
I'd say that AppleCare for a 'Book makes good sense notebooks, in general, are more likely to encounter problems than desktop units, since their parts are miniaturized and their guts are jammed together in a tight space. The entire process took just three days.the service was truly outstanding. Apple replaced the hard drive the next day and sent out the Powerbook via overnight delivery that same evening and I got my Powerbook back, fully functional again, the next morning. They sent my Powerbook to Apple's repair facility in Texas via overnight delivery from the west coast. After I phoned AppleCare regarding the hard drive failure, they sent a shipping box to me via DHL, I packed my Powerbook and had DHL pick it up. My Powerbook's hard drive failed after a year and a half, and AppleCare covered its replacement.

AppleCare for my Powerbook Aluminum was also listed at $349, but I scored one from a seller on eBay for $225.

You should be able to purchase it for AT LEAST $100 less by checking around. AppleCare for the MacBook Pro is $349, not $579.
