Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / May 2004

I buy car, medical, and homeowner insurance because they protect against
disasters that can be *really* expensive -- replacing a totalled or
stolen car costs $20K, and I'd hate to be hit with that expense out of
pocket.

Replacing a laptop computer, on the other hand, is much less expensive,
and some of us do it as a routine matter every few years even when the
old machine is working OK (we also replace cars, but we typically sell
the old one or get a trade-in deal -- you probably can't get much for a
4-5 year old computer).

That said, most of the recommendations for purchasing the extended
warranty for a laptop mention that it's because they get moved around
alot.  I mostly use my laptop as a replacement for a desktop; I take it
with me on trips maybe 3 or 4 times a year, and then it just sits in the
hotel room once I get there.  Do you think this is stable enough that
Applecare is unnecessary?

In article
<sehix-8F0DAB.19512218052004@dsl081-079-101.sfo1.dsl.speakeasy.net>, Steve
Hix <sehix@NOSPAMspeakeasy.netINVALID> wrote:

My WallStreet -No A/C- no issues-like a Tank
My Pismo With A/C- returned 7 times and should go in again.
How did I dodge that bullet?  I have a very smart wife that told me to.
I love that woman.
mark

It is transferable.
From  http://www.apple.com/support/products/proplan_terms.html

    Transfer of Plan
  You may transfer this Plan to a new owner of the Covered Equipment. If
  you purchased the Plan in the U.S. or Canada, transfer by sending
  written notice to AppleCare Administration, P.O. Box 149125, Austin,
  TX 78714-9125, U.S. You must provide the Plan's enrollment or
  agreement number, the serial numbers of the Covered Equipment being
  transferred, proof of purchase of the Plan, and the name and address
  of the new owner. For Plans purchased and enrolled/activated outside
  the U.S. or Canada, please contact the regional Apple subsidiary for
  the country of purchase.

Whether you'll get back, even prorated, what you paid for the
Applecare, however, is questionable.

If you pay $300 for Applecare and sell the computer halfway
into that warrantee period, I wouldn't expect the applecare
to enhance the price you get for selling it by $150.  But it
might help sell it in the first place.  Hard to say.

In my case, I consider the Applecare to be insurance.  I
got it on my all-in-one machines - iMac, powerBook - mainly
because all-in-ones are harder to fix/replace faulty parts,
especially screens.  I'd be a lot less likely to get it for
a machine where parts are more easily replaced.  Between how
hard it is to fix a powerbook - and the fact that I carry it
with me every day to and from work (and elsewhere), I figure
that on this machine, it's a no-brainer and simply consider
it part of the cost of the machine, just as I consider
adding RAM part of the cost, even though the machine is, in
fact, available with very little.