@Mega,

If something were to happen tom your iPad, I hope that you are to fare much better than I did - on the two occasions that I needed warranty service from them. I had bought their basic extended coverage plan on my current desktop, and had purchased their premium accidental protection plan on my wife's laptop. Both units had developed covered issues, but there was always a backing out of their honoring what I had paid for. they gave me this excuse, that excuse, this reason, and that reason as to why something might be happening - and I was always given something to try when I got the unit(s) back home.

They rode that train until my wife's laptop traveled outside of the warranty period, and THEN determined that the LCD screen was faulty. I am now about to write their corporate division about my desktop. So, as I said, I really hope that you don't find a future need for them to see you through something. If you do, then I hope you come out much better than I did.

Originally Posted by pastorsteve

I believe that you have 355 days to buy your Apple Care coverage for any newly purchased Apple product, but that is something they will answer for you at the Apple store when you buy yours. To me it's definitely worth it.

My apple care has taken care of me on my Mac mini, my iPhone, and my iPad.. twice!

Though you have the first year to add it, you don't gain any extra time, and you miss out on the free phone tech support included when purchasing Apple Care.. worth 50 bucks a call, included for free for two years. I love that the tech support isn't outsourced either.


@mega:

Best Buy's warranty is almost twice as expensive as Apple's ($79), and it doesn't include free local over the phone tech support. I've never heard of anyone anywhere on the web or otherwise who got their iPad wet. Seems like an extremely unlikely scenario and a way to make a lot of extra money off of you imo.

Apple Care has been well worth the investment in our family's experience. They replaced my iPhone when the down button was intermittently working. They replaced my mac mini's optical drive when it started to not read discs. The last time my iPad wasn't taking a charge, Apple swapped it with a new one. Recommended w/o a doubt.

Originally Posted by xune

I've never heard of anyone anywhere on the web or otherwise who got their iPad wet. Seems like an extremely unlikely scenario and a way to make a lot of extra money off of you imo.

All it takes is getting caught in a sudden downpour without a waterproof bag. Not "extremely unlikely" at all.

Originally Posted by Megadesertdiesel

I bought the best buy warranty. It covers dropping it and getting it wet. $130 for my 64gig 3G.

FYI on those warranties. You won't lose your $130, but you may not be completely protected. I bought a device from Best Buy that had a full replacement feature. When it failed I was told the device was too popular and they had no refurbished units to replace it with. So they sent me a check for what I paid for the coverage. I was out of luck.

Well the BB warranty sounds too good to be true then? Hmm I guess I will find out. Maybe I should buy the apple care tool if it's only $80.

I talked to my brother in law who was a BB geek director for a few stores on the east coast, he said I will be fine and call him if I have any issues.

You need to look at and consider the squaretrade warranty. I purchased an extended warranty for my stepdad. I bought him an iPad 3G for Christmas. I did some research on AppleCare, the Best Buy warranty, and the squaretrade extended warranty.

There were some specific accidental situations I worried about, because I knew they were quite likely to happen with my stepdad. AppleCare and Best Buy excluded these things but SquareTrade included them in coverage. And the price was excellent. I've had a few friends that have made claims with the company and their experiences were very good.

We're all different with different needs, so I don't know of a one size fits all solution, but it's worth checking into.