Applecare, or One-To-One?

clivejohnson

I'm going to purchase an imac 21.5 in the next 5-6 weeks and I am wondering if either of the two support packages that apple offer are worth having? Are they V.F.M?

Also, Would I be correct in assuming that iWorks, is a word processing/spreadsheet package? Ideally we would be using it for this, plus internet/email and some photo editing, so I was also wondering if arpeture 3 is the suite for this or would it be an overspend?

Many thanks

penrhyn

I think you can get Open Office for Mac for free if thats of use.
Not as many Apple experts around as there are for PC's, however there are a number on here that could offer support.
You don't appear to be too familiar with Macs, may I enquire why you are buying one and not a PC which would be considerably cheaper if not very stylish?

clivejohnson

penrhyn wrote: »

I think you can get Open Office for Mac for free if thats of use.
Not as many Apple experts around as there are for PC's, however there are a number on here that could offer support.
You don't appear to be too familiar with Macs, may I enquire why you are buying one and not a PC which would be considerably cheaper if not very stylish?

This will be my first mac, and so I sought advice from folk on here, and asked friends and family and all said "get a mac" and after using one in store I found it fare more streamlined and user-friendly- Windows I just find too mechanical and old school for my liking now. At least with Snow Leopard there's no messing around installing printer/router drivers etc. just type in your wireless password and away you go!

Plus, Apple design and make the mac and all the software that comes with it, as opposed to windows which has too many third party applications involved (i.e, dell, sony vaio, etc) and I have been told you don't get any trouble with viruses as you do with windows.

oh, and macs are the epitome of style!;-)

Moleie

I bought an Imac with Iworks in my first year of Uni. After a couple of weeks I found that Iworks struggled to deal with Excel and Word document types and this was really frustrating because it meant that I couldn't work on my assignments on the university computers (which were all Windows-based machines). In the end I buckled and bought Office for Mac.

Anyway this was years ago, and I'm pretty sure the most recent copy of Iworks will have improved in terms of Office compatibility, but you're better off making sure! It's also worth noting that there are plenty of online retailers who offer Office dirt-cheap nowadays. Phoenix Software offer Microsoft Office for students for just under £40. You just need a university e-mail address to confirm you are actually a student.

Good luck, I guarantee you'll love your new Mac.

edlang

I bought a mac with Office for Mac 2004 - it was really buggy and slow, but since updating it, it's much faster and rock-solid. As a student, I also bought the cover plan for only £42 at the time (2007) and it was really worth it. My Macbook had the ill-fated top case design which cracked and had to be replaced after a year of owning it. The battery also died toward the end of the three years of cover. The top case cracked again because I had not been told that the reason for it cracking in the first place was due to how I'd been closing the lid: you have to close it slowly and stop it landing hard on the top case - I'd just closed it without easing it shut.

In any case (pardon the pun!), since apple introduced their unibody design, cracking plastics are a thing of the past. You should just get the cover in case - if a motherboard fails in a mac, a replacement + labour could cost you in the region of £700 (if you get it done at an Apple store). Such failures are very rare, but I'd get yourself covered, just for peace of mind. Don't forget that Apple have an impeccable customer service record too, so if something does go wrong and you've got Applecare, you can benefit from this without being landed with a huge bill!

Hope this helps

patman99

LibreOffice (the replacement for 'Openoffice') opens MS Office files without any problems.

welshdent

Apple customer service IS very good. The rare dealings I have had have been handled very well. I know someone who's iPhone was 2 days over warranttee and the people in the apple shop altered the purchase date to make it within warrantee then gave them a new handset

Hammyman

I don't think I'd pay for Apple Care. The information can be found on the internet and Sale of goods Act covers repairs.

Mattjimf

But he sale of good act doesn't cover stuff like batteries which the Applecare does.

Just remember that you can only purchase the protection plan while still in the first year of ownership.

http://www.apple.com/uk/support/products/mac.html

Hammyman

Mattjimf wrote: »

But he sale of good act doesn't cover stuff like batteries which the Applecare does.

Just remember that you can only purchase the protection plan while still in the first year of ownership.

http://www.apple.com/uk/support/products/mac.html

Apple warranty the batteries over and above the 1 year "guarantee". Apple batteries are guaranteed to still have a certain percentage of capacity after a set number of cycles and if its below that, they'll change it regardless of age. Add to that that a new Macbook Pro battery is considerably cheaper than the £200 for Applecare and it makes it even more pointless getting it.

clivejohnson

Hammyman wrote: »

Apple warranty the batteries over and above the 1 year "guarantee". Apple batteries are guaranteed to still have a certain percentage of capacity after a set number of cycles and if its below that, they'll change it regardless of age. Add to that that a new Macbook Pro battery is considerably cheaper than the £200 for Applecare and it makes it even more pointless getting it.

Apple care is currently £139 on apple's website.