anyway.

By: Graham Sanders

Graham Sanders — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 22:56:43 +0000

All depends if you know one of those rare species called a Mac technician who can cheaply fix your computer. Luckily I do and for a problem with my G5 Imac whioch Apple quoted as being over ?300 to fix the Mac technician was able to remedy for a mere ?15.

If you want his number Mark I can provide it to you. He’s Cardiff based and also doesn’t mind answering all sorts of Mac related queries.

For me it’s like taking your VW car to a VW garage or going to a small specialist firm.

Apple chanrge far too much and they’re support is pants!!!

By: Paul Livingstone

Paul Livingstone — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:01:04 +0000

I bought Applecare along with my iMac G5, and while I haven’t needed to call upon it yet, there’s no doubt in my mind that I will have to before the 3 years is up.

Trust me, I’ve seen lots of Apple hardware problems. If it was a Powerbook or iBook, I’d insist you bought it (hell, I’d drive to your house and camp in your front garden until you did). However, because it’s an iMac, I’d only recommend it.

By: brad

brad — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 23:53:37 +0000

Melvyn, I share your concern ;-)

Apple is brilliant at industrial design and the Mac operating system is fantasic (I have not had a single crash in OSX in about four years now, although to be honest I could say the same for Windows 2000 Professional and XP Professional). But I do think they have a problem with hardware quality control. I read one survey that reported a 40 percent failure rate in the first generation G5 iMacs.

PC makers have their own share of hardware issues, but I’ve owned two IBM ThinkPads that have been incredibly reliable and trouble-free, far more so than any of my Macs. That won’t stop me from buying Macs in the future, but I do think AppleCare is a wise investment.

By: Melvyn

Melvyn — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 20:48:46 +0000

How come so many Mac computers have problems? I thought there would be more problems on a PC…I use a pc and for me, Mac represents high quality!