Sieve head

Damn...

Today is an example of how even with lots of technology that make life lots easier my forgetfulness will always prevail. This morning I was flicking through eBay and found a last generation iBook which was at about £60 with a couple of hours to go. The seller wrote that it didn't boot, it just went to a screen with a folder and a question mark. This just means that the hard drive might be dead or even that the installation of OS X is corrupt. I have a couple of spare hard drives around and a Leopard disk so this would be perfect. I made a note to check back before the auction ended.

Of course... I forgot. I just checked the auction now to see what it went for and it went for the measly sum of £123 with £20 P&P. They usually sell for around £350-£400.

Bugger.

Applecare

I've been trying to decide on whether it was a good idea to purchase 'Applecare' for a while now. I'm not usually one for buying extended warranties but I kept having a really niggling feeling in the back of my head over my iMac. If a console breaks after 18 months, it's not a tragedy. It's not an essential tool and will only cost around £200 to replace (probably a lot less than it's price 18 months prior). Even a regular computer tower is easy to fix yourself with it's easily accessible insides.

An iMac on the other hand.

Everything is soldered to the logic board (motherboard) including the CPU, GPU, sound card, USB, Firewire.Add to that the fact that the monitor is attached to the thing and it really starts to look like a DIYers nightmare. I wouldn't even know where to start taking it apart.

For this reason I have done the responsible thing and acquired myself an extra couple of years of peace of mind. I even shopped around a bit. Apple sell Applecare for £139.00.  It's a bit less with the student discount (available to me if my girlfriend uses her name and card) but it's still more than I can comfortably afford at this time.

eBay to the rescue! I managed to grab a great bargain - £65 from an American seller.

Now lets just hope an American code works over here in Blighty...