<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Applecare extends the hardware warranty to a total of three years.<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Without any supporting data other than my own experiences, </DIV><DIV>I hypothesize that within the last two years of an Applecare </DIV><DIV>contract, something like half the laptop and mini drives will fail. </DIV><DIV>If this is true, it would seem that AC provides a useful insurance </DIV><DIV>against the cost of a likely drive replacement.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>But the costs of drives are continuously going down, and their capacities</DIV><DIV>and performances are improving. At some point in the three years, the</DIV><DIV>price of a significantly better drive may decline even to the original cost</DIV><DIV>of the failed drive.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Also at some point in the three years, your hard drive is going to start</DIV><DIV>bulging at the seams, and you're going to long for a bigger drive.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Does the AC contract replace like with like? If they charge extra for a</DIV><DIV>bigger drive, how competitive is that charge? Would it be less than going</DIV><DIV>to a third-party to buy and install a bigger drive?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I don't know the warranty status of a new drive if you replace the </DIV><DIV>original drive with a larger one before the original drive fails </DIV><DIV>(a fairly common upgrade). Many replacement drives have two year </DIV><DIV>manufacturers' warranties but I suspect they won't cover labor.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Anyone have any experience with AC replacing a drive with a larger one?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Jon</DIV><DIV>=============<BR><DIV><DIV>On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 11:16:42 -0700, Ted Burton <<A href="mailto:egburton@cableone.net">egburton@cableone.net</A>> wrote:</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV> I purchased a mini the day they were announced ...</DIV> <BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV> Thus it was just over a year old when the hard disk died</DIV> <BR></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>The Mac mini was announced January 11, 2005. So it could not have </DIV> <DIV>been just over a year old when the hard disk died. As Jon said, </DIV> <DIV>currently all Mac minis are still withintheir one year hardware </DIV> <DIV>warranty.</DIV> <BR></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Ah .. remembering the time a PowerBook hard disk died.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Ergo this hard drive was within product year.</DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD"></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>