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I'm going to be purchasing at least one Mac soon (at least one MacBook Pro - maybe two - with one utilized 100% for a small business) and I am unsure of whether to ante up the large amount of money to buy the extended warranty. It seems that in the past 2 years it isn't all that hard to find stories about people using it for failed hard drives or other issues, but overall I have this perception that Macs are much more reliable than PCs. What are your thoughts and/or experiences?
Good question - and one I faced this time last year. When I purchased my refurbed 24" iMac and the new MacBook, I did indeed also get the extended warranty, if nothing more than the piece of mind. This was my 1st refurbed and my 1st notebook [not including work-related, which of course you just take them back to IT for help ], so wanted that extra 'benefit' for each. Have not had to use either, except for the MB which I do need to send it in due to a minor logic board issue [very rarely, ~4 times it has locked up]. Also, it is my understanding that a new battery for the notebook is covered w/in the 1st year w/ that warranty. The perception is, IMHO, true - and born out by various surveys; Apple products do tend to be more reliable than their counterparts. I have pushed mine not extremely hard, but at times quite extensively, and they have performed very well - so far. Just my quick/dirty thoughts at the moment. Good luck!
When I purchased my first macs, two 12" iBook G4s, about four years ago I didn't purchase AppleCare for either of them.
I made my decision based on my experience with other extended warranty products which are usually nothing more than extra profit for the manufacturer/reseller.
My iBooks functioned perfectly and without any problems for about the first two years and 10 months, then one of them began having problems with the screen going black when it was moved or held in a specific position. I did some research online and found that this was either a bad inverter board or a bad logic board. The cost to fix either was more than my iBook was worth at the time and had I purchased the AppleCare would have been repaired at no charge.
Needless to say, when I purchased two new MacBook Pros this year to replace my aging iBooks, I didn't hesitate to purchase the AppleCare plans for both of them.
Another benefit to the AppleCare plans for the MacBook Pros is that if your purchase an Apple Display at the same time it is covered under the same AppleCare plan at no additional charge. That may come in handy since you are going to be using one for a small business and may want to purchase a monitor too.
My experience has been that I have had far fewer problems since switching to macs and that they live up to their reliability claims, however all computers are prone to component failures and it's nice to have the AppleCare for peace of mind.
While I personally don't know anything about their warranties, I do know Macs are generally a better computer.
The one piece of advice I can offer would be to buy a 360gig external drive for your business computer. Then find a good backup program that will let you do backups on intervals you choose. The best ones only back up changes that are made. Or simply back up key business files... a hard drive crapping out is the worst thing that can happen if you have important files.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbuszu
I'm going to be purchasing at least one Mac soon (at least one MacBook Pro - maybe two - with one utilized 100% for a small business) and I am unsure of whether to ante up the large amount of money to buy the extended warranty. It seems that in the past 2 years it isn't all that hard to find stories about people using it for failed hard drives or other issues, but overall I have this perception that Macs are much more reliable than PCs. What are your thoughts and/or experiences?
It's only $250.00 to have your Mac guaranteed to be running for the next three years. It's a great deal. Whenever I have a problem with my iBook, I take it into the Apple Genius Bars, they scan it to make sure I'm insured, and they go to work. So simple. More recently, my Hard Drive was on the verge of crashing (it was slow, very, very, very slow) and I called them up on Saturday. By Tuesday I had a coffin to put my laptop in waiting for me. By Thursday at 10:00AM, I had it back. Unbelievable White Glove service also - the box was delivered to me by DHL and all I had to do was call them back up, they picked it up, and it shipped out immediately.
Macs are 100% more reliable than PCs - My PC, after a year had many, many problems, so the Hard Drive issue was the only one I had to deal with. But without AppleCare, I would've had to pony up for it, for not only the service and the new hard drive, but also for everything else to exchange it.
After two years, my iBook is running perfect and I hate it because I want a MacBook Pro, but because of AppleCare, I cannot justify buying it. It's kind of a love hate relationship, but in the end, it works out well for my pockets
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Apple Care is a great investment. I had a motherboard go south on me a year ago. It was replaced at no charge on the same day and I was back in service. I usually don't get extended warranties, but Apple and the Genius Bar has been a blessing. Just renewed my Apple Care. And by the way, it covers all my Macs.
Well, luckily for me my MacBook was still under factory warranty. Phew! But still, I think this time I'm going to get that AppleCare plan. I just went to one of the Apple stores in L.A. to have one of the technician's at the Genius Bar have a look at what the problem could be. Well, it turns out that there is some hardware malfunction and I had to leave the MacBook with them so they could send it to get repaired. They say they are going to replace the MainBoard. The MacBook experienced Kernel Panic and there was no way of getting out of it, not even with booting up from the StartUp Disk. So, I'd say I"m pretty lucky in that the MacBook was still covered under warranty. But, that's a risk I just cannot deal with again. So, it is imperative that you all get an AppleCare Plan! Don't let this happen to you!
I had always resisted extended warranties at places like Best Buy and Circuit City. I think at one time Consumer Reports was against them all together. As an Apple owner I started out not buying AppleCare for this same reason.
Apple service parts already cost a fair amount. Combine that fact with that Apple loads more and more technology onto the logic board and other integrated parts. This drives up the price of service parts even more. I now buy AppleCare for all of my Macs. I’ve had all of my power supplies replaced on all of the laptops I’ve owned at least once and sometimes twice! I bought my AppleCare from Amazon a few times. Most recently, I bought it from MacMedics when my warranty was about to run out. They can enroll your computer with AppleCare on the spot. You can purchase AppleCare anytime you are within your initial 1-year factory warranty. Don’t wait too long, because once your warranty runs out you can’t go back and buy AppleCare later!
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], so wanted that extra 'benefit' for each. Have not had to use either, except for the MB which I do need to send it in due to a minor logic board issue [very rarely, ~4 times it has locked up]. Also, it is my understanding that a new battery for the notebook is covered w/in the 1st year w/ that warranty. The perception is, IMHO, true - and born out by various surveys; Apple products do tend to be more reliable than their counterparts. I have pushed mine not extremely hard, but at times quite extensively, and they have performed very well - so far. Just my quick/dirty thoughts at the moment. Good luck!
AppleCare is a worthwile investment IMHO
Don't let this happen to you! 
