I Heart Apple Care

So post mission I bought my first apple product, a 13" MacBook. With that 13" MacBook, I purchased the apple extended warranty, AppleCare. The warranty didn't cover accidental damage, but everything that happened from product defect. At first I was disappointed, because, as those that know me well know, I don't treat my electronic items very well (especially cell phones) and was sure I'd damage it myself before something broke. Well it didn't happen that way. These are the things that have been replaced on my laptop over the past 3 years:

1. New battery
2. New CD-Rom drives (x2) (Optical Drives)
3. New screen cover
4. New full keyboard and track pad (x3)

Hundreds of dollars, possibly totaling my computer, all for free. Now I know what you're thinking, why should I need that many repairs on my machine? Shouldn't it work? Well, here's my philosophy. HPs, Dells, Compaqs, etc all are competition for the relative same product, right? If you buy an HP and you don't like it for one reason or another, next time you purchase a PC, you just get a Dell. There is a lot of replacement opportunity. That does NOT apply to anything Apple. They aren't driven to perfect their hardware because they know if you like their software, you won't have any other options but to buy another Mac. SOO, you buy AppleCare and live with it. That's my understanding, take it or leave it.

So my MacBook blacked out on me Friday. One evening it worked, the next morning it didn't. I admit, I was rather scared. My life is held on my computer. I was in Salt Lake for conference the next day and took the opportunity to drop by the Apple Store to get it looked at. The genius guy took it back to the back and came back with bad and good news. Bad news, my Logic Board is shot and I am 3 months out of warranty (see below for a photo of what one looks like). Good news, his manager told him to go ahead and order the repair even though I was 3 months out of warranty. Add a logic drive to that free list baby! Apple Really Takes Care Of You. If you ever buy any Apple product, especially if its a laptop or desktop, GET APPLECARE. You won't regret it :)

Here's what a MacBook Logic drive looks like.

That is a long post for that simple advice. They have only treated me well, and I'd recommend it to anyone. So there you have it.