Applecare vs Visa Extended Warrenty

[disdat]

I have just purchased a new 15inch Powerbook from Amazon (will be delivered on Friday), and have been researching the net for opinions on purchasing the additional Applecare, but I haven't found any posts or articles with this particular concern.

I purchased my laptop with Visa, and my card offers the Warranty Manager, which doubles the warranty up to a year (for free), so I would receive 180 days of tech service and 2 years of warranty service. I also have the option of purchasing a 3 year warrenty through visa for a much lower cost than Applecare ($115)

I called Visa and they assured me that whatever is covered on the original warranty would be covered with their free extended warrenty.

So, my question is, would it be silly to purchase Applecare under these curcumstances?

Just in case you were wondering, I have used this Visa warrenty service before on at least one purchase a few years back, and it works pretty good.

[DMBand0026]

I like knowing I can walk into any Apple Store anywhere and have my computer repaired at no charge. I'm not really sure your Visa warranty will give you that, although I could be wrong. I like the security of AppleCare, especially with portables, it's just a nice thing to have.

[scrouds]

i doubt that tech support is included in the visa warranty. but repair jobs, yeah

[sunrain]

It no doubt sounds that you'd be covered for repairs under your Visa warranty, but I'd be hard pressed to believe that you'd get the extra level of service that AppleCare provides. AppleCare is legendary. It almost seems that there are no lengths that Apple won't go to in order to satisfy their customers. I've heard multiple stories where computers have been replaced with the latest model just because a part was taking too long to get. I'm not an extended warranty fan, but I've bought AppleCare with every laptop I've gotten and never regretted it.

[disdat]

Thanks everyone for your opinion.

When I spoke to Visa, she stated that I would still be using an Apple Authorized Tech, and there are two Apple stores near us, plus a CompUSA with Apple. I would have to call Visa first, and they would set up the service call. They pay Apple direct, so I don't think I would not have any out of pocket fees.

It is something to think about, and you have given some great advice, thanks very much!!!

[kretara]

It almost seems that there are no lengths that Apple won't go to in order to satisfy their customers. I've heard multiple stories where computers have been replaced with the latest model just because a part was taking too long to get.

I have also experienced the exact opposite. We had a powerbook (with applecare) with a defective screen and motherboard. It took almost 6 weeks to fix the problem, meanwhile they sent the pb back to us twice, each time it would not boot up. We requested a new laptop but apple would not budge.
I've run into a few other issue like this with apple and I am pretty down on their customer service.

EDIT
The pb was 6 weeks old when it started failing and was sent to apple
/EDIT

[judeobscure]

Unless, you have an exceptional CompUsa I would avoid them for service.