My Toshiba started dying long before its 3-year warranty was up. The cooling fans would make this god-awful grinding noise (bad bearings, I worked in a fan factory FFS), yet they refused repair, stating that cooling fans were part of normal wear and tear.
When my MBP died earlier this month I called Apple, and without any hassle whatsoever, they volunteered to replace it with a brand new unibody model.
What a world of difference in service. BTW, Toshiba charged more for the extended warranty than AppleCare.
One thing that Apple doesn't provide is the "overnight you a loner so you won't have any downtime" option that you could get with some of the higher-end support contracts from other vendors. Other than that, I agree that their support tends to be excellent.
When my MBP died earlier this month I called Apple, and without any hassle whatsoever, they volunteered to replace it with a brand new unibody model.
What a world of difference in service. BTW, Toshiba charged more for the extended warranty than AppleCare.