Is Apple Care necessary?
I am looking at purchasing a 15" powerbook and am wondering if it really is necessary to buy the applecare plan. Also, is the 4200 rpm good on the hard drive or do I want the 5200 rpm? I would save $112. I was also thinking about upping the memory to 1 GB. I just couldn't see paying the over $1000 price tag. Also, can anyone tell me if the 15" ones are a mid cycle and my possible purchase would be a big mistake. I understand that it is not a good idea to purchase at the end of the cycle. Is this true?
Comments
i'd think of it more as insurance. not sure what my point is here. if you are risk adverse, buy the insurance ("warranty"). if you are more apt to accept risk for the possibility of payoff, don't get the apple care.
Originally posted by progmac
well, chances are your computer will need less than applecare's price worth of repair over the next 3 years...well, of course, if it weren't the case, on average, applecare would cost more.
i'd think of it more as insurance. not sure what my point is here. if you are risk adverse, buy the insurance ("warranty"). if you are more apt to accept risk for the possibility of payoff, don't get the apple care.
But what do you think about the memory and HD?
Originally posted by HHansen726
But what do you think about the memory and HD?
You don't need to decide on the AppleCare right away. You can purchase it later as long as you do it before your 1 year warranty is up. But I'd NEVER be without AppleCare on a laptop. They're just too expensive to fix if something goes wrong because you can't do any of it yourself.
As for the RAM and HD - what are you doing on the computer? If you NEED a faster hard drive (like for video editing), get it. If not, you should be ok with the 4200 rpm drive. And the RAM - what murbot said. Get the RAM from elsewhere. crucial.com is a good place to look b/c they've got an excellent reputation but they're more expensive than other places.
You want the extra memory, and you should get it elsewhere. The drive is up to you. I have 4200 and it's never done me wrong, but the room for improvement is certainly noticable.
(Because you lug it around, it's susceptible to so much more potential damage and wear and tear, than if it were just a desktop computer!)
as for hard drive, i'd stick with the standard unless you'll need lots of fast read/write action, like video editing or heavy photo work.
as everyone has said, don't buy ram from apple. it is far cheaper if you buy it elsewhere and is a snap to put in
Always get Applecare for:
laptops
iPods
Printers (not like Apple sells those anymore)
Sometimes get Applecare for:
Desktops
CRT monitors (don't think Apple sells these)
Never get Applecare for:
LCD's
iSight
Once a university prof drove over his powerbook 540c. Surprisingly, he only destroyed the LCD. Replacement cost was $1000. Applecare paid for it all. Applecare is a must for anything portable.
*ducks*
(edit) P.S., I bought it for my 17" PowerBook, and when I sent it in for a weak/creaky hinge, they sent me back a new chassis, at least, because it was scratch-free and the partially-worn-away lettering under the display was back to normal.
So you just bought your computer, and AppleCare is less than you need. AppleCare only covers defects in Apple computer parts over an extended term (beyond 1 year), along with free technical support beyond the 90 days provided by Apple. What happens if you, for instance, drop your computer? Mere homeowner insurance may carry a high deductible. Safeware will for a fee provide you with total coverage for your computer. TOTAL coverage. You should really opt to take safeware insurance, as the costs may be more than AppleCare but will provide you with damage protection as well. No support plan other than real insurance provides this, and to my knowledge NO Apple dealer will provide this level of coverage. Want real peace of mind? Safeware!
Originally posted by NOFEER
safeware vs applecare. applecare gives you online support (so does AI) so i will hold off applecare as i investigate safeware. who has had it, used it and can tell us in AI it's the way to go.
Another avenue: I saw a few very recent threads on Safeware over at MacNN:
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=190026
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=191215
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=189136
A search in their forums on the word "safeware" will yield quite a few hits.