Squaretrade warranty a good idea?

[Gern blanston]

I have a Squaretrade warranty on my iPhone 4 mainly for the accidental damage protection, and I was wondering if a Squaretrade warranty for 3 years would be a good idea for my new Mac Mini? I wasn't planning on adding accidental damage for the Mini, though.

[Colstan]

I've never bought an extended warranty on any of my electronics...usually because I void the warranty well before the standard one expires. I've modified my Mac mini a number of times, so it would be useless for me.

I'm not familiar with Squaretrade, so I can't say much about that. Folks seem to like AppleCare for their extended warranties. I believe that you can purchase AppleCare anytime within the standard warranty period. The mini has a warranty of one year. At any point during that year you can purchase AppleCare. It would be best to ask Apple directly, if you want to consider AppleCare.

As far as an extended warranty in general, that's a matter that only you can really decide. A Mac mini isn't going to be traveling a lot, so the risk of physical damage is small. Apple tends to use quality components.

I'm essentially the inverse of the type of person who would consider an extended warranty. If it breaks then I'll probably fix it myself, or use it as an excuse to buy some new hardware.

Colstan
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Mac mini (2011), 2.7Ghz i7, 8GB mem, 256GB Apple SSD

[Gern blanston]

Thanks, Colston. I rarely buy extended warranties, either. I do like the "excuse to buy new hardware" idea.

[philiparcario]

did you get a 2010. if so wait until the 10th month before you buy or don't buy applecare. apple allows you to wait up to a year before you extend it. you are covered for now so don't lay the cash out.

maybe in 9 months a new mac min will come out and you sell this one and with the 100 you did not spend on apple care add that 100 towards buying a 2011 model.
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2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[theGimpiest]

I never bought a squaretrade warranty on Macs, but I did for my iPod Touch. I have it on several electronics devices. I had problems with a Panasonic DVD Recorder and they paid for me to ship to them and then sent me payment for the full amount (I was only out the actual squaretrade warranty cost). Couldn't ask for more. Before you buy a warranty though, search the web for discount coupon codes - 20% is probably common, but I've had 30-40% off.