Cheaper AppleCare Protection Plans

[Mr. Mayor]

Mike Bradbrook just posted a very interesting article on ACPP's and how you can often times find them for a more affordable price (in his examples, in the US and UK)...

You can read the full article here: Cheaper AppleCare Protection Plans | Mactropolis.com - Your Friendly Global Mac Community

What are your thoughts? Have you found cheaper ACPP's elsewhere or go through Apple for the ease and simplicity of it all (one-stop-shop).

[mpancha]

I've been holding out on buying Apple Care for my MBP since I have a year to do so... but that year is almost over.

I searched amazon.ca but couldn't find Apple care on the site. Any Canadian vendors out there that sell it for cheaper? Given the option, I'd rather give the business to a Canadian business, but if I can't find one... can I purchase from a US site and still apply Apple Care to my product in Canada?

[Mr. Mayor]

I haven't found any Mat, but I haven't looked too hard either. I'm sure there are a few places out there that sell ACPP at a slightly more affordable price..

That being said, the availability and servicing of mac stuff in Canada is not as widespread as in the US... so it might be harder to find than I think it is...

[mpancha]

You said it... luckily I live a half hour away from the Yorkdale mall Apple Store, and work near the Sherway Gardens Apple Store so I have access.

Just the pricetag on Apple Care is a bit on the high side, and unfortunately my experience with Apple products is they are great machines/devices, but they will break on you, and repairs aren't cheap.

[Mr. Mayor]

That's awesome.... may need you to pop in there for me to pick a few things up :P (kidding)

[quitecontrary1977@hotmail]

whare the benefits of apple care. should i have this?

[roalgumo7]

Just go to apple site and search for it, you should have it if you consider it good enaugh for you...

[mpancha]

Many will disagree, but after owning a few (and varied) Mac products... every one of them breaks and when they break, break in an expensive way. When this happens outside of the first year, you have to pay out of pocket unless you have Apple Care. Apple care gives you full coverage on you Apple product for 3 years.

For example, my current MacBook Pro within owning it for a few months, had a keyboard issue, they replaced my keyboard for me. A few months later, the LCD had around 2 dozen dead pixels, and the bottom right was washed out, as if the pixels were malfunctioning. THey replaced my screen. 2 months ago, the battery stopped holding a charge, and I am very keen on properly charging it... they replaced the battery.

With Apple Care, after the first year, all of the repairs are covered, at no cost to you. Otherwise, you pay parts and labor which is expensive on any product, but seemingly more expensive on Apple products.

That said, not every apple product breaks so easily, but in my experience, I"ve had to make use of Apple care with my iBooks, Mac Book Pro, keyboard and even mighty mouse. AppleCare isn't very cheap, but its a fraction of the cost of parts and labor if you don't have it.

[Nightfall4]

I have been told that the average life span of a laptop is considered 5 years. Between my wife and myself we have owned 4 Mac Laptops. The G3 450Mhz Powerbook had just about every part replaced as well as numerous upgrades. Of course they were all 4 - 5 years after purchase and after the warranty expired

Apple care is nice to have if you can afford it and well worth the investment. After the warranties expire, parts get expensive. More then what the computer may be worth. In that case a person may be better off removing the hard drive and putting it in an enclosure to use as an external hard drive.