Comments on: Cracked Screen

By: nikkie

nikkie — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:45:16 +0000

I agree about apple care. I’d really love to have a real Dell-style extended warranty on my macbook, and I’d happily pay for it. Right now I’m dealing with a bent hinge from dropping mine, and replacing it would cost as much as a new one. My laptop is less than a year old. Laptops *need* real extended warranties.

By: mibus

mibus — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:00:43 +0000

I totally agree that AppleCare has its uses. Not for everyone perhaps, but I’m glad I put down money for it on my last Apple purchase (G3 iBook — went back for 5–6 repairs in total over three years, about half were the infamous logic-board issue).

I don’t normally get extended coverage on anything, but it was a worthwhile investment at the time (considering what I spent on the laptop).

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:05:42 +0000

The confusion stems from the fact that AppleCare is like the standard warranty included in most other laptops, while most other laptops offering a care package from the company that DOES cover this type of damage. Even though its from the manufacturer, its still supposed to be a complete insurance policy, just as my car insurance or house insurance. Adding it to a house insurance policy usually doesn’t make sense for this type of damage as the deductible is usually more then the value of the laptop, when you’re only going to be filing a claim for that one thing.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:31:46 +0000

AppleCare has saved me several thousand dollars on laptop repairs over the past 10 years or so. It’s most definitely worth it.

(A car’s extended warranty won’t pay for repairs if I crash the car, why would you assume that *any* extended warranty covers accidental or malicious damage?)

By: SW

SW — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:05:20 +0000

Strongly disagree. Of course AC doesn’t cover doing-something-stupid-to-it damage– if you want that, it should be possible to add it to any decent house contents insurance policy (and probably for less than Apple would have charged you).

Over the ten years or so I’ve been using Mac laptops, the total cost of AppleCare has been less than the couple of major repairs I’ve required would have been. It’s a no brainer, for me.

By: James Cape

James Cape — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:17:46 +0000

Without knowing what the “ton of money” you saved would be for, it’s kind of pointless to say my advice is horrible. For me, unless it covers the hardware completely, it’s a waste of money.

Hardware failure happens following a bathtub curve. A lot of shit is DoA, some shit fails in the first month of actual use (which is covered by the el-cheapo 90-day policy), then nothing happens for a long time, then things start to go because of old age after several years (well after your ACPP warranty is over anyways).

Three people, including myself, have had laptops get fucked once they’re up and running, and those failures have been because the screen gets destroyed during a rapid, uncontrolled deceleration against a floor.

Again, after the initial 90-days, they just run until you do something to them like spill liquids, drop them, modem + electrical surge, etc., or until they just fail of old age, at which point they’ve served their use and you buy a new one because it’s an old POS anyways. For Apple to blanket-refuse to pay for physical damage to the box on a warranty is bullshit.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:24:43 +0000

That’s horrible advice. It’s true that Apple’s warranty doesn’t cover situations like yours, and that truly sucks…but there are so many things that can go wrong, especially with a laptop, that it would be completely idiotic not to have a warranty.

AppleCare saved me a ton of money on my G3 iMac and G4 iBook, and on my sister’s iBook.

I’m sorry that you got screwed, but honestly, didn’t you know what AppleCare covered before you purchased it?