Applecare Warrenty Really Worth it for Ipod Touch?

[ipodlover29]

Is it really worth speding $69 for the applecare warrenty for the ipod touch?

Besides extending the tech support from 90 days to 2 years and extending the warrenty from 1 year to 2 years and also reducing the cost of the battery replacement cost from $79 to $59 are there any other major benefits?

Thanks in advance,
Ipodlover29

[paranoidxe]

Its up to you if you think its worth it or not...I find myself updating almost every year with a new iPod so I find there is no need to get the extended warranty as the normal limited warranty covers me for the most part.

[RompaRoom]

I was wondering the same thing, how long are we given to purchase it?

[DerekVOF]

I believe Apple is fairly flexible - I think you can purchase AppleCare up until the last day of your warranty...

[Hayden06f4i]

keep in mind though that Visa and Mastercard automatically double the factory warranty on most items, so youd get a 2nd year of warranty through mastercard anyway.

[jhollington]

You can buy AppleCare right up to the last day of the existing warranty.

As for Mastercard/Visa extended warranties, you may want to read the fine print on those. Firstly, not all cards include this coverage.... With some issuers, it's limited to only their Gold/Platinum cards. Not all CCs include electronics in their extended warranty, and further, you'll often have to do extra paperwork, and/or send the item to an "authorized repair centre" designated by the credit card company (which ironically may be a third-party repair shop, rather than Apple themselves). You may have to get an estimate first, and in some cases, you may even have to pay for the repair yourself and then submit the information to the credit card company for reimbursement.

The bottom line is that some of the VISA/Mastercard extended warranties are actually very good, whereas others are little more than complicated insurance policies with lots of caveats and conditions attached.

[dmonk]

is it true that they check if your battery capacity is 50% of the original in order to qualify for a replacement?

I don't even know how they would do that, since all batteries are different.

[jhollington]

Actually, 50% of the original specifications, not of the original battery. So if the documentation says that you should be able to get 24 hours of music playback, and you're getting less than 12, that qualifies as a 50% drop.

Note, however, that they test this under specific conditions as well.... For example, leaving the backlight on all the time will shorten your battery life, and that's not part of the original specifications.

In fact, the specific clause in the AppleCare terms states:


...during the Coverage Period, the capacity of the covered iPod battery to hold an electrical charge has depleted fifty (50%) percent or more from its original specification, after being fully charged and the covered iPod playing music with all settings reset.


(See http://images.apple.com/legal/applecare/docs/AppleCare_Protect_Plan_NA_en.pdf)