[Adam Shapiro]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

My son got a G4 while he was in HS. A few months after the 1 year warranty expired the onboard LAN failed. He used a LAN card to keep it on the network.

A few months later the whole mother board went up in smoke. Id say about 16 months after it was new. Replacement mother board was something like $350 - and thats assuming nothing on the board (processor, memory...) was destroyed when it blew. Its sitting on a shelf in the basement - 50 feet of rope and it will make a nice boat anchor.

This is certainly not the first time I have heard of problems like this. Like Jonathan said though, these things happen with all computer manufacturers. Jonathan had it happen to his Toshiba. A good friend of mine literally had his new Gateway laptop melt only 15 days out of warranty (Gateway told him there was "nothing they could do for him"). Traditionally, though problems certainly do occur, Apple is very good about caring for them. They try to take the best care of customers that they can. Purchasing AppleCare is your own decision; the sales people try their best to outline the benefits of having it, especially on a portable computer, but if you decide not to get it they're not going to force you or lie to you as is the case with some other retailers. Apple's policy is that they gave you the opportunity, if you decide of your own will not to purchase the additional warranty they can't cover problems like that. It is a terrible coincidence for it to occur just outside of warranty, but these things do happen. I always recommend that people purchase the AppleCare as, in the majority of cases, they will be happy they did, if only for the phone technical support.

I have owned many different computers over the years and have compared my experiences with technical support services for a number of different manufacturers. I would say that the worst experience was certainly the old Compaq service (though they have improved with the HP buyout), followed by Packard Bell. Above those two were Gateway, then Dell, then IBM. Apple has always been much more helpful for any problems (software, hardware, or otherwise) that I have had, and that is from a user standpoint. Please know that I am trying to be unbiased, despite being an Apple employee, however hard that may be. I hope this helps, I'm sorry you've had bad experiences in the past and I wouldn't be shocked if you wished not to purchase any further Apple products. Still, you may want to give them another shot, at least some time in the future.