Purchasing IPAD insurance

[katroa]

..I bought my college daughter an Ipad2. Best Buy was REALLY pushing their insurance for $110. We declined. After researching information, I found other companies offer much less Ipad insurance..Worth Ave for one, or even Apple themselves .

It is a good idea to purhcase Ipad insurance? The cost of Apple Care is $79/ two year..and Worth Ave is $38/year. I'd like to say yes..and knowing my college age daughter I probably should.

Anyone have experience with this?..and have they used the insurance with
good results?

[tdew]

I'm wondering if the IPAD has the little slot that permits you to lock it up when you are leaving it in your room? I know that won't stop a determined thief, but it is something. College stuff has a way of disappearing. Does the insurance cover loss as well as technical problems?

[katroa]

hmm..don't know about theft. I was thinking more along the lines of her dropping it/shattering the screen etc. Good point, though. I will have to review the policy on theft or even losing it .

[Kairho]

I have Apple's insurance on both of our iPads. Fortunately, have not had to use it. But did use, quite satisfactorily, the Apple insurance on my Pharaoha's Mac.

For purchases other than Apple I greatly prefer Square Trade's product.

As for losing iPads, be sure the "Find My iPad" function is turned on. If lost, it will at least ensure the iPad can be tracked and, if necessary, locked or erased remotely.

[Loonbeam]

Same as K. I use square trade for non apple and AppleCare for apple. I find AppleCare to be worth the premium because of the proximity of their store and the Genius Bar inside. I had an issue with my mac air, made an appt, walked in, they figured it was an adapter issue and I walked out with a replacement one...

[RGoltsch]

Originally Posted by Kairho

I have Apple's insurance on both of our iPads. Fortunately, have not had to use it. But did use, quite satisfactorily, the Apple insurance on my Pharaoha's Mac.

For purchases other than Apple I greatly prefer Square Trade's product.

As for losing iPads, be sure the "Find My iPad" function is turned on. If lost, it will at least ensure the iPad can be tracked and, if necessary, locked or erased remotely.

My niece arrived into JFK last Saturday night/Sunday morning. She used the ladies room and somehow left her iPhone on a shelf. When they arrived home, she realized she left her phone......so it was back to the airport for her, her father and her boyfriend (Who also has an iPhone).

The entire ride over to the airport, they used the Where's my iPhone app on her boyfriend's phone, and the phone was just sitting there. As they got into the airport, it started to move. They were able to follow it all the way up to a woman walking out of the terminal and ask her if she had found a phone. I guess at 4:00AM there weren't many people around.....if it was noon, it would have been near impossible to find it if there was a crowd.

The woman was so shocked that they knew she had it, that she simply handed it over. I have to hand it to my niece's boyfriend....he is the one that thought to use the app. It really does work.

[Ned]

That app does indeed work. I had a client who couldn't find her iPhone. She knew she left home with it, but when she got to work it was gone. I was in the office that morning working on their computers. I went to her PC and to the iCloud "find" website ( https://www.icloud.com/#find ) and had her log in via her Apple ID.

Within a few moments we had a map on the screen showing the location of her phone. It was in the parking lot. We went out and still couldn't find it, so I had her log into her account from the App on my iPhone. Then we told the phone to play a sound despite the ringer being turned off. It played the sound which we were able to hear, and saw the phone had fallen out of her pocket and under the car parked next to hers.

In your post, can you imagine what the woman at the airport would have said if she told them she didn't have the phone, but then they made it play a loud sound which came from the phone in her hand, pocket or bag? Whoa baby.

There are several options Apple has for finding the phone. Of course you can see it on a map which is a Google Map based application. While that can zero you in, it can't necessarily get you right to the phone. That's where the play a sound or send a text message fits in. You can play a sound through the iPhone which will help you locate it, and you can send a text message to the phone to help identify it.

If you can't locate it right away, the App permits you to either remote lock it, if it has not been passcode protected, or remote wipe it, or in other words, delete all your data from the phone, such as contacts, calendar, notes, etc. That way, while you might not get your phone back, at least the person who took it can't see your private information.

It's quite an App.

Originally Posted by RGoltsch

My niece arrived into JFK last Saturday night/Sunday morning. She used the ladies room and somehow left her iPhone on a shelf. When they arrived home, she realized she left her phone......so it was back to the airport for her, her father and her boyfriend (Who also has an iPhone).

The entire ride over to the airport, they used the Where's my iPhone app on her boyfriend's phone, and the phone was just sitting there. As they got into the airport, it started to move. They were able to follow it all the way up to a woman walking out of the terminal and ask her if she had found a phone. I guess at 4:00AM there weren't many people around.....if it was noon, it would have been near impossible to find it if there was a crowd.

The woman was so shocked that they knew she had it, that she simply handed it over. I have to hand it to my niece's boyfriend....he is the one that thought to use the app. It really does work.

[tdew]

Great story Ron! Spread it around. The thought of losing the phone is one of the things that keeps me from using the banking applications.

[Kairho]

People should be aware that the Where's My Phone app is not infallible. If the phone's battery is dead or the phone is turned off or if there is no radio signal (phone or wifi) it won't help. Not that it would be expected to in those circumstances. Thieves are being advised to immediately turn off any iPhones they find.

[Ned]

Originally Posted by tdew

Great story Ron! Spread it around. The thought of losing the phone is one of the things that keeps me from using the banking applications.

I use the banking applications but take safeguards.

I never store my username or password in the banking applications. In fact, I don't store usernames and passwords in any applications in my iPhone.

I use a passcode in the phone so that you can't get to the apps unless you key the code in.

I have the phone auto-lock automatically after a specific period of non-use, the shortest time available in the iPhone of 1 minute, and anytime I turn the screen off, or the phone off.

I have the phone set to erase all data on the phone if the passcode is improperly entered 10 successive times.

I'm very careful to not let anyone see me enter my passcode when I'm typing it in.