Practical Mac / Glenn Fleishman
Apple's extended warranty smart buy for laptop users

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Apple Computer routinely scores at or near the top of all computer companies for its technical support and repairs. Consumer Reports rated Apple's support earlier this year at the top of major manufacturers, scoring 74 out of 100 points across a number of categories. Dell was second, at 62.

(By writing this factually accurate statement, I am sure to receive e-mail from the many people who have experienced inevitable lapses in Apple's performance. Statistics don't matter when you're the odd duck out.)

AppleCare is the company's flagship program for after-purchase support. When you buy a new Macintosh, you receive a free but limited form of AppleCare, which provides parts and labor for a year from purchase and 90 days of phone support for hardware problems, the operating system and most of the bundled software that Apple itself develops.

I almost always opt for the extended AppleCare Protection Plan (www.apple.com/support/products/proplan.html), which doesn't have to be purchased until the end of the first year, making its price a little less painful.

This warranty offers three years of parts and labor and unlimited phone support during that entire period. The phone support alone can be worthwhile for newer users who lack friends and family who can provide them with expertise, especially after the initial 90 days.

For most industries, extended warranties on average provide few benefits to purchasers. Television sets, for instance, typically have problems immediately, which are covered under normal warranties or consumer-protection laws, or not until long after an extended warranty would have expired.

But computers are more finicky, especially laptops. Every laptop I've ever purchased from Apple has had to make at least one trip back, sometimes for manufacturing defects and sometimes well after the original warranty would have run out. My Duo 210, an early dockable Mac laptop that traveled from Maine to Washington with me, made three trips back to its spawning grounds as keyboard after keyboard was replaced because of defects. It wound up with keyboard Revision J (the 10th keyboard revision) before I sold it off.

When I sold my white iBook a few months ago to a visiting New Yorker, I was able to transfer the remaining several months of AppleCare service to her by sending a note to Apple indicating the change of ownership. Selling a Mac with the extended warranty can be easier; buyers have fewer future costs to worry about if the computer develops problems.

Apple's turnaround time tends to be quick for laptops. In my broad personal and collegial experience, Apple often returns a laptop within 48 hours. It provides overnight an empty prepaid overnight shipping box, or you can bring a laptop into an Apple Store and have them send it out.

The repaired laptop is also returned via overnight delivery as soon as it's repaired, sometimes the next day, or you pick it up at the Apple Store you dropped it off at. These shipping costs are also covered entirely by AppleCare.
 
For desktop Macs, Apple offers on-site service in many areas. You can also sometimes have the repair performed at a local service center or Apple Store. It's always worthwhile to ask and call whether the machine can be repaired while you wait. (For the record, only one of a dozen desktop Macs I've owned required AppleCare repair.)

Apple divides its model lines into three pricing tiers for the Protection Plan: the iMac and eMac's extended plan costs $169; the iBook and Power Mac, $249; and the PowerBook line, $349. The warranty also includes an Apple mouse and keyboard when it's part of a system; a display when purchased and enrolled at the same time as a Power Mac or PowerBook; and AirPort equipment and Apple RAM as part of a Mac system.

You can look at these costs as Apple's actuarial predictions of the likelihood and cost of repair, too.

Apple Stores' higher tier: AppleCare is a bit of an arm's-length service handled mostly by phone and e-mail. But the Apple Stores have gradually become a more important part of hands-on hardware service and software support as more and more stores have opened, including two in greater Seattle and 78 nationwide. Apple is now raising the bar for service at the Apple Store with ProCare starting April 1. For $99 a year on top of AppleCare (whether included with purchase or extended), you can get next-day repair at Apple Stores if parts are available for your system. You can also reserve time with a Mac Genius, the local tech-support experts at each store. The stores plan additional discounts and workshops for this tier of user. The Apple Stores offer a few other technical services outside of ProCare. When you buy a new computer at the Apple Store, employees will transfer files from an older Mac or PC at no additional charge to the new machine.

You can also pay Apple Store personnel on an à la carte basis to have them install RAM, a wireless card or software at $30 per product. Repairs are charged at $85 or $135 plus parts for hardware, and $75 or $150 for software.

Glenn Fleishman writes the Practical Mac column for Personal Technology and about technology in general for The Seattle Times and other publications. Send questions to gfleishman@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists

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